Spring is here, kind of

The weather keeps flipping back and forth between sunshine and chilly rain, unable to make up its mind (or maybe it's that darn groundhog...). Anyway, all three of my classes (English, guitar, and drawing) are fantastic and this term is going to be great. The Internet at our house has been out for the past week, which makes it a little harder to update this blog regularly, but we're going to get it fixed today or Monday.

Here's a quote from Joseph Smith I've been thinking about yesterday and today: "Friendship is one of the grand fundamental principles of 'Mormonism'...It is a time-honored adage that love begets love. Let us pour forth love–show forth our kindness unto all mankind, and the Lord will reward us with everlasting increase." (HC 5:517)

"Will I Leave a Legacy?"

Okay, I've finally uploaded my song, "Will I Leave a Legacy?" It's on the My Music page at Blank Slate, in PDF, MIDI, and ABC formats.

Lots to write about. I've been reading a book called Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers, by Patrick Kavanaugh. It's really good, focusing on the Christian beliefs of men like Handel, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Stravinsky, Dvorak, etc. Fascinating reading. I've also been listening to some tapes by Michael Ballam on the power of music for good. My guitar class starts today, which'll be a lot of fun.

Last night I went to the Mediterranean art exhibit at the Museum of Art (Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art) and that really sparked my interest in the visual arts again, so I signed up for Intro to Drawing for this spring term.

Other than that, I was reading a book the other day which said that the terms "uppercase" and "lowercase" come from printing press terminology: the little block letters that were placed into the press were stored in two cases once the printing was done, with the capitals in the upper case and the other letters in the lower case. Very interesting. :)

Well, I was called as elders quorum president in my student ward this past week, so I guess the summer won't be as carefree as I was expecting, but that's okay -- the blessings from service are well worth it.

Why everyone should learn to cook

Yesterday I couldn't resist the temptation and ended up in the cookbook section of the BYU Bookstore. Like the grocery store, the cookbook section is a bad idea when one is hungry. So, I ended up buying Cooking Basics for Dummies. It's actually a really good book and I'm quite pleased with it so far (20 pages into it). It lists seven reasons why everyone should learn to cook; here's the last one: "You start hanging around the cookbook section in bookstores -- fertile terrain for opposite-sex encounters." Maybe I'll return there more often... ;)

Cookie monster

Last night I was feeling bored, my roommates all having gone home for the weekend, so I decided to make oatmeal cookies. While I was making them a friend called and we talked as I creamed the sugar and the butter. A little bit of salt and a little bit of baking soda went into the mixture. I grabbed a bottle of what I thought was vanilla and poured a teaspoon's worth into the bowl. It fizzed. "How interesting," I thought. "I'd forgotten that baking soda and vanilla create a reaction like that." I continued chatting with my friend. Then the smell of the "vanilla" hit me and I realized I'd put vinegar in, not vanilla. Whoops. :) So I got to throw the whole thing out (I'll admit I was tempted to try to make the cookies anyway and see if they might turn out okay, but then the smell of the vinegar convinced me that it was quite impossible) and start all over again. But the end result was good.

Speaking of cookies, several years ago I made a goal to go off sweets (cookies, cake, candies, ice cream, doughnuts, anything like that). It was hard at first but I ended up doing it for ten whole months. Ever since then, my sugar tolerance level has been quite low -- even a moderate amount of sweetness throws my system out of whack.

After that I hiked the Y with my neighbors (at 10:30 p.m.). The moon was out and we had no trouble seeing our way, and it was quite a fun hike. Afterwards we went to Denny's (it was 12:30 a.m. by then) and it was packed. So we went to the one up in Orem and it too was almost full, but we stayed anyway. One of the guys who used to live in this house came with us, and he's a very good cook (or so the rumor goes :)). Always interested in food, I asked him about his cooking here in college. He said that his first year here, he spent an initial $100 for the basic supplies (spices, rice, flour, etc.), and then after that he lived off $15/month of food (vegetables, meat, potatoes, etc.). Wow. He even made his own bread. I've really got to learn how to cook more than just cookies... :)

Post-finals life and Mario Kart

It is done. Winter semester has melted away. I took my last final at 7:00 this morning, then sold back a few of my textbooks (most of them only sold for $2 or $3, to my surprise and mild disappointment) and bought my books for spring term. Even though I'm quite happy to be done with school, at the same time I really can't wait to start spring term.

Anyway, yesterday I read the first few chapters of the second Harry Potter book and was playing Mario Kart with my roommate when I realized that I was wasting my time. Reading is a wonderful activity, of course, and I'm the first to champion books, but Harry Potter lost its appeal very quickly. I'm not exactly sure why, but I suspect it has something to do with the steeped-in-magic atmosphere. I do enjoy fantasy on occasion (Lewis's Narnia series is spectacular, as is Tolkien's LOTR), but I'm finding that since my mission my tastes have turned almost entirely toward realism. There's so much beauty and grandeur in plain, simple life; I don't need any fantasy worlds to find satisfaction. Being content with what God has given us in its infinite splendor seems a better path.

As for Mario Kart, at first I thought it was just a harmless diversion to keep me from burning out during finals. But the more I played it (a handful of times this week), the more dissatisfied I became. I kept thinking of other, more important things I could be doing -- writing letters to those I served with in Thailand, reading good books (like Jane Eyre, which I started a few weeks ago), making cookies for our neighbors, calling a friend, etc. The words of Isaiah in 2 Nephi 9:51 repeatedly returned to my mind: "Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy." More and more I'm realizing that the world's attempts to create happiness are hollow, absolutely nothing in comparison to the rich, deep reality which God offers. Even things that I before thought were neutral have proven to be a waste of time. I don't know that it's because they're evil, of course -- probably not -- but the main thing for me is that God's gifts are so much better. Why spend time on things that don't make me happy? In living the gospel and appreciating reality and the world he's given us, I really am happy.

Wow, I wasn't expecting all this to come out. :) I suppose it's a result of spending more time at the MTC (I now volunteer there twice a week) and a few other things that have happened in my life. I'm glad God often reminds me of what's important in life, because it's so easy to be distracted, like little kids getting near the end of a race and then seeing some candy off to the side and forgetting that the race even exists.

Stay on target, stay on target...

Yes, finals are certainly keeping me busy. I had my History 400 final yesterday morning at 7:00 (I had my alarm set for 5:00 so I could get up, shower, study my scriptures, and study for the test a little bit before taking it, but in my sleep I turned it off and woke up at 6:47 -- luckily I was only four minutes late). It went fairly well, actually, considering that I didn't study for it at all. I have a History 410 final this afternoon, a New Testament final Thursday at 7:00 a.m., and then my HEPE and Family Life finals can be taken any time before Thursday afternoon. Freedom is nigh. :)

Work is going well. We're still busy getting the site ready for launch, and there are lots of people waiting. Oh, the other day I wrote a third verse for my song, "Will I Leave a Legacy?" I'll post the PDF and MIDI files on Blank Slate after finals.

Only a few more days...

This week is going to be a lot busier than I expected, so there probably won't be any new posts till next week, unless I get burned out with all these projects and simply have to take a blogging break -- for my health, of course. ;) Blogging is therapeutic, after all...

Male? Female? In-between?

Well, it's a bit harder to post regularly when school is careening to the end of the semester. Lots of assignments due. Today in my Family Life class we talked about some of the legislation going on about marriage, and the professor mentioned the Gender Recognition Act that will be passed in Britain before too long. It's completely abhorrent, especially with the enormous fines for disclosing a person's gender change. Evil is making advances. But the truth remains clear and constant: "Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose." (The Family: A Proclamation to the World.)

I can't just sit idly watching by as the world goes to pot. I may be just one person, but just one can make a difference. The more that evil encroaches on the world of men (festering from within, usually), the more I feel compelled to stand up for good and fight against the enemy. In the past I haven't been a very informed citizen, and I haven't been keeping up with the news very much, but I'm determined now to keep abreast of new legislation and other trends that have serious implications. I'll post my findings here.