Blog Update Overload

So, it's been a while and there are a few experiences to share.

First, computers are funny. My desktop has been acting a little crazy lately. Every time I type the letter "I" at the beginning of a word it automatically capitalizes it. It's like the automatic fix thing for the word "I" went on overtime. So, when typing things I have to add a letter in front of the "I" in order to keep it lower case. For some reason I liked the letter "W." So, interview became winterview, in became win, into became winto, idea became widea, and so on. Now, if this ever happens to you and you follow my example of adding the letter, just be sure you remember to delete the additional letter.

Second, I have now been a witness at a wedding. One of my students was having a small wedding in a chapel and asked me to be a witness. Now, when I say small wedding, I mean it. There were five people there, total. The couple, the bishop, and the two witnesses. It was actually really sweet. There wasn't a big hooplah, just something simple. It was a nice reminder that all the big expensive accessories aren't necessary. And what made the experience even better was that it was all in Chinese. I don't speak a word of it, but witnessed it all the same.

And third, today was our work Christmas party. We did a white elephant gift exchange. I love those things. It's an excuse to give away junk. So, lucky me, I had actually just cleaned my place and had a big ol' pile of stuff to give to DI. I just went through the pile and grabbed a bunch of random stuff. It was a hit. I actually won the prize of best gift given. It was an honor, but I don't think I want it again because as my prize I got the best white elephant gift ever: pickled imported mild Greek golden peperoncini. In short, pickled peppers. The joys of Christmas.

Halloween Dance

So, I really do enjoy planning the dances for the ELC. Yeah, it adds a lot of stress, but it's fun too. For the Halloween dance, in addition to the dance and refreshments, we had a haunted hall, a costume contest, and a special performance by some of the teachers and staff. Check out the pictures below.

We did some special advertising for the dance. Two other teachers and I wore our costumes and announced it to the students in their classes. Our costumes were Queen Narissa, a Ute fan, and the girl from The Ring. The students were totally creeped out by that.

This is a glimpse of the haunted hall. It was darker than the flash implies.

A fortune teller "welcomed" the students.

Medusa surprised them around the corner. (Even though she does look rather friendly here.)

A wraith followed them after they passed.

A zombie startled them on their way out.

Then there was the costume contest. The funniest costume was a monkey. The scariest was a vampire. The best was Beetlejuice.

We did a performance for the students. It was 12 Days of Halloween. It was to the tune of 12 Days of Christmas, but with words more suited for Halloween. The 5th day was five scary spooks. Each time we sang this, one of the "five scary spooks" would kill of a member of the choir until there was finally nobody left. Then all of the dead choir members rose from their fallen state and ran into the crowd of students. Pretty awesome.

Automatic Everything

Everywhere you look there is something that is automatic. You really can't escape it. Just look at some public restrooms: automatic faucets, automatic soap dispensers, automatic paper towel dispensers, etc. So, this weekend was, and still is at the moment, the I-TESOL Conference. It was held on BYU campus this year. Lucky me, I didn't have to travel anywhere. On Friday, after many hours of going to presentations, presenting, having dinner, and listening to a plenary speaker, I had to use the restroom. We had finished the conference in the Wilkenson Center (The Skyroom Restaurant to be precise. After all the hype I've heard about the place I really wasn't that impressed with the food.), and I searched for the nearest restroom and went right on in. I entered a stall, took care of business and looked at the toilet paper dispenser. It was automatic. I was like, "No way." So, I tried it out. I did the little magic wave under the dispenser and tp began rolling out. Let me just say that it was a good thing that no one else was in the bathroom because I started laughing. Really?! An automatic tp dispenser? I mean, I see the point in all the automatic stuff: don't be wasteful. But let's be honest, you gotta have the right amount of tp, especially when it's the really thin stuff they have at all schools. So, what do we do? Just wave our hand under it again. In the end, I honestly don't believe we are saving that much toilet paper. What will people find to make automatic next?

What Once Was Lost, Now Is Found...And Given Away

So, here's a funny story. A friend of mine wanted to borrow my Finding Neverland dvd (wonderful movie, by the way), so I loaned it to her. Usually I check the case to make sure the dvd is in it. This time I didn't. I saw her a week later and asked if she had watched it yet. She said, "Oh yeah. I've been meaning to tell you that the dvd wasn't in the case." And of course, I thought, "What the junk happened to it?" I searched everywhere in my living room and bedroom for it. I asked other friends who usually borrow dvds. It was nowhere. So, I gave up looking for it and just decided to buy a new one. I got it, watched it to make sure it worked, and put my name on it like I usually do when I buy a new dvd. About two weeks later I got home very late after a long day and my roommate came up to me, with her hands behind her back and said, "Don't kill me." I told her I would never and could never do that. She then proceeded to show me her hands which held my missing Finding Neverland dvd. As she was begging for mercy, I just started laughing. I mean, really, knowing my luck I should have known that was going to happen. It turns out that when she first moved in she tried to watch that movie on her TV and dvd player, but her TV was broken. She turned it off and put it all away, but forgot the dvd was still in there. So, a few days later I told this story to a friend of mine. She said she loved that movie, and I asked her if she had it and if not, then if she wanted my copy. She did not have it, and so I gave her my copy. Lesson to be learned: Always check your roommate's dvd player, even if it is shoved in a closet. It may save you $10.

I need a bigger plate

So, you know the phrase "Don't put too much on your plate" (or something along those lines)? Well, I never follow this, and I always regret it. Let me explain what I have done to myself this time. I'm working two jobs, going to school almost full-time, working on and finishing my MA project so it can be piloted next semester, co-presenting at a conference, planning the Halloween dance,...I think there's something else, but I can't remember which is probably not a good thing. Honestly, really, I just need to get a bigger plate.

What's Really Inside a Bludger?

I was hanging out with a few of my long-time friends over the weekend watching various "happy" clips from movies. Fun thing to do, by the way. My friend has several hundred movies and we each chose a few that had happy moments. They could either be funny, romantic, whatever. Then we showed movie clips to each other and just laughed. The ones I chose were: Fellowship of the Ring - the hobbits' drinking song, The Three Amigos - my little buttercup routine, While You Were Sleeping - the random kid falling off his bike, Johnny English - recording of him dancing to ABBA song, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - the explanation of quidditch. Now, with the last one I mentioned, one of my friends reminded me of our explanation of bludgers that we came up with many years ago. If you really sit down and think about it, what makes those killer balls fly around on their own and make that irritated, angry noise? Explanation: There is a little chiuaua inside each and every one. Really. Can't you picture this tiny chiuaua just running around inside it. Every time the ball is set loose it attacks innocent players. It's always doing it's "Aararraraarrrar." When it's hit, it comes back to take its revenge and its irritated growling gets louder. It moves fast and at chaotic angles. It makes sense, right? Check it out for yourselves. Watch the first Harry Potter movie when Wood is explaining quidditch to Harry.

Swinging in the Mountains

I have experienced a new joy that everyone should try. Last week I went with a friend of mine and her parents to their family cabin. Wonderfully relaxing, by the way. Anyways, at the cabin they have these swings. You climb up the hill a little from the cabin and you see these two tall tree trunks with a metal pole connecting the two at the top with about 20 foot chains hanging from them. You attach the swing seats on the lowest link so you have the biggest swing (even though it makes pumping difficult because your feet would hit ground). Now, the trunks are at the edge of a small ledge. So, imagine, if you will, walking up the sloped hillside, launching yourself down and over the ledge and above the downward slope. At the peak of your swing you are about 15-20 above the ground heading straight for a group of trees, and then you are pulled back down and up the hillside. Just always make sure you keep your legs straight if you are on the last link; otherwise, you hit your feet on the ledge and they proceed to drag along the ground. (It happened to me. I cursed my lucky stars for something happening, and they cursed me back by having my feet hit the ledge.) Now, all of this sounds magically blissful, but what is even better is doing it at midnight. My friend and I went out with flashlights to hike up to the swings. We got them all prepared, checked for any wild animals ('cause, you know, who wants to bump into a bear or something while swinging?), and turned off the flashlights. Now, there was no moon shining, only billions, upon billions of stars. This made for a very interesting swing because the sky was brilliant with constellations, planets, shooting stars, the Milky Way, and any and all stars within the vision of mere mortals, and it also made the ground and everything around absolutely pitch black. You couldn't see anything, even after your eyes adjusted, it was a vast nothing. After a few moments of gaping at the awesomeness of the scene, we launched ourselves out into the pit of darkness followed by the glorious wonders of the sky. Almost a scary feeling when you fly out and look down and see nothing when you are 15 or so feet in the air. But, then when you fly out and look up you feel like you are about to join heavens shining above you. The most majestic experience I have ever had. We did it every night we were up there.

If you ever have the chance, go swing in the mountains at midnight. One recommendation though, don't use one of those flashlights that you wear on your head. The moths like to crash into your face.