This semester is going to require strict time management so that I can accomplish everything that I need to get done. I don't really know how it's going to happen, but I have to do it, so I am going to! Ironically, by writing this right now, it just adds to my load. I will be writing papers, stories, ideas, journal entries (and apparently blog posts) as often an alcoholic drinks booze. I guess it's a good thing I enjoy it. Hopefully this semester won't change that.
I am looking forward to gaining knowledge from my awesome professors. I actually started this blog in 2008 when I was taking a creative writing course from Dr. P. Once again, I am taking a creative writing course from him. The first time it was Intro to Creative Writing, this time it is Intermediate Fiction Writing. Unfortunately, I must confess between then and and now, my creative writing has been limited. The majority of my writing has been academic writing--essays for my classes. As an English major, I get to write my fair share. I'm making up for it this semester though. It'll be like a fat kid who has been on a diet getting to eat as much candy as he wants to again. One of my other classes is Intermediate Poetry Writing. It should be great.
Anyway, if those two classes didn't create enough writing for me to do, I also have Non-Western World Literature for which I will be writing a few papers. My Marriage and Family Relations class also requires four or more 3-5 page papers. No big deal, right? I am probably even forgetting something else that will require me to write something.
At some point I will post some of my writings that I'm doing for these classes on this blog. I just need to write something that is worthy of it. (Which is pretty much everything I write)... Not really, but hey, I can wish. If nothing else, I will become a better writer this semester.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Bryce Eroded Side of a Plateau
My friend Sam has been working at Bryce Canyon as an intern and since I'm in Cedar City which is only an hour and a half from there I promised him that I would go visit him. It took quite some time to actually get out there because my summer has been a busy one (to say the least.) A few weeks ago we planned on going, however, it didn't work out because Sam wasn't going to be in Bryce's, so instead we went to Arches National Park, which, by the way, was another fabulous trip. The drive there was like nothing I had ever seen before. I'd like to call it our "rainbow drive." The sun was at the perfect angle. We saw at least ten rainbows throughout the course of our drive. We stayed in Green River with Kya's aunt, then went hiking until the rain stopped us.
 |
| Best Friends at Arches |
Anyway, this Wednesday me and Kya finally made it happen! It's nearly the end of the summer, but who cares, it still happened. I got off work and then Kya and I headed up there. We got there a little earlier than we planned to meet Sam, so we went into the visitors center and looked around. One of my favorite moments at the visitors was when Kya and I were listening to this desert music and Kya had a raccoon puppet on her hand. They basically became best friends.
Sam met us at the visitors center and then took us on a little tour of the park. We went to see his little cabin that he stayed in all summer. As you walked in there was a bedroom to the left, a bathroom straight ahead, and a kitchen on the right. I guess you really don't need much space to live. It was quaint, in a good way. Next we went to some of the viewpoints. Bryce Canyon is truly beautiful--the red rock formed into what looks almost like millions of upside down icicles, formed over millions of years. Each layer of sedimentary rock a different shade ranging from pink, red, to orange.
We started our hike from a point (I think it was called Inspiration Point.. or maybe Sunset point?) which led is down in between the towering red upside down icicles. We did some exploring throughout the hike. Sam saw this offshoot that he always wanted to go down, but never had. So we did. Also, there comes a fork in the road, which you can either go on the horse trail or the other trail. Since Sam had never done the horse trail either, we went that way. We climbed trees, stopped at any running water and made dams then created a flash flood afterwards. It was like being a little kid again. Sam also taught us that Bryce Canyon is indeed, not really a Canyon. It is an eroded side of a plateau, so I decided we should rename it... Bryce Eroded Side of a Plateau. Not quite as catchy... I can see why it's called a canyon. In the end, we figured we hiked about five miles total. I enjoyed every second!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Shifting Schedule
Today I went to the academic counselor to talk about officially changing my major from English Education to the composite major of English Education/ Creative Writing. I've been planning on doing this for quite some time. As soon as I heard that the composite major would be offered I jumped right on that wagon. I had some concerns about changing catalogs, because when I started at SUU it didn't exist yet. I like to plan my future. I mean, this isn't weird in and of itself. Lots of people go to get counseling about their academic careers, right?
The weird thing is I have spent hours upon hours pondering my schedule for the next 2 1/2 years. I should be graduating after the Fall semester of 2013 if all goes according to plan. (Woohoo!) Anyway, I have a color coated schedule that I organized that tells me what classes I will be taking what semester so that I can graduate by then. I created the original schedule about 1 1/2 years ago, but it has undergone many revisions. I just can't go with the flow. I have to know what I am taking when! I didn't need any prompting at all to create this schedule. I just did it.
My problem is that as soon as I decide on this schedule, some loophole is thrown in my path. Usually it is a schedule conflict. I love SUU and all, but at times it drive me crazy. Because of the small size of the school, classes (except for the GE classes) are only offered one time; if you can't do it that one time, well then, no class for you! Of course, there are also tons of great benefits of having such a small university. But when it comes to my organizational ways being disrupted, I forget all of those benefits and just want to pull my hair out.
Another problem that disrupts my planning is that I just want to do too much. If I could I would go to school for forever and just keep learning and learning and learning. I want to do more than just the basics while in school. I want to get the best experience possible. This results in my schedule being full and sometimes overflowing. I haven't had a semester with less than 17 credits. Am I crazy for that? Maybe. But I'm okay with that. I love being busy.
Anyway, I pray that the schedule I have now will not be disrupted again. My brain can only handle so much change when it comes to my school schedule. I am also planning on making an effort to keep my extra curricular activities to a manageable level so I don't fall over and die of exhaustion while working on school.
The weird thing is I have spent hours upon hours pondering my schedule for the next 2 1/2 years. I should be graduating after the Fall semester of 2013 if all goes according to plan. (Woohoo!) Anyway, I have a color coated schedule that I organized that tells me what classes I will be taking what semester so that I can graduate by then. I created the original schedule about 1 1/2 years ago, but it has undergone many revisions. I just can't go with the flow. I have to know what I am taking when! I didn't need any prompting at all to create this schedule. I just did it.
My problem is that as soon as I decide on this schedule, some loophole is thrown in my path. Usually it is a schedule conflict. I love SUU and all, but at times it drive me crazy. Because of the small size of the school, classes (except for the GE classes) are only offered one time; if you can't do it that one time, well then, no class for you! Of course, there are also tons of great benefits of having such a small university. But when it comes to my organizational ways being disrupted, I forget all of those benefits and just want to pull my hair out.
Another problem that disrupts my planning is that I just want to do too much. If I could I would go to school for forever and just keep learning and learning and learning. I want to do more than just the basics while in school. I want to get the best experience possible. This results in my schedule being full and sometimes overflowing. I haven't had a semester with less than 17 credits. Am I crazy for that? Maybe. But I'm okay with that. I love being busy.
Anyway, I pray that the schedule I have now will not be disrupted again. My brain can only handle so much change when it comes to my school schedule. I am also planning on making an effort to keep my extra curricular activities to a manageable level so I don't fall over and die of exhaustion while working on school.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Joy in the Simple Things: A Night of Fun
Yesterday, one of my best friends, Kya and I had a absolutely fantastic night. We decided that we wanted to go see one of the plays at Utah Shakespearean Festival. I had already seen two of those shows, A Midsummer's Night Dream, and The Music Man (Thanks to my awesome roommate Emily.) The options of shows to go to were Noises Off and Richard III; we decided on Noises Off, a comedy about a play in three acts.
The first act chronicled the dress rehearsal where the characters were completely underprepared and the director pulled them through the rehearsal slowly but surely. The second act was after they had been on the road for about a month. They all had drama between them and it showed the backstage action that went on while they tried to pull of the show. The third act showed how the show had deteriorated to a point where no one had any clue what the original show was supposed to be. Kya and I enjoyed it thoroughly. We laughed, along with everyone else in the audience through the entire thing. One of my favorite things about it was hearing the young girl next to me giggle hysterically as the actors ran around the stage with their pants around their ankles. Brilliant.
After the show, I still had tons of energy. I'd like to say, I was high on life! So, I suggested to Kya that we go swing. I've always loved swinging since I was young, so we went to an elementary and started swinging. It is the closest I can get to flying for free, and I adore it! I looked up at the sky, filled with stars sparkling, and acted like I was up there with them. After we finished swinging, we played on the playground and then ran around the field acting like airplanes. I laughed, lived, and loved the moment. After that we still walked around Cedar City and talked about life. it was such a simple night of absolute bliss.
It's amazing how such a simple night full of fun could be so wonderful. I often think about going and doing big, exciting things, and don't focus on the moment. If I live in the moment and enjoy the small things, life will be so much better. Last night was a reminder of that.
The first act chronicled the dress rehearsal where the characters were completely underprepared and the director pulled them through the rehearsal slowly but surely. The second act was after they had been on the road for about a month. They all had drama between them and it showed the backstage action that went on while they tried to pull of the show. The third act showed how the show had deteriorated to a point where no one had any clue what the original show was supposed to be. Kya and I enjoyed it thoroughly. We laughed, along with everyone else in the audience through the entire thing. One of my favorite things about it was hearing the young girl next to me giggle hysterically as the actors ran around the stage with their pants around their ankles. Brilliant.
After the show, I still had tons of energy. I'd like to say, I was high on life! So, I suggested to Kya that we go swing. I've always loved swinging since I was young, so we went to an elementary and started swinging. It is the closest I can get to flying for free, and I adore it! I looked up at the sky, filled with stars sparkling, and acted like I was up there with them. After we finished swinging, we played on the playground and then ran around the field acting like airplanes. I laughed, lived, and loved the moment. After that we still walked around Cedar City and talked about life. it was such a simple night of absolute bliss.
It's amazing how such a simple night full of fun could be so wonderful. I often think about going and doing big, exciting things, and don't focus on the moment. If I live in the moment and enjoy the small things, life will be so much better. Last night was a reminder of that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)