This is our annual lesson on education, but really....

So in seminary we had our annual lesson on education. It's part of the Church's curriculum. We get the same packet every year that talks about salaries with a college degree vs. no college degree, investing early, and college tuition/ACT scores. Our teacher was sitting there telling us how expensive college is and the importance of our test scores. Then she just has to throw in the fact that BYU is only $4,000 a semester for tuition and it's just as hard to get in as University of Michigan where tuition is $11,000 a semester. She proceeds to discuss how this might be a better choice, especially if you have many siblings.

What?

What?

Why does everyone assume that my parents will be paying for my tuition? I am definitely either: working my butt off to pay for college or getting into a lot of debt. Probably a combination of both.

BYU is not as hard to get into as the University of Michigan. They also try to sell you that you have to graduate from seminary in order to get into BYU (if you're a Church member). Bull crap.

The whole point of this lesson is get an education, it's important.

So why did I get the feeling it that is was just our teacher trying to convince us to go to BYU because it's so cheap...This is what I gathered from this lesson and somehow, I don't think that's how it was supposed to go over.

I'm taking my road test tomorrow. Yikes.

Do you like silly string?

Deutsch Assignment

So for German we had to write a paragraph describing a scene. We're learning adjective endings right now (which is SUPER tedious and annoying) so we had to use at least 15 adjectives.

I thought I would share my paragraph with you. It doesn't really make sense and the language/wording is really simple... but it was supposed to be creative. I try.

Here 'tis:

There is a tall, skinny house. Many people live in this house. There are green plants all over the house. There are no stairs in, only a rickety, gold elevator. On the first floor, there is a round swimming pool. A girl wearing a pink bathing suit is diving into it. A boy with bright, orange hair is eating purple carrots (Macy, Samantha) in the kitchen. On the second floor, there is a unicorn with a curly fro. (It's pink in my drawing.) On the third floor, an old man is sleeping in a repulsive bed. On the fourth floor, a rich woman is wearing an elegant dress. The sun is shining outside.

It's actually pretty bad. I wanted to rewrite it but figured I didn't have time since it's kind of due tomorrow...oh well.

This One Goes Out to Esh

Eshwar reads my blog.

Just thought I'd tell you.

And I don't have a thing for Peter, regardless of what Eshwar may say.

Peter is simply on my mind a lot right now because of several different things.

And for the record-how do you spell "several?" I have no idea! Is it "sevaral" or "several?" Why have I seen it spelled both ways in professional situations?? Google is telling me that "sevaral" is spelled wrong...hmmm...

Speaking of grammatical errors...I went to an art gallery today and noticed some in the "About the Artist" paragraphs they had next to the paintings. They used its/it's, their/they're, and you're/your incorrectly more than once. Shocking? Yes. I felt like saying something to the receptionist lady up front but decided not to because she was so nice.

Thanksgiving was Thursday. What am I thankful for? (Because you all were wondering)

• A father who has a career
• My tutoring
• Quiz Bowl
• Art!
• Literature, specifically my Austen, de Maurier, Orczy, Doyle, Hawthorne, Carol, Tolstoy, and Ibsen. Without them, reading would be a lot less exciting.
• My family
• My church
• The color purple (and not the book by Alice Walker)
• Friends
• Google
• Wikipedia!

Confusion

Sometimes, things can be confusing.

Scratch that. Always. (Rhetoric strategy)

Life in general, really.

For example, why is this certain thing the way it is?

Don't you love ambiguousness?

Don't you love how "ambiguousity" is not a word?

Well, I don't.

And now there's this quiz bowl drama. How's THEM apples??

Why do certain aspects of me have to be socially inept?

Is this natural?

Who even knows.

What a horrible blog post.

Sorry.

I'm getting a negative/terrible vibe from this post.

I'll post something better. Later. Because it's late. And I'm writing in fragments. (Up until just then.) Sorry. Again.

Bye.

Rene

Happy Birthday, Rene Magritte.

Do his paintings challenge your preconditioned perceptions of reality and force you to become hypersensitive to your surroundings, as was his intended effect?

Starry Night

Starry, starry night.

Flaming flowers that brightly blaze,

Swirling clouds in violet haze,

Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue.

Colors changing hue, morning field of amber grain,

Weathered faces lined in pain,

Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.

-Don McLean's song "Starry, Starry Night"

As I was searching quiz bowl packets today, I read a question about this painting. Apparently it's the view from Van Gogh's window at the asylum. He had sent this painting-along with a package of other paintings-to his brother and in the included letter he wrote that he didn't care much for this painting. Ironically enough it's considered Van Gogh's magnum opus.

Poor Vincent, victim of mental instability and lack of success in his chosen career.

Hmm...

Certain things make me wonder.

For example. What exactly defines a friend? For me, it's actually quite a bit. Someone I can talk to easily (because we've already established that I'm a horrible conversationalist), someone I know well, someone whom I can predict what their thoughts/reactions will be, someone who doesn't make me feel inferior, someone whose faults I've come to overlook and maybe even love. This then begs the question, "Is Peter my friend?" Well, he meets most of the criteria, oddly/sadly enough. Except the whole "make me feel inferior" part. Just in case you didn't know, Peter is kinda consuming my [somewhat obsessive] thoughts. Followed closely by another person, who will go unnamed because I am NOT obsessed with them, whose question of "friendship" one tends to wonder about. It just confuses me.

Another thing that makes me wonder: How can artists be so subtle? Do they plan out every single, allegoric part of their piece before actually painting it. Or are they like Willem de Kooning who reworks his pieces time after time, trying to get it just right? So much planning, interpretation, and discussion goes into one painting. Did Leonardo da Vinci realize the impact he would have on the world when he simply painted Mona Lisa, the peasant wife of a friend? Did Piet Mondrien realize that in painting rectangles of different sizes in primary colors would become so famous? Did Rembrandt see how psychological his The Night Watch is or has become? Art is a form of protest and self-expression. I think it would be true for artists to incorporate symbols but I don't think that artists recognized the impact their paintings would have on the world and on the generations to come. It's the same thing with authors. Did Poe see how his "The Raven" and the mystery of his repetitive "Nevermore" be interpreted? Did Fitzgerald realize that The Great Gatsby would be read and begrudgingly analyzed by high school students across the world?

I think: yes. Authors and painters mean to include symbols and underlying messages to convey warnings, chastisement, or to simply share with the world a beautiful talent. I don't think that they realized the unmeasurable impact their works would have; I believe they only hoped that people would catch on. But the meanings they intended are open to interpretation; there is seldom a wrong answer.

So, after deviating off course from my first paragraph, I will try to answer my own question. Is Peter my friend? Well...yeah. Is that sad? Well...not really.

One down, one more to go.