Deceiving appearances

I make it a point to never read a book with a boring cover. Unless I have to for a class, that is.

I just read a book for my writing class whose cover bears a striking resemblance to this:


It's called Judgments Over Time: The Interplay of Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviors. Such a “fascinating” title only made it lose more points.

Upon flipping through the book, you would realize that it is in fact a collection of psychology articles about how a person changes (or doesn't change) the way they think, feel, and behave over time. Almost twenty percent of the book is reference pages. You might come across an occasional nonsensical diagram that seems to be trying to graph a person's life with a sinusoidal curve representing non-quantified high and low coherence levels. It is titled “Potential Life Niches,” and you might even sit for a moment to try and figure out what all the arrows mean before taking a deep breath and turning to the front of the book to begin a part of your life that is likely to be one of those low coherence pits in the graph you just gave up on.

You would be pleasantly surprised however. The foreword is written by some guy named George Lowenstein, and he's a bit like David Letterman in that he's pretty funny and makes you feel smart. I sort of had that sophisticated smile-and-adjust-your-bow-tie reaction when he quoted Pangloss from Voltaire's Candide and I recognized it. I also chuckled to myself when he referred to the “mild-mannered office-mate [who] entertains fantasies of murdering you.”

At this point, I may need to remind you that this book is not about the criminally insane but rather how impressions, memories, and expectations adjust over time. And I think that it was pretty well-put-together. Lowenstein's humor doesn't continue through all of the articles, but they are engaging enough to keep my attention once I realized that they could read my mind, including my violent fantasies.

In fact, they seem to know quite a bit about me. There is a whole article on defensive pessimism, a condition where people set their expectation low because it drives them to work harder and achieve more. I always think it's a little odd when I realize that my disorders have names.

In general though, I really enjoyed my little self-exploration through this book. Then again, perhaps you should ask one of the authors how much I really enjoyed it. They might just tell you that I've reconstructed my memory just because I'm happy to be done.

My Run-in with the Law

So it finally happened. My worst fears have been realized. Now I officially have a police record.

Yesterday, I went to the library to find a book for my English class. Not any book in particular. It actually could have been a great many books. With so many options, one would think that I would be able to find something suitable in less than 30 minutes. Instead it took me about two hours.

By the time that I found something that I thought might work, I had a headache and was exhausted. I trudged up the two flights of stairs and turned to head out the door.

A second later, the alarms were sounding and I scurried back through the security gate. Fortunately, the guard at the desk was my friend from choir. Unfortunately, my friend has an impressive sense of duty. I guess the library policy is that if anyone walks through the gate with a contraband library book they have to call police dispatch and do a background check.

It turns out the BYU Police already know all sorts of things about me. Now they know that I steal books.

After I had been reported and my thieving nature had been permanantly recorded, I went to circulation to mend my ways and check out the book honestly. They informed me that before I could check out any book, I had to pay a fine. To make matter worse, they made me go up the LRC to do so.

I eventually escaped with my book, but 30 minutes, two dollars, and a trip up the stairs later. Oh, yes. And one more thing. An official criminal record.

There go my chances of ever being in the FBI.

And then there was one

Today marks the one year anniversary of my return from my mission. It has both come and gone quietly. I didn't even realize that it was here until this morning actually.

I think that these are really the best moments to think about progress and life in general. I know that there are holidays in place for these sorts of things but they tend to get swallowed up in celebration. At New Years, we are supposed to look forward to how we will improve in the next year. At Thanksgiving, we are supposed to look backwards to what we have been given. Even birthdays have a bit of reflection involved, but I have a rotten habit of ignoring that part in the rumbling of food, games, and family.

Not that any of those things are bad things, but I'm certainly grateful for days like today that I just get to think about what I've become. It isn't exactly what I wished that I would, but quiet reflection has reminded me that I am moving forward. And I'm just fine with that. Celebrating alone allows for remorse and joy, and both feed a dedication for continued efforts.

In any case, happy anniversary to me, and good night to all those who have patiently put up with my little reflection.

locked

I've been locked out of my email account. I don't understand what is going on. One moment I was just sending emails, and the next it told me I wasn't allowed to any more.

I'm actually in a state of mild panic. What if someone wants to contact me? Not that I'm expecting anything in particular, but when there's a campus emergency, don't they notify everyone by email. What if someone accidentally hit the campus self-destruct button and the whole thing is going to blow in 20 minutes or less and so they send out an email to warn us but I don't get it because I'm sitting here in the library complaining that I've been locked out.

Mostly it's just irritating. If anyone wants to get a hold of me, you may just have to rely on the good old US Postal Service.

Pahree, Frahnce

Today a certain member of Men's Chorus stood up to say the prayer and he gave the usual introduction before he prayed: his name, his major, how long he had been in Men's Chorus, and where his served his mission. This man had apparently served in "Cheelay."

It occurred to me that whenever return missionaries who serve their mission in South America speak about where they served, they pronounce it with the pronunciation of the mission-language. This is also true about "tone-gah." I don't think that this is true for any other places. I have never told someone that I served in "Pahree, Frahnce" but that's just probably because they might worry that I'm strangling if I used the real French pronunciation. People don't say they served in "Doich-land" or "Espanya" or "Jong-gwoa" either though.

I have on occasion told people that I served in "Gay Pahree."

I thought at first that maybe it was just because Americans are notorious for the rotten geography skills, and maybe the first time they ever heard someone say the name of the country where they served was when they got there. If this were the case though, we'd probably be getting a lot more reports of people who served in "Ahrlund" for example.

I guess this is just one of those mysteries that we will just have to wait until the other side to get answered.

Life's little paradoxes

Or is it paradoces?

So I'm a bit stuck here. I have a big project that I need to get done over the break and I have tons of time. I even have the project out and would love to work on it more than just about any other reasonable thing that I could be doing right now. I have one problem though. I am at work and don't have the resources here to get it done.

During Christmas break, we have needed to cover the office just it case some decides to call. I supposed it's great that I'm here taking the time to make sure that a few people are taken care of, but in the 20 hours that I have worked over the last 2 weeks, I have received perhaps 6 phone calls. That comes to about 25 dollars a phone call. I think that it's kind of my office to be willing to spend so much as a campus service.

I guess I have directed about 20 people to the traffic office down the hall while I have been here as well.

It's not so bad though. As it turns out, the computer lab that has the programs I need to move forward is also closed for Christmas break and it will be open again when classes start on Monday.

Once I no longer have time any more.

Wowie!

So after almost 19 hours straight in the library, I've learned that staying this long in one place can make a person a little loopy. I've been doing alright all day long, however about a hour ago, I was standing talking to my brother when I, all of a sudden, felt really dizzy. I sat down and felt better, but I still have a bit of a headache (not unlike the headaches I get when I'm not getting enough sleep).

In any case, I'm well prepared for my test tomorrow as long as I can stay awake and focused for the thing. Luckily, I only need a 80 percent or so to get a good grade.