Today...

• Is Halloween! Happy Halloween everyone!
• I changed my template...again. The pink was great for October and Brest Cancer Awareness month, but I like this orangey one for fall and November.
• I'm wearing an orange shirt and a pink Disney Princess bandaid on my arm. I clash. In case you were wondering.
• I have a 5-6 paper due at 5:00 on a book. I currently have one sentence written. "Dalton Conley makes many sweeping assumptions in his book The Pecking Order: A Bold New Look at How Family and Society Determine Who We Become." All I can think to say more is "This guy's a blooming idiot!!!!" Unfortunately, no matter how big a font I use, I don't think I can make these two sentences into a viable paper.
• LOLCats once again has my vapid attention. I'm lame, did you know?
• Amazon.com seems to think I need lightweight strollers for traveling. I don't.
• I am trying to think of things to write about during November for NaBloPoMo. Any topic ideas would be highly appreciated.
  

Be Nice or Go Away

I've been blogging for two years now, and I've never had a problem with rude comments. Of course, it's only been recently that I started posting about things other than my daily life and stupid memes and junk and stuff. But I've got a brain. I'm going to write about what I want to write about, and if you have a problem with it, fine. But if you're going to comment, at least be polite about it.

The world is full of differing opinions. That's what makes it fun. To quote one of my dear friends, "Mormons don't have to be Republicans." And I add to that, Mormons don't have to be sheep. So don't tell me to leave this school that I love (even if I have issues with some of the things that go on here), because of a paper I wrote for a class, here, at this university. And if you're going to do that, at least be man (woman) enough to leave some identifying information (such as your blog address) or at least how you got to my site. I'd like to know.

Also, learn to spell.

Sorry, I know this sounds rude, but you know what? This is a personal blog. I write for myself, and for my friends. I can say what I want. I have both the freedom and the agency to do so.

A Wedding Story: My Kansas City Wrap-Up

As you know, I spent last weekend visiting my relatives in Kansas City, Missouri, where I was supposed to attend my cousin Jared's wedding. As I have mentioned before, Whitney, my cousin's fiancee, is 17. Which, in the state of Missouri, is below that age of consent, which means that she had to have her mother sign a permission form before they could get a marriage license. Her mother was showing signs of reluctance, but they thought they could convince her, especially since their ecclesiastical leaders were on Jared and Whitney's side. She held out till the day before the wedding (the latest they could get the license) to out-and-out refuse. On top of her refusal, she told them that if it were any other guy than Jared, or if Whitney were pregnant, she would sign the papers for them to get married. The any other guy part really killed Jared. They are still planning on getting married, they're just postponing until after Whitney turns 18 next year. Because I came out for the wedding that didn't happen, Jared and his dad, my Uncle Walt have promised to pay for me to come for the actual wedding

Jared and Whitney decide to change their reception into an engagement party, since they already had the hall and the music set up and food and decorations bought. We ate, and danced, and talked, just tried to have fun while Jared and Whitney put on a brave face. I stayed with Jared and Whitney and my cousin Katy, her husband Lehi, and their three little girls (1 1/2, 3, and 5).

Saturday, we all went to the LDS Church Independence Visitor's Center, which is across the street from the Community of Christ/RLDS church temple. The Visitor's Center had several cool exhibits, one on the Dead Sea Scrolls (NOT child-friendly, at all!) and an amazing one about the family and God's plan for the family. That evening, I went out to dinner and a movie with Jared and Whitney and some also engaged friends of theirs. The food was good, the movie was bad, and the company was engaged and awkward.

Sunday I went to church with My cousins, and all three of Katy's little girls wanted to sit on my lap. After church, Jared and Whitney and I went to my uncle's house to visit for the evening. I played with my little cousins (6 and 8), and talked to my aunt and uncle.

I left early Monday morning, and was back to Rexburg in time to go grocery shopping before I went to family home evening that evening.

Below are pictures from my trip, in a new slide show format I found. Enjoy!



Now it's time to get cracking on my to-do list that's eight pages long.

To the Editor:

Let me describe a residence. Cracked cement stairs lead to rooms with stained and torn floors, peeling walls, ceilings with water stains and relentless drips, windows that let in as much cold as they keep out, broken pipes, and showers with mold relentlessly growing between the stained tiles. Inspections are conducted after nightly lockdown by viscous and vindictive guards, checking to insure all residents are in their rooms, properly attired, and the rooms are cleaned satisfactorily. It sounds like a prison, doesn’t it?

It’s not. It’s BYU-Idaho approved housing. It’s my apartment. And mine isn’t the only “approved” apartment in such deplorable conditions; in fact, many are worse. I’ve been in basement apartments with no windows. There are apartments where sections of the floor are marked with duct tape to remind people not to step there or they’ll fall through. I’ve seen apartments with rodents scampering in the kitchen, too many to kill with the small mousetraps offered to the tenants as a solution. The managers and resident assistants in many complexes are dictatorial and unjust in their rigid adherence not to the requirements of the school, but to their own Pharisaical rules.

And yet, the Approved Housing Guidelines state:

“Each apartment unit will be inspected by BYU-Idaho before initial approval and periodically to assure compliance with all approval guidelines.”

“Floors and walls shall be in a good state of repair and shall be finished so that they are sanitary and can be easily kept clean."

“Every room shall have adequate light and ventilation.”

“Each apartment or apartment complex must have a resident manager … who will … Oversee and be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the physical facilities, giving consideration to both safety and cleanliness”

These standards, set by Housing Committee appointed by the administration of our university, are not fulfilled in the shocking majority of approved student housing. The university inspectors who inspect and approve the apartments do so in the company of the apartment owners and managers, who often show them the best apartments in the complex, and gloss over the deficiencies. Many members of the inspection committee are also apartment owners, who have a vested interest in maintaining the approval of their complex.

We don’t have to go along with this. The Housing Committee has the power granted to them, but they no longer have authority because of their unequal and often deficient application of their own standards.

I propose a solution. This situation requires a massive change, and both require the students forced to live in substandard housing to band together and exercise our power and authority based on our rights, not only as given by the Housing Committee regulations, but as given to us as children of God, by rising up and demanding a change.

We need to move out. There is no valid reason for keeping the students of BYU-Idaho confined to dilapidated, often dangerous apartments. As children of God, we have agency, and the right to do as we choose. Being forced to live in approved housing removes our agency. We cannot choose to live where we feel is best, where we feel safest and where fits our budgets the best. We need to decide where we want to live, wherever it may be, in Rexburg, Idaho Falls, or some other community. We need to move to studio apartments, mobile homes, and campgrounds. If we are threatened with expulsion, we should continue our revolt, escalating our level of activity, progressing from our quiet movements to sit-ins and demonstrations.

We need to band together. If BYU-Idaho is to become a Zion community as President Clark and the rest of the administration proclaim, we must retain our agency. We must stand up for what we believe in. We must do what is required so that we have the ability to live where and do what we wish.

(This was a writing assignment for my social theory class: to write a letter to the editor about the housing issue on this campus demonstrating a clear understanding of Marx)

US National Party

All I can say is wow. Where are they getting their facts, I wonder?

Combining all the one-liners that have been rolling around in my head for a week

• My cousin Jared didn't get married. It's kind of a long story, and caused a lot of drama, and I don't have the energy to go into it right now. Jared and Whitney are still together, but the wedding has been postponed indefinately. I did enjoy my trip, and I will post pictures and details soon. When I have the energy.
• I narrowly avoided an awkward blind date on Saturday, due to the boy getting the flu. Instead I had an awkward evening with two lovey-dovey engaged couples.
• Idaho weather is so ADD. Especially in the fall and spring. And the weather's ADD increases my ADD.
• Across the Universe is not worth going to. The beginning is good, the end is decent, but the middle is crap.
• The fires in southern California are terrible. Entire cities have been evacuated. Thousands of homes have burned. Over 500,000 people are in shelters across the region. Please pray for them.
• My boss's goal in life seems to be to make mine miserable.
• My posting lately has been light. This doesn't bode well for NaBloPoMo.

A Single Link

My thoughts exactly...

Somehow, people get me perfectly, even when they have no idea who I am.

Question

Does anyone know why the flags might have been at half mast today?

Six Pairs

I went shopping with my roommate today.

We went to the mall, and I bought a pair of shoes. The store I bought them at was having a buy-one-get-one-free sale, with no returns, so I got two regularly $50 pairs for about $30. Then, we found out about the grand opening of a new store a little ways away, called Shoe Carnival. We figured we probably wouldn't buy anything, but we might as well stop by.

We walked in, and were handed a raffle ticket for a $100 gift card or a DVD player. We wandered around and looked for a while in all the madness, and pretty soon they announced the drawing. They started reading the numbers. Mine matched, 7, 3, 5, 9, 3, 8, and then the moment of truth. ONE! It was mine. I screamed. I had won the $100 gift card that had to be used this weekend, meaning today. I got four pairs of nice shoes, also usually at least $50 a pair.

It's a little absurd, six pairs of new shoes, mostly heels, in one day. Shoes that I didn't really need. But to win the gift card was oddly exhilarating. I rarely win anything. Never, in fact. Maybe my luck is changing...

Punishment

I said that something would make someone's life a living hell.

My roommate gasped, literally ran to the entertainment center, and and put in a DVD of John Bytheway's Standards Night Live.

I guess she's determined to get me some religion.

3 Adventures that I may or may not elaborate on at a later date

1. Huge hair cut (six-plus inches off) on Friday.
   
2. Power outage most of the day on Saturday, combined with (most likely caused by) the first true snowfall of the year.
   
3. A very minor accident that nonetheless basically gave me a heart attack yesterday.
   

*I'm all alone, there's no one here beside me...

Or in the next room. Or next door. Or downstairs. It's that time of year again. Yes, General Conference weekend. A mass exodus has occurred; BYUI students are fleeing the 'burg and heading to Utah, home, anywhere but here. All five of my roommates are gone. Yep, all five. All the people who live on my floor are gone, all my friends from the complex (which is pretty much all my friends), most of my guy friends, all gone. Just me, all alone in my big apartment.

I'm actually excited. I will, of course, watch the broadcasts of Conference, but I have a list. A list of fun and not so fun things to do this weekend. In no particular order:

• Take a long, hot, luxurious bath, then do a face mask, paint my toenails, etc.
• Go take some pictures tomorrow. Even if it's raining again.
• Figure out conflict theory. I get functionalism. I love symbolic interactionism. But conflict, the joy of all sociologists, I just don't get. And I need to, we're studying it in theory class right now.
• Sleep. Go to bed when I feel like it, sleep in. Glorious.
• Organize.
• Go grocery shopping. And perhaps do a little bit of discretionary shopping. :)
• Finish decorating the apartment. No one else seems to care how it looks, but I do.
• I want to make bread and take it to people. Like my "sisters" and "brothers".
• De-frag the hard drive on my laptop and get rid of craplets. The slowness is driving me crazy.

*I'm hearing this in my head as Eddie Murphy's voice as Donkey in the Shrek movies.

Announcement

So, last year I did this crazy thing. I signed up for NaBloPoMo, also known as National Blog Posting Month, wherein I committed to posting on my blog every single day for the month of November. And I'm doing it again. Last year I didn't make it, my trip home for Thanksgiving kind of screwed it up for me. But this year I'm not going home, in fact, I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here in Rexburg to work, and will be spending Thanksgiving with friends in the area, so I will have plenty of time during my holiday break (a whole week! whoot!) to write.

I double-triple-quadruple-dog-dare you to join me. Sign up, by clicking here or on the button on the right hand side.