The Summer of Nerdiness

Two weeks into summer and I think I've gotten into the routine of things. A few people don't like me my calling myself a nerd, but according to a yahoo article, nerd is so in right now. Well, that's good news for me because a good number of my summer hours will be spent doing nerdy things. My summer job is working at the Harold B. Lee Library, shelving books. It is more physically demanding than I thought it would be. I walk all around my floor (2nd Religion) and around of the rest of the library for about 7 hours, only sitting while I'm sorting books or reading the call numbers on bottom shelves. I also time myself while I shelve books with the goal to reach 4 books a minute. I've enjoyed my first two weeks and I've had a chance to scope out some books to read this summer.

In addition to working at the library, I'm interning at the BYU Writing Center which with hopefully turn into a job for Fall semester. So far I've been observing peer tutors helping students with papers and, by the end of the term, I'll be doing the same thing. A pretty academic based summer, but I think it will be great. The best part is that I have no homework, leaving plenty of time to read. I've four books so far and my list is growing.

As far as social activities, it's been movies and bonfires every weekend. My roommates and I made a list of some creative date activities. Hopefully, we'll try them all.

To finish off my blog, I thought I'd leave you with some funny titles I've come across at work:

How to pray and stay awake

Can I have your number: Pick-up lines that don't work and gospel principles that do

Death and Dying A-Z

How to be well liked

Pure & Chased

If I find more, I'll be sure to share them. Since I find them shelving, I wonder who checks these books out.

Semester Wrap-up

I'm sitting here waiting for midnight so I can sign up for Fall classes. Since I've accomplished the work I set aside for tonight,(quite the feat because I rarely do all the work I plan to do)I thought I'd share some photos from this semester. Certainly not as exciting as last semester, but I've had a few good times. These pictures are from my birthday, my trip to Denver to see my family, and from the Festival of Colors at the Hindu temple in Spanish Fork. They were all really good times. There really is nothing that can take the place of friends and family, even London.

Is Feminist a bad word?

I've been surprised lately at my reaction to being called a feminist. My knee jerk reaction is "No I'm not!" but two years ago I would have said "Yeah, is that a problem?" with attitude. I have always been and will continue to be an advocate for strong women. Then why was I embarrassed when my roommate said my feminism is rubbing off on her or when she told a room full of people that I'd chose a feminist answer?

I've been mulling over the feminist label I've been given. For a bit I thought I had sold out my views. I thought I didn't want her blabbing to boys that I was a feminist and then there went any chance of dates this semester, but that was a stupid fear. Who wants a guy that's afraid of a feminist? Ridiculous. Then I realized it wasn't because I'd changed my views, but that I considered my views to be moderate. I just spent a semester in London learning about the "woman question" and realized that I owe the rights I enjoy now to some very intelligent and brave women. I owe it to them to consider my education, chance as a career, and respect from men as an intellectual equal as a right. No one, man or woman, can make me feel ashamed to expect that. If that makes me a feminist, than so be it.

So to in light of my revitalized image, I thought I'd let you in on a pattern that I've found in my Young Adult Lit. class. Remember J.K. Rowling? Of course you do. Well female writers who, like Rowling, write about male protagonist tend to use their initials instead of their first name. Why? Because then readers cannot make an automatic assumption on the sex of the author. As we've discussed in class, girls will read whatever they can,(perhaps because for the longest time we were only allowed novels) but boys have a harder time finding books they like and rarely pick up a book with a female protagonist. Boys are more likely to voluntarily read a male author than female author, so to make more money why not use initials so you gain male readers without alienating your female readers. Just a tidbit for you to think about the next time you pick up a book.

Readjusting to Normality

A little over a month since my last post--the last post from London. Today it has been exactly a month since I left London. It cannot be true, but so my calendar tells me. I still feel like I'm adjusting to life in the States, particularly to life in one very special state, Utah. Colorado will always be home, so I felt comfortable as soon as I saw the sunset reflected on the snow. However, now that I'm back in school, I feel like a freshman again. I'm getting used to new roommates and classes. I'm taking French again and my Humanities 250 class feels a lot like my freshman English class (including the analysis of a Shakespeare sonnet).

In a way, I feel like I'm making a new start. I'm paying better attention in class and being more persistent in my readings, but most importantly, I'm finally looking at my classes with a goal in mind--getting into graduate school. I've found the purpose I've been lacking.True the goal for my education is to be able to go to more school, but it's still something to work towards. Still, I'm not repeating freshman year. My classes certainly demand more from me than my gen eds. For instance, I've a fourth of two text books, one of them being art philosophy. You know, Aristotle, Plato, and Kant, I've had a crash course in their philosophy every other day. I sit in class confused half the time, but then there are the moments of clarity that open up not only art, but human thought. This will be a tough semester, but I have a feeling that it will mold me into a real scholar.

Goodbye London Town

Finals are finished and my time in London is coming to an end. Sad day. So here is a list of some of the things I'll miss about London and what I look forward to when I come back home.

What I'll Miss...
British Accents
Going wherever I want on the tube
Percy Pigs
Cute Sweet Shops
The Thames
Movies in the classroom
Treacle
Kensington Gardens
Whitechapel Ward
London walks
Art Museums
Going to shows every week
The view from the National Gallery
Big Ben!

What I look forward to being home...
real hamburgers
Mexican food
Toilets that flush
One faucet on the sinks
clean mountain air
being in car
my family!

Walk Among the Scholars

Schools of Thought
1. Socialism
2. Classical
3. Pre-Raphaelite
4. School of Art
5. Darwinism
6. University of London
7. Peaceful Resistance
8. British Library

The walk among the scholars seemed a rather boring walk as far as sight seeing goes, but when I began thinking about all the studying and new ideas that originated in such concentration from these blocks, the lack of “sights” became nothing to me. I walked amazed and inspired by the studious endeavors of past and present students. Britain has held scholarly renown for quite some time and it is no wonder considering the works of Newton, Darwin, Rossetti, and Dickens which cover the bases of human ingenuity in science and art. The pictures and captions listed above are only a sample of the scholarly work in that neighborhood and an even smaller sample of London’s contributions to science and art. This semester, I’ve been walking in the footsteps of giants.

Versailles

My first full day in France was spent at the extravagant Versailles palace and grounds. The palace was luxury and wealth to the extreme. The grounds looked magnificent, even during the dreary winter day. If I had come in the spring I think the blooming flowers and gold architecture would have overwhelmed me with its exuberance. A group of us girls had a blast though! We explored the grounds and found Marie Antoinette's hamlet which was a fairytale like village she had made to connect with the peasants. Yeah, well maybe it was more like a huge play village, but Marie Antoinette wasn't known for her thriftiness. We sure enjoyed the ideal village and loved the mill that looks like Belle's house. It was worth the extra hours and miles spent exploring.