Merry Christmas One and All

It's Christmas Eve (as of forty-five minutes ago) and I just wanted to say Merry Christmas everyone! I hope it is filled with love and laughter as you keep in mind the reason why we celebrate this time of year. And just because the spirit of Christmas seems to be best translated through song, here are the lyrics to one of my favorites:

Life is full of sweet surprises, every day's a gift
The sun comes up and I can feel it lift my spirit
It fills me up with laughter, fills me up with song
I look into the eyes of love and know that I belong

Bless us all who gather here
The loving family I hold dear
No place on Earth compares with home
And every path will bring me back from where I roam

Bless us all that as we live
We always comfort and forgive
We have so much that we can share
With those in need we see around us everywhere

Let us always love each other
Lead us to the light
Let us hear the voice of reason
Singing in the night
Let us run from anger
And catch us when we fall
Teach us in our dreams and please, yes, please
Bless us one and all

Bless us all with playful years
With noisy games and joyful tears
We reach for you, and we stand tall
And in our prayers and dreams we ask you bless us all

We reach for you, and we stand tall
And in our prayers and dreams we ask you bless us all

If Bella and Edward had been Mormon...

...then Twilight might have gone something like this...

Archaeological Adventures

My friend Kristin sent me this e-mail and I thought it was too funny not to share:

After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, a California archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet and shortly after, a story in the LA Times read: 'California archaeologists, finding traces of 200 year-old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers.'

One week later, The Louisville Courier Journal, a local newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky, reported the following: After digging as deep as 30 feet in his pasture near Lexington, Kentucky, Bubba Schultz, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Bubba has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Kentuckyhad already gone wireless.

Archaeologists everywhere are proud.

"my momma learned me to spoke real good"

Every now and again I'll go back and re-read some of my previous school work, and I admit that I'm slightly impressed by my writing skills most of the time. Other times, however, not so much. Here is a particularly humbling story:

Sitting in my Prehistoric European Archaeology class, waiting as my teacher passes back our most recent site analyses.

Prof Bartlett: "You all did pretty well on your papers, but you need to make sure you proof read before you turn them in. There was one paper that really made me laugh. I don't remember who wrote it, but they meant to say that this particular site yielded many historically significant artifacts, but wrote that it wielded many artifacts instead. I just got this image of arms sticking out of the ground, swinging ceramics around in the air."

Yeah, guess who wrote that paper. Not my finest hour.


Horrible illustration aside, I think you get my point.

How college students make decisions

I tend to go through phases of obsessions. One week I'll be all about politics, the next I'll be all about Xena (all six season are available on Netfix!! How could anyone resist?). My current obsession seems to be for finding the perfect graduate school. Every other night I'll spend hours researching different programs at various institutions, but never seem to make any progress to speak of. Tonight, however, I think I finally hit a milestone.

My friend Kristin and I met through the anthropology program. While both of us are graduating in April with an emphasis in archaeology, neither of us want to continue in that particular field. Kristin hopes to pursue a master's in psychological anthropology while I am interested in biological/physical anthropology. While musing over life post graduation, we decided that it would amazing if we went to the same graduate school, that way we could be roommates.

Reality constantly seems to get in the way, however. The first six or so schools we looked at didn't have the necessary programs to accommodate both of us. But then, the heavens smiled upon us and we found the holy grail of Anthropology schools. UC San Diego. Here is the gist of our subsequent conversation:

Kristin: "San Diego! We'd be by the beach."
Karma: "And it would be warm. You mentioned before how you hate the cold"
Kristin: "And it's only a couple hours away from my family."
Karma: "And isn't Comic-Con held in San Diego?"
*long pause*
Both: "!!!COMIC-CON!!!"

I should never be allowed to be a mother...

If my blog were a child, I'm pretty sure the CPA would've been called by now and my butt would be hauled away to jail. Nearly half a year has come and past, and all I have to show for it is one measly blog post. I'm sure that represents neglect to the n-th degree. Anyways, the time has come for a rededication. Out with the old, in with the new. It's time for some fresh, new, and hip blog posts. Who's with me?!

ACORN

This makes me mad.

Apparently, ACORN (a company dedicated to helping lower-income minority families buy real-estate) has finally been called out as being a corrupt organization. Then how is it that no one seems to know about it? Los Angeles Times: PIMP in ACORN video

I'm honestly speechless. The only comment that comes to mind is, "What the heck?"

And this is the organization that heavily funds President Obama. Great.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Audacity of Hos
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

What's even more frightening is that ACORN's only response seems to be, "Well, they never told us they were videotaping the session...and that's a felony." Really? Honestly?

Field School

Tomorrow I start the fourth week of field school. So far I'm surprised by how much I've enjoyed it. Honestly, I was expecting to hate waking up at six thirty and digging outside until five in the evening, but the people are great and the work is really exciting. So far we've found a lot of animal bones and ceramic sherd as well as projectile points. I know, it doesn't sound that exciting. You really have to be there.

I don't have any exciting or funny stories yet, however, but I'll be sure to keep you up to date.

Also, I'm looking into graduate school. The University of Washington offers a masters in biocultural anthropology and Washington State University offers one in evolutionary anthropology. I'm not entirely sure which, if either, I'll end up doing. Definitely something that requires further investigation.

What the crud?!?

It's snowing outside. Seriously, it is and has been ALL DAY! Maybe someone should kindly remind the weather that it's freakin' April. APRIL. As in spring. Definitely not the season for snow.

And finals start in two days. I have such a ridiculous amount of homework due between now and next Wednesday that just thinking about it makes me want to curl up in the fetal position and cry. But I won't because that would be awkward.

And there's a dog in my apartment. And it smells.

On the up side, I made muddy buddies today. They were tasty.

Reasons why today rocked...

1) I slept in 'till noon. I had a migraine last night, (which was gone when I woke up - I can add that to the list of good things) so I slept longer than usual.

2) I discovered we now get the Discovery Channel at our apartment.

3) I got a free freshwater pearl necklace. Hooray for jewelry stores that give away stuff in order to stand out in a town where every other store is dedicated to weddings.

4) I successfully parallel parked on my first try (the first time I've needed to since my driver's test I might add).

5) I signed my housing contract for next year. Hooray for not being homeless.

6) I bought groceries. Hooray for not starving.

7) I didn't eat any junk food even though I really wanted to.

8) I got all of my homework for tomorrow (plus some not due for a few days) done before midnight...which NEVER happens.

Ok, so today wasn't that great, but I'm trying to stay positive. In a few short weeks, finals will start and life will be H-E-double hockey sticks, so I might as well enjoy the simple life while I can. Plus I haven't written a new post in a while...

A Good Day

I got approval from the anthropology department to wave the Anthro 499 Senior Thesis class. Me so happy!!

Three Posts In One Day

I need to vent. It's been a long day.

It started with me staying up until 5:00am studying for my theatre history test (I mentioned it in the first post I published today). Anyways, stayed up till five, couldn't fall asleep until six, and woke up at eight to go on campus and take the test. The last test took about an hour and a half, so I was expecting to get out of the testing center fairly quickly. Yeah, the test took me over three hours. It sucked. Then, I wandered around campus until 2:00pm becuase I had an appointment with the Anthropology advisior concerning graduation requirments. She basically told me that I had to go to the top floor and set up an appointment with the Anthropology director, who wasn't in today. That sucked. Also, I had tickets to see the BYU production of Macbeth today but ended up giving them to my roommate because I had to go work on a project for my Anthro 309 class. That sucked too. When I went to work on my Anthro project, however, I had been given the wrong time and no one was there. So, not only do I now have to scramble last minute to figure out a different project idea to present to my teacher for Friday (as in the day after tomorrow), but I wasted perfectly good theatre tickets. Guess what? That sucks.

Needless to say, I'm pretty darn frustrated. I think I'll go get ice cream now.

Makes Me Giggle...Tuesday?

So my goal of posting something that makes me smile every Tuesday was short lived. While writing my previous post, I realized that it was already Wednesday and I had yet to post something that makes me smile for this week. Guess I'm 0 for 2. O well, better late than never (plus the first one was a day early, so it just balances everything out, right?).

This video is pretty stupid, but it still makes me giggle.

If tests could feel, I would slap them...

...or at least call them a few choice names.

Today I took my TMA 202 (theatre history) test and my goodness, I HATE tests that consist entirely of essay questions. Three hours and three handwritten pages later (front and back) my hand seriously feels like it's about to freakin' fall off! I know three pages (front and back) doesn't seem like much, but I've done the math. I write fairly small, averaging about 15 to 20 words per line. The standard college ruled piece of notebook paper contains approximately 3o lines, give or take. That's at least 450 words per page (just on one side). If you count both sides, that's at least 900 words, which equals a little short of five 12 point font, Times New Roman, double-spaced, typed pages. Maybe I'm just a wuss, whatever.

At least the weather's nice.

And I learned a lot. Go ahead, ask me about theatrical forms in the 19th and early 20th centuries. My knowledge will blow your mind (better ask me quick though because I guarantee you that I won't remember any of it by tomorrow).

Now That's Giggle Worthy

I just realized that even after my long explaination of why my post is 'Makes Me Giggle Tuesday' as oppose to 'Makes Me Giggle Monday' that the date of the post says Monday. Ha! That's what I get for writing a post barely after midnight. I feel the need to break into song: Isn't it ironic? Don't cha think? It's like rain... Sorry, that was random. Hooray for random-ness.

Makes Me Giggle Tuesday

I got this idea from my older sister's blog (shout out to Jenni). Basically, you pick a day of the week that you particularly don't enjoy, and on that day you post a funny video, story, or whatever makes you smile. It's a little something intended to brighten your day. Anyways, I thought this was a great idea and decided to jump on the bandwagon.

Before moving on to the video, however, I want to explain why I chose Tuesday in particular. I actually have nothing against Tuesday. I originally intended to have it be 'Makes Me Giggle Monday', but yesterday was a rather hectic day so I never got around to it. Also, I don't have class on Tuesday, so I figured this would be more convenient. And everyone hates Mondays, so this is me attempting to convince the blogging world that I am capable of independent thought.

Moving on, I saw this video on my friend's blog (shout out to Danielle) and thought it was too hilarious to not share.

Blah, Blah, Blah

Alas, I once again go for a month plus without posting anything new - I do have to say though, January was a good month as far as posts go. In order to relieve some of my guilt, I am writing what Kassie so lovingly calls 'a throw away post'. A throw away post is a post in which the author, basically, doesn't actually say much of anything. So this is me not saying much of anything.

I guess I could fill you in on what I've been doing lately, although there isn't much to say...and I can't even use pictures to distract you from my never-ending ramblings. O well.

Classes are going well. I'm really enjoying my Theatre History class in particular. I am also currently preparing for my field study this spring (that will take place somewhere in Utah, so nothing too exotic), and am seriously reconsidering my original plan of staying in Utah summer term to get some GE's out of the way...the closer summer gets, the more I'm liking the idea of going home for a few months. Also undergoing the reevaluating process in the whole "should I add a minor?" idea. I am/was (can't decide which) considering adding a Theatre Studies minor. I've always loved theatre and want to be more involved, so this minor would basically be for kicks and giggles. But there's the part of me that wants to get done as soon as I possibly can and run away from Utah screaming bloody murder. Then there's that voice in the mack of my mind (which, interestingly enough, sounds a lot like Mom) saying, "You only get this experience once...enjoy it...don't be in a rush" and so forth. Grrr...So. Frustrating. And then there's the whole "I think I picked the wrong major" stuff going on in the back of my mind, but with almost two years under my belt, it seems like such a waste to change it now. *weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth*

Wow, that was a lovely venting paragraph. Sorry about that.

Could I Rock This Look? Public Opinion Poll

I need your opinion. I'm thinking of getting my hair cut in a style similar to the pictures below (the style in the first picture is a little longer than I was thinking. Think Natalie Portman meets Keira Knightly), but wanted to know what you guys think first. My main questions are 1) would this hair cut look good considering my face shape and body proportions? and 2) do you think I could pull off this look in general? Just wanting to know what you think. Be brutally honest.

"May I see your identification?"

The Players
Leanna
Karma
Ben (Leanna’s Boyfriend)
Ryan (Leanna’s Brother)
Junior (Ben’s Brother)
NOTE: Ben, Ryan, and Junior live together in an apartment in Orem.

So, the other night (I believe it was Thursday) Leanna called me around eleven pm asking me if I wanted to run with her to the grocery store. While at the local Albertsons (it’s one of the few things open that late at night), Leanna noticed a stand of Valentine’s Day merchandise and decided that she wanted to get Ben something, so she picked out this little red teddy bear.

Well, Thursday nights are the unofficial “boy’s night out,” so Leanna thought it would be best if we left the bear outside Ben’s window as a surprise so we wouldn’t interrupt them. Upon arriving at the apartment complex, Leann found a nearby parking spot and shut off the car while I took the bear and, being as sneaky as possible (which is hard to do when the ground is covered with very crunchy snow), went up and placed the bear by what Leanna told me was Ben’s bedroom window and ran like a girl back to the car. Not having the patience to wait and wanting to see Ben’s reaction upon discovering the bear, Leanna promptly texted Ben telling him to look out his window. Ten minutes and ten texts later, the bear was still sitting outside. Apparently, Ben was having trouble figuring out what was supposedly outside his window because 1) he was looking for Leanna thinking she had shown up as a surprise, and 2) because the bear had been placed outside of Ben’s kitchen window, not his bedroom window. So, I once again ventured out into the snow and once again sneaked up to the apartment, moving the bear so that it was outside of the correct window.

While running back to the car like a giddy girl, I noticed that there was a police car on the other end of the parking lot. Apparently, something was going down. Well, we began to discuss the possible reasons behind why a police officer would be in the parking lot at this time of night (it was a little after midnight at this point) when the police car starting driving towards us. This didn’t cause too much alarm…until the car pulled into the free parking spot next to us. But wait, it gets better. A second police car pulled around the corner and stopped (you guessed it) right behind Leanna’s car, blocking us in. Next thing we know, one of the officers is shining a flash light into the car and knocking on the driver-side window. As Leanna rolls down her window, we hear the most frightening words imaginable. “May I see your identification?” Apparently, Leanna and I weren’t nearly as sneaky as we thought. One of Ben’s neighbors had seen us and reported us to the security office for “suspicious behavior”. But wait, it gets better. All of the commotion and police lights had attracted the attention of Ben and his roommates. Next thing we know, Ryan, Ben, and Junior are all outside and trying to explain the situation to the officers between fits of hysteria. Yeah, because that’s really going to help the situation. Luckily the officer was really nice and understanding. He gave us back our id’s and told us, for future reference, to either have our fun at a more reasonable hour of the night or to be less obvious while doing it.

I just can’t get over how ridiculous the entire situation was. Plus, it seems kind of ironic that the first time (in my life!) a police officer asks for my identification was over an aborable Valentine's Day teddy bear.

Tickle Me Emo

My roommate showed this to me, I thought it was too funny not to share.

For your enjoyment (or, if you're anything like me, slight disturbance), I present Tickle Me Emo. This little guy is Elmo's cousin from Depress-A-Me Street and is full of issues. He's sad, whiny, and (of course) overly emotional.



Needless to say, I think there is something seriously wrong with today's youth and the whole "emo" scene. I just don't understand the mentality. Unfortunately, my generations' contribution to society seems to be one of disrespect and selfishness. I am constantly amazed by the lack of consideration shown by my peers and the complete disregard demonstrated towards their elders. They seem to think that their few years of experience qualifies them to know what's best and everyone else is an idiot. That and the whole "I'm too deep for you to understand" attitude really bug me. All I can say to people like that is "seriously?"

I'll get off my soap box now.

Xbox to Exile?

I came across this article, which discusses a link between social behavior and video games, today while browsing the internet. I thought it was pretty interesting and that all of my child-raising siblings and friends (as well as those considering having children in the near/distant future) might find it interesting. NOTE: I'm not trying to preach, just thought it made some good points. A few of the remarks are a little "no duh" and could easily be reconciled with the whole "everything in moderation" ideal, but it provides all of you statistic-quoting junkies with additional numbers and percentages if nothing else.

Xbox to Exile? Videogames Linked to Antisocial Behavior

Karma's Got A Gun

This weekend Garett drove down from Idaho to spend the extended weekend with his sister, DeLana, in Lehi. I was the one who benefited from his trip, however, since Garett invited me to spend Saturday at his sister's house. The day's activities consisted of shooting and Guitar Hero (I know, it's pretty much the perfect day). Not to sound morbid, but shooting was by far my favorite part of the day. I had never fired a gun before (ever), but had always wanted to so I jumped at the chance. I don't remember the official caliber size and names of the three guns I got to use, so bear with me. The first gun I fired was the shotgun. You're never fully prepared for the reaction of actually firing off a gun until you experience it. Although the kickback wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, it still startled me a bit. I didn't hit any of the targets until my second round with the shotgun and (not to toot my own horn) one of the bottles that I hit literally popped twenty feet into the air. It was pretty awesome. Then we started goofing off and firing at clay pigeons that were only about ten yards in front of us. That left a lot of pretty black gun powder marks in the snow.

The second gun was a hand pistol. I had assumed that the kickback would be considerably less than the shotgun (smaller gun, less power right?), so I was extremely surprised when, after firing, my arm went flying back causing me to nearly hit myself in the face (I hadn't locked my elbow. The result of my first shot is why you can see Garett's arm steadying me in the above picture.). The hand pistol was harder to aim with, but I got the hang of it and was able to hit a few targets.

Last was the semi-automatic. This gun was the easiest to aim with by far, so I had a lot more success with hitting the targets. However, by this point my arms were pretty tired (those guns are heavy!) so that affected my accuracy a bit. Anyways, by that point people were thoroughly numb and it was getting dark, so we packed it up.

Since Steve, DeLana's husband, was kind enough to let us play with his guns, we all pitched in with the cleaning process. I was given the job of reloading the magazines (apparently that's what they're called) for the semi-automatic while Garett and Elaina (Garett's friend from Idaho) helped Steve clean the guns. After finishing up with the magazines, I offered my limited cooking skills to DeLana by helping her make dinner. After a dinner of homemade pizza, we all played Guitar Hero on their projector in the living room for a few hours. Good times.

I Love Lucy

I’ve been meaning to post something concerning my New Year festivities for a while now. Although it is belated, here it is. On New Year’s eve I went to a single adult dance with Leanna, Ben, and Ryan. Nothing too exciting happened during that, so I’ll move on to the next event. On New Year’s day, I went with Mom, Dad, Kassie, and Garett to the Pacific Science Center to see the Lucy Legacy exhibit.

For all of you non-anthropology buffs (which includes every other sane person on this earth…anthropology people are a little eccentric), Lucy is an early hominid and her remains represent one of the most complete three-million-year-old fossils ever discovered. She is famous in the anthropology/archaeology world, so I was extremely excited when I heard that her fossil would be in Seattle during winter break.

The exhibit was great (and made me feel really smart because I knew a lot of what the exhibit was talking about), but I have to agree with Mom by saying that the two hours we dedicated to visiting the exhibit were not enough. I barely got five minutes to actually look at Lucy’s fossil (ok, that was partially my fault). So, here’s the story behind that; near the end of the exhibit, there’s a hallway with fossil replicas that represent Homo sapiens sapiens relatives and ancestors. Well, at the end of the hall there was a dark room through which you could see an illuminated ‘exit’ sign so I naturally assumed that this hallway was the last room in the exhibit. This kind of bummed me out because I hadn’t yet seen the famous fossil and had assumed that Lucy's remains were going to be there. I had been sitting on a bench discussing this frustration with Kassie when Mom came over and asked me if I had seen Lucy yet. At that point we only had a few minutes until the museum closed, so I had to rush through the last room. O well, it was still awesome. Plus, Mom bought me a human evolution poster that I promptly hung up in my BYU student dorm. It’s a great conversation piece.

That leads to another topic I would like to address. Being an anthropology major at a Christian university, I get a lot of weird looks when I tell people my major. Following the weird look is the inevitable "How does that work with you being Mormon?" question. Well, first of all, to quote a wise man, "Faith did not come to me through science and I will not permit science to destroy it." When it comes to questions such as, "how do neanderthals fit in with the Adam and Eve story," I give the only solution that I have come up with. "My knowledge and understanding of the universe is very limited. I don't know all of the answers right now, but I know that God is real and that's good enough for me." Secondly, in all of my studies of anthropology and evolution, one thing has become clear to me; evolution theories (in their purest sense) do not try to disprove the presence of a supreme creator. If anything, evolution theories such as natural selection, adaptation, mutation (which, despite popular belief, is a good thing in many cases), and so forth prove that there is an all knowing and loving being orchestrating everything because without delicate systems such as the ones previously mentioned, life would not be able to continue (if you are interested in modern day examples, click on the following link: Malaria and the Red Cells). So, here's my question; How, in studying any scientific field, can one not see God's influence?

The Search is Over!

Are you ready for this? I have fantastic news! The other day, while roaming the aisles of the local Wal-Mart, Becky (my roommate) and I made an exciting discovery. I have been waiting my entire life for something this monumental, so imagine my surprise when I finally found it. Seriously, this could change all of our lives...forever.

I know you're dying to know what we found. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the world's most unhealthy and sugar-packed cereal ever conceived by man. 'Chocolate Marshmallow Mateys.' Not only is it chocolate-y, but it has marshmallows! I know, exciting, huh? But hey, in the cereal's defense, it does contain eight "essential" vitamins and minerals (we'll just ignore the fact that those vitamins and minerals are also found in pretty much everything else).

Verbal Vomit

I realized that I am not entirely aware of 'Blog manners' concerning what is and is not appropriate to post, so I apologize if I over step my bounds. I don't want to come across as one of those overly emotional teenagers who publishes their personal lives for the world to read, but this is significant to me (and is therapeutic if nothing else). Anyways, let the verbal vomit begin.

I broke up with my boyfriend on Thursday. Keep in mind, I'm not looking for sympathy (like I said, I "broke up" with him). In fact, we ended on very good terms and agreed to work on becoming better friends. And I can honestly say that I don't regret anything. Yes, the relationship didn't and couldn't lead anywhere and that has been hard for me, but I learned so much about myself and what I want out of a relationship in general these past few months (the last few days especially).

I never understood before why people would say that best friends make the best boyfriends. I always responded with, "but if you don't work out, you've lost a friend." I now see that all those people were right. You really do need that friendship foundation in place first. For example, near the end of the relationship I realized that I wasn't myself around him and wasn't comfortable speaking freely. Not only that, but I didn't like the person I became. It wasn't me. But if you are able to be friends with the person before all of the physical factors and tension come into the picture, I imagine that it would make everything that much easier because you'd already know that you can be yourself and that the potential-significant-other would still accept you. Another reason why forming a friendship first is such a good idea is because I've noticed that when you're so caught up in the moment and the thrill of it all, you don't see the person clearly. You subconsciously try so hard to make everything about the person perfect that you overlook the things about them that don't necessarily compliment your personality.

I always thought of myself as a mature person for my age. But looking back, I realize that my attitude towards relationships was very, very immature. I would see a cute boy and decide I liked him purely based on physical aspects. I always knew that relationships were deeper than that, but as someone who had never really gotten to that point in a relationship, it was hard to relate. I've discovered now that if there isn't any sort of mental, or rather intellectual, connection and if you can't bounce ideas off of each other or ever talk about anything of significance, it really doesn't matter how good-looking the person is. You reach a point where you crave something deeper that no amount of charming smiles can fulfill.

I probably sound extremely naive right now, but I don't mind because I know that I have learned so much. And don't worry, I realize that most of my comments were purely speculative. One day I'll look back and roll my eyes at what I've just written. I just feel the need to write this down because my perspective has been dramatically altered. I guess this post was more for me to vent and get all of my ideas out, so I apologize to all of you who sat through it. I also apologize if I divulged too much personal information.