Life Lessons

Things I Have Learned Recently:
-The guitar (not super well)
-Patience (kind of but not super well either)
-How to be more open than is comfortable (still working on that, too)
-How weak I am
-How strong I can be
-All about different cords and cables for audio/visual equipment
-Hard work is worth it sometimes
-David O. McKay was an awesome husband
-So was Harold B. Lee
-Hope is possible without seeing how things will happen, if they ever even do
-Sleep is not overrated, but hard to get sometimes
-I like capitalism
-I'm pretty smart and capable and stuff (more of a needed reminder)
-It's not fun to learn the same lessons over and over
-Finding patterns is kind of really fun.  For me.
-Emotions are good if you accept them
-Emotions sometimes still are the worst even then
-Stability and routine are things I actually really crave
-Knowing that I need/don't need something and actually feeling like I need/don't need something are very, very different things
-Perspective can be really hard to find
-It's really easy to spend money without thinking about it
-Being stable and having a good, solid network of friends for support is worth a lot more than any words can describe
-Music is really good for catharsis
-Movies used to do that for me really well, but now are overwhelming a lot of the time
-I am really funny (not that I didn't know this before)
-I like talking to strangers about things like beeswax, CSAs, history, trivial matters
-I miss some of my old hobbies a lot
-Touching hot pans is bad for my skin
-Being outside is a really good form of therapy
-Writing in my journal is another really good form of therapy
-Talking to friends/family is another really good (better, even) form of therapy
-Being optimistic is sometimes hard but it's always worth it
-Taking risks is also really hard, but it can lead to very rewarding experiences and lessons I couldn't have learned otherwise
-I don't like school enough to go on and get a PhD, but sometimes I wish I did because I do actually really love school enough to keep going on.  Just not enough for the work and life-sucking quality of graduate degrees.
-I should stop being as shy as I am, but I don't really want to talk to other people a lot of the time.  Not enough to actually do it
-I'm really stubborn and moody and prideful
-Laughter is one of the only ways to break the above
-It's really easy for me to be distracted at inappropriate times
-I can carry a joke on until it becomes something very serious, like how comic book characters are all based on scriptural characters.  That joke may have lasted like 24 hours, actively naming comic book characters and the scriptural characters that correspond.
-I have no clue what I want to do even three months from now, or where I want to be.  Like, literally.
-Life is good, even when it's hard
-Even when things can't get much worse, there's a silver lining in that it can (and often will) always get better
-It takes work to feel comfort and hope sometimes, but that work is always well worth it
-Just going through the motions sucks, so trying to be optimistic and actually like my life is really important
-Time helps perspective, so do prayer and scripture study.

What's Up, Doc?

Recent Happenings in my Life, in Case I Haven't Told You, or If You Were Curious, or if You're Just Bored/Voyeuristic:

-I got a job in Music and Dance special collections, so I now work for the HBLL... again

-I eat peaches a lot

-I eat a lot of cabbage

-My stomach is really loud lately (maybe all the cabbage?)

-I took my first (and only...) midterm of the semester this week!

-I have most of my time scheduled away, even though I'm still up to my procrastinating and unproductive ways!

-I'm figuring out my Halloween costume still, but it's more or less between Liz Lemon (soul twin #4) and the counselor from Glee (soul twin #2)

-I've started PhD applications... but haven't gotten far

-I'm planning to finish my prospectus this week! I CAN do it! Si se puede! (I don't speak Spanish.... is that how you say it?)

-I ignore my blogs when I'm legitimately busy... who knew?

-I keep realizing that I just want to be in school forever and learn everything! Who wants to teach me something?

-I still hate calling strangers... and people I know... except my Mom. She may be the only person I am comfortable talking with on the phone.

-I may be addicted to texting, in part because of the above. I might make a goal to change that. Maybe....

-Sometimes I'm emotional, but I'll still swear to you that emotions are for the weak! Because they are.

-My soul twin is Liz Lemon. For reals.

Meditation

Things I Like in Other People:
-Good sense of humour
-Intelligence
-Patience
-Curiosity
-Passion for something unexpected
-Tolerance
-Quiet confidence

My Tragic Flaws:
-Inability to express myself correctly
-Not following through on things
-Forgetting the details because of obsession with other details
-Overanalysing minute details
-Timidity
-Sarcasm
-Weakness for sugar in almost every form
-Red hair (just kidding...)
-Too quick to laughter

Academia

Memorable Papers I Wrote in College:
-Animal Imagery as Mimetic Metaphor in Jean-Pierre Melville's Bob le Flambeur and Le Samourai
-Brain Washing and Propaganda in Maoist China
-French reception of Wiemar cinema in the interwar period (not yet written)

Majors I Could Have Done But Never Tried:
-Linguistics
-Political Science
-Anthropology
-Psychology
-Neuroscience
-English Language
-English Literature
-Classical Studies
-Scandinavian Studies (emphasis in Humanities)
-European Studies
-Geography
-Economics
-Philosophy

Languages I Wish I Studied:
-German
-Danish
-Finnish
-Dutch
-Japanese
-Mandarin
-Latin
-Classical Greek
-Hebrew

Graduate Schools I Wish I Could Get Into:
-Johns Hopkins
-Yale
-Northwestern
-Berkeley
-Cambridge

Options for Post-Graduate Life:
-Internship (USA, Canada, or Europe)
-Volunteer work or something similar in Africa
-Mission
-Grad School
-Work (to fund one of the above options)
-Psychosomatic Reintegration?