Fall 2011: Bring It On

Well well well, if it isn't time for another blog post? I suppose it is. Now that just about everything is taken care of and the dust from the chaos of this first week has begun to settle, I feel that I can actually post something of note. Okay, we all know that isn't true, but that's not what you're reading this blog for.
This semester has had a different start to it than all my other semesters. The main reason is not because it started on a Monday, but because I had to add every class I'm taking except for two. On top of that, I ended up not getting one class I was going for, couldn't get my backup class, so I had to go and search around in the ether until I found one. I'm the type of guy that never drops/adds classes after the semester's begun. Once I find what classes I want/can add, I stick with those throughout the semester. I don't class-hop like James Bond hopping alligator backs; I like more stability.
So this semester will consist of the following classes: Human Anatomy and Physiology II with the accompanying lab, English 201, Exercise Physiology (imagine that, they have a class named after my major! It was meant to be), University Band, and a course called FA100 (FA= Fine Arts). And that's the way it's going to be.
The problem here is just focusing on everything that I have to do for this semester. Of course it's this way at the beginning of every semester. Once I get into the rhythm of my classes and other responsibilities, then it's easier to groove on through with class work and the like; much like a new dance. That doesn't stop me from slacking off though. That is usually one of the biggest things I have to deal with up here. This semester will probably be no different.
To be honest, this semester has more potential to be very disappointing and disheartening than the other ones. Of course, it also has lots of potential for the other side of that spectrum as well. Have you ever had the feeling that the near future had something big coming and you could only pray that it was something good? That's a feeling I have for this semester, and although I try to remain positive and hopeful for the future, it hasn't started out very promising. One can only look up, though, for in looking down is where we defeat ourselves.
I've been (somewhat) recently made aware of a band called Gotye ("Gor-ti-yeah"). It's really a one-man kind of band and he sings a song called "Learnalilgivinanlovin" (learn a little giving and loving). It starts out with the line, "If you're always trying to get to the top, you don't get to the bottom of nothin'." Those are somewhat wise words. I've found that you can still find yourself at the bottom of something, but not for very long. That will be my aim for this semester (and, if it takes, life). There's a quote that I found on the bottom of a projector hanging from a ceiling in a classroom just last night that talks about looking up instead of side-to-side. Basically, as we focus our gaze upward, our goals become "loftier" and we have incentive to strive and push ourselves to the limit to reach such goals, thus growing and making ourselves better "disciples of Diety." I wish I could remember the quote in it's exactness and who said it. Hopefully I remember in a week when I find myself in the same room.
Anyway, this semester has promise, for good or bad, just like any period of life. I aim for the stars, and here goes nothing.

One Week= the 8th

Hello, hello! This will probably be the last blog post for the Seven-week Break; then it's right back into the weekly (hopefully) posts of the semesterly (I just made that up!) blogging. Speaking of which, the Fall Semester starts in just 11 days! Holy-mole, that's really close.
These seven weeks were going by so fast at first. I had work pretty much every day and accumulating more shifts as I went along. Then, about a week ago, the magic stopped. Honeymoon over, the shifts stopped coming in. Boo. On. That. Noise. This past week has felt like several months and this week has been just as slow. I try to fill my time, but what can I do, honestly? I don't have too many options around here. I've been working out nearly every day, reading a little from my Anatomy and Physiology book to help retain what I've learned, playing the piano and the trumpet, and playing lots of Starcraft II- my guilty pleasure. That's been my average day.
Part of my workout routine involves riding my mountain bike wherever I feel like going, which usually ends up being my neighborhood. The only in/outlets of my neighborhood are to busy streets: Highland Drive and Fort Union Boulevard, both of which I don't really dare go past or on. That, and the maze I live in gives enough diversity for a good ride, which includes a pathway down into the place that's been generally deemed The Gully. It has a real name- it's a park/nature walk that's nestled behind a well-to-do community that's only road-accessible by Highland Dr. and Creek Rd.-I just never remember it. Anyway, the biking has been really good for my cardiovascular health, left knee, vitamin D production, fashion sense, etc. I guess I've been riding it pretty hard, too, or just misused it, because now the front de-railer for changing gears is busted. It hasn't effected my riding too much, I just can't change gear tiers, so I'm stuck in the highest tier of gears (unless I do it by hand) until I take it to a bike shop to get a new de-railer. Whoop-de-doo.
Aside from enduring the mind-numbing home-body life, I've been livin' it up approximately once a week! That is to say I've gotten out of the house and visited with friends when they're available. It's good to see them all again, despite being the odd wheel anywhere we go (3rd, 5th, 7th, etc.).  Last week was an adventure that took me to Coachman's Restaurant (good food) and Keys on Main for dueling pianists. The pianists weren't really dueling that night, they would play requests from the crowd who were all slowly (some quickly) getting tanked. Yep, it was at a bar, so not the most uplifting environment I've ever been in. Overall, it was fun to see the pianists' skills and the occasional embarrassment of a bride-to-be or birthday girl (funny how it was only women being celebrating their birthdays that night) along with the drunkards enjoying the frivolities while plunging further into the proverbial grave of a massive hangover. Okay, not so much that last part, but some were funny, others just plain annoying. I would encourage you all to view Bill Cosby's bit on drinking.
Anyway, amid the hum-drum, that's the life so far. One week from today I'll be moving into my old apartment up in Rexburg with four new roommates and gearing up another semester. Hopefully my new roommates will be good. With everything that this semester's looking to be, crummy roommates are not needed. Taking a full regimen of classes, working, and trying to have a social life will definitely take its toll on me, but whatever, there's no avoiding it because that's life! I could cut out socializing, but let's face it, it's not going to happen completely.

Actively Inactive

Here's another post for everyone who's been anxiously awaiting a new post. I know it's been hard and the hope fades after a few vain checks, but your efforts are now being rewarded! Sorry to say this one's not going to be much of a reward, even by my standards.
So far for my active lifestyle, I've worked at the clinic and have come down with something. Thankfully I've only been missing out on exercise to work (aside from my body's attempt to contract pneumonia or something), which I really need. But I also need to get in shape! Time is counting down until next semester and each minute brings me closer to a new semester. With that new semester will come a second admission to the University Band, too, and I've only looked at my trumpet. Isn't it funny how we can find a million things to do when we should really be doing something else? And it's usually justifiable, too. Well enough with the excuses! They only lessen a man's character, anyway. Tonight I'll go for a jog, and that's the way it's going to be since it's too late to practice the trumpet.
This last week has been an interesting one. My family went out of town for nine days, leaving me to look after the dog and house. I'll admit it was kind of nice having the whole place to myself, but at the same time it was rather lonely and seemed like a lot of upkeep at times. Our dog, a black labrador retriever, would wake me up every single morning around 5-5:30, and if I was lucky (which only happened twice), 6:30. Even though my family's back now and he doesn't sleep in my room anymore, I still wake about about 5:30 every morning. Hopefully that goes away soon.
Anyway, this post isn't really anything special; nothing more than a pathetic stitching together of random babbling. Anyway, do with it what you will. Until next time!

Into the 7

Well here we are, into the seven-week break.
Coming off of such highs as being the only student in my Anatomy and Physiology class to get 100/100 on the last lecture test and having decent grades for a busy semester, I plunge into the norm of being back in Salt Lake City. Thankfully I already have work here from email after email asking about shifts that I could possibly cover. Socially, I'm in comparative isolation which is not necessarily a bad thing, but one can have too much of that. I'm sure there's a at least one of you reading this that knows what I mean.
The twists and turns that one goes down in life sure make it interesting, but interesting doesn't always mean good and happy. Indeed certain revelations have been more than welcome in the past week or so, but bring with them the keen sting of opportunity not seized and aching for what seems to be the impossible at the moment. Sixteen hours is a long time span to be perpetually separated by. However, life continues in its endless march for the future and brighter horizons; the brightest yet to be happened upon. Normally we can only see what the future holds when we come to the threshold of it.
On a different note, I have been having a good break so far. Worked a little, tried twice to help with a new deck (being twice foiled by weather), tried acquiring super powers from a giant moth (the body looked to be about 3" long, without antennae) unsuccessfully, and reading up a storm with some books that I have been itching to read basically the whole semester. With that reading, I've learned something about myself. A while ago, a friend told me that when he reads for a long time, he begins to narrate in his head/think in the manner of the author's writing style. I do that too. Lately it's been Dean Koontz's style rebounding within my skull. I wonder how many people have that happen to them as well.
To close out, I've decided that these seven weeks are not going to be marked by a sedentary lifestyle. Although tempting after a busy semester, it's just no way to live. So feel free to ask me how my active lifestyle is working out! I'll be updating this blog here and there during the seven weeks, so you may ask here or in other ways that you know how to contact me.

Running With Scissors

First, let me apologize for the lack of blog this last week: Sorry about that. This will be a quick one and if you're all lucky, I'll get another one out this week.
It's that time again; the final countdown, the eleventh hour, yada yada yada. As yet another semester comes to a close, I can only do so much to keep my sanity. Mentally picturing me sitting in the big chair or a recliner at home, sipping lemonade, and chuckling to myself about the seeming weightlessness of being school-free for the next seven weeks helps. Mentally picturing me not having to retake certain classes like Chemistry 105 helps me stay focused on the tasks at hand. It's like running while holding scissors, but holding the scissors in such a way that you run less risk of stabbing yourself or someone else in the process.
I've learned something about learning that's known as "The Biology of Learning", and it's proven to be helpful for these last few weeks. It's goes a little something like this: -The size of your brain doesn't matter, but the number of synapses does. -The hippocampus moves short-term memory to long-term memory, the amygdala is in charge of emotional memory and getting the two to work together is a powerful learning tool (being challenged but successful is how memory "takes off"). -The brain is extremely good at filtering out boring or irrelevant information, so figuring out how to make things relevant to you is a good idea (preparation, repetition, and using multiple senses help). -Getting enough sleep is vital: it's the mind's consolidation time and it's also the time when neurons are built. The three most powerful of those is making learning: 1. A positive emotional experience, 2. Making it relevant to you, and 3. Repetition.
I have also found having down-time is beneficial, but only in controlled amounts. This last week has had some good times in that area. Friday night marked my first paintball experience and it was a lot of fun! I dished out some good hits and good challenges, but I also took my fair share of those, from man and insect. The only part of me really exposed were my hands, and I came away with six mosquito bites and one spider bite on my right hand with one on my right wrist, and only three mosquito bites on my left hand. We played in an area that's right on the Snake River, so the mosquitoes were out in force. Roughly 13 welts/bruises in all have been found on my body (you were out of the round when you took two hits, but three or more were usually administered before the person could declare they were out). For a few hours of paintball time, that's not too shabby for a first-timer.
Saturday marks the day that I went to Rigby Lake for the first time. I got a few hours of sun and I'm still as white as ever. What's up with that? Oh well, that was pretty much the gist of the Rigby Lake experience aside from being an unfortunate observer of the public waters scene. Yep.
In some good news, I have a few exams and such under my belt now and I'm still feeling pretty feisty for the rest of the "fight". I took my Anatomy and Physiology Comprehensive Final on Friday and got an 87%! Compared to the national average of about 73%, I feel that my score is pretty darn good. Now on to the last exam on the nervous system. Just one short paper, two quizzes, and three exams to go!

Cranium Insane...ium

Here I am sporting my timelessly stylish chemistry lab goggles. Indeed, these bad boys protected my precious orbs from severe harm and permanent damage. Now that we have officially had our final Chemistry 105 lab, the laboratory portion is over, and the equipment drawers are turned in, I don't need them anymore...or do I?






The question now is, "What shall I do with them now that I'm not working with dangerous, eye-harming chemicals?" There are so many things out there that would require optical protection as a safety measure, but what do I do most that I would use these for?

The answer: I'll cook with them.

Yes indeed, standard eye-wear for any cooking occasion! Protect your eyes from those pesky hot pepper juices! Tired of getting citrus juice in your eye every time you cook with fruit? I can hear the infomercial now...
So with that puzzle solved, I can now move back to some of the important things of current life. Things like the 6 exams, 3 quizzes, final lab report, and religion papers that I have left to do within the next 2 weeks. So, as I move forward, having my mind constantly flooded with new information while reviewing the old information, I can't imagine these next couple of weeks will make my list of top-ten time periods of my life.
I'm very fascinated with my Anatomy and Physiology class. We're going over the brain and nervous system as our final unit and it's just downright interesting. I now know things like what approximate area of the brain is being affected if someone can't articulate their words, what area if they can't interpret language, what part is most likely malfunctioning in criminal sociopaths, so on and so forth. The brain is an amazing hunk of meat, I'll tell you what, despite others' apparent lack of ability to use theirs. I'll give an example:
Have I ever mentioned how much I don't like other drivers on the road? Going home from Idaho Falls Monday night, not only did we hit some major traffic, but we also had one car try to get everyone in my car and everyone in another car killed. I were doing about 65-70mph at one point with two cars ahead of me. The front-most car decided that the the car immediately behind them was following too closely, I guess. The action that the foremost driver decided was best to take- and this is totally genius- was to slam on their brakes. Not tap them to say, "I believe you are following too closely and would appreciate it if you backed off", but slammed them to say, "if you don't move your butt from your current course, you will kill us all." Traveling in the left lane, I was grateful that the right lane had a large enough gap in it to allow the car ahead of us and my car to brake vigorously and swerve out of the path of certain doom. So one driver's lethargic, short-circuited mind-handling facilitated the necessity of skilled use of others' minds.
Aside from that instance of adrenaline-inducing action, I had a great Independence Day and hope you all did, too. The famed fireworks show in Idaho Falls was rather good and the company kept was better. I was exposed to an Australian drink called Peachies and now I'm hooked. Any chance you find these glass bottles of ambrosia, don't pass up the opportunity to partake. Now if you will all excuse me, I have a mountain of work to climb out from underneath of.

Post like a Champion

Here's another Friday post (at least it was when I started it) for all you interested folks! Yep, things are a little different now that the semester is drawing to a close and I think it would be safe to expect these posts on Fridays now.
First off, the picture for today's post is my very own BYU-Idaho Rec. Sports Champion T-Shirt! You get one if you win the championships in a particular sport. My shirt comes due to the great success of my ward ultimate frisbee team. Yes indeed, you are reading an ultimate frisbee champion's blog, aren't you special! You know, I could just refer to myself as "the champion" or something to that effect, like how John the Beloved never directly refers to himself as John, but as "the one whom Jesus loved" and the like. Earning this shirt hasn't gone to my head...Seriously, though, it hasn't. I'm just jazzed about finally getting a much-coveted Champion Shirt and I couldn't have done it without a great ward team! Anyway, that's enough of that.
There has been quite a bit of "the usual" going on around here. Chemistry quizzes, my muscle lab exam, hours of homework, analyzing copper solutions in chemistry lab, etc. A good quote from my chemistry teacher when talking about ions, charges, and the like: "This is not California, not New York; this is Idaho and a positive will always attract a negative." Another one from today when talking about electronegativity (attractiveness of ions): "Once you're married (which would be a Noble Gas, atomically speaking), nobody likes you except your spouse. They think you're a '10', everyone else thinks you're a dork." My chemistry teacher is quite a character.
Anatomy and Physiology tidbit time! My A&P teacher gives out a lot of random knowledge and fyi's to go along with what we're learning and I love it. Two things I've learned this last week is something called a "death wave" in brain activity and "waking paralysis". First, the death wave. It all started when scientists were talking about alternative, humane ways to kill lab rats. They normally pump the heart full of a solution that makes it contract and then be done (like Dr. Kevorkian), but they discussed the possibility of using a guillotine. That brought up the accounts during the French Revolution of disembodied heads still blinking or mouths still moving and an experiment was devised. They hooked a rat up with a bunch of electrodes that measure brain waves and chopped off its head (it was at the point of being euthanized anyway) and measured the waves. They found that it took about 4 seconds for the waves to completely die down and then there appeared to be no activity afterwards. One scientist left the electrodes on long and after about 50 seconds, there was a huge wave and then flat-line. After doing the same thing with several other rats with the same results, they made a trip to the hospital to dying patients and measured their brain waves at death. They found the same results in these deceased patients, complete with the one giant wave roughly 50 seconds after death. At this point they don't know what causes it, what happens during it; all they know is that it happens at about 50 seconds after death. Strange, isn't it?
I won't say much about waking paralysis, except that it involves a part of your brain stem called the "reticulum formation" found in the brain stem. It regulates sleep-wake patterns, cyclical patterns (like swinging your arms while walking), and alertness. It's highly sensitive to emotion since it's so close to the portion of the brain that deals with emotion. A mutation in the reticulum formation can actually cause complete paralysis in the body, triggered by emotion, and leaves the person completely aware of his/her surroundings without being able to do anything about it. We were then shown a video clip of a woman who, back in the 1950s, went into waking paralysis while laughing at an Abbott and Costello movie. She was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. After being put on a slab in the morgue, she regained control of her body, at up, and saw a morgue attendant. As soon as he saw her, he took off running and she never saw him again. Nowadays we have more sensitive instruments so that we can tell if somebody's actually dead or just in waking paralysis, but can you imagine back in the days when there really were no instruments at all? Although the condition is rare, one has to figure there were a few people who weren't as lucky as the lady in our video clip.
Moving on, it's the 4th of July Weekend! Happy Independence Day everyone! Granted, not everyone who reads these posts celebrates the holiday, but a Happy 4th to you just the same. It's a fun weekend that's planned up here in the Burgiverse; with hiking (maybe), barbequing, going down to Idaho Falls to watch the fireworks on Monday, and things of that nature. Yessir, I love the Fourth of July. We've already kicked off the weekend last night (which means Friday night now) with a bonfire out in the St. Anthony Sand Dunes. It's a fantastic spot to go out and gaze at the stars. For all you avid star-gazers, make sure you get out of sight of the road that goes through there to avoid the headlights of passing cars and occasional lights of a police officer pulling someone over and thereby achieve optimal gazing. At any rate, I'm going to close this post out for another week. Until then, have a great week!