Shall the Youth of Zion Falter?

NO!

I love the story told in this post, as well as the beautiful stories in the comments. It reminds me that, even though I'm just a few years out of being a youth myself, I need to step it up. The media wants us to believe that teens are just causing problems, but there is so much good that they do. Stories like these give me so much hope for the future and push me to do and be better myself. I need to be prepared to parent youth like these one day!

The church is true.

Thin-ideal media...and parenting

I haven't blogged in forever since I'm not in the media class or TAing for it anymore, which kind of makes me sad. So I think I may still post something occasionally so that can remember things I've found that I think are cool. I mean, I am still bombarded by media daily. I should still be an active consumer. :-)

I stumbled across this blog post a week ago, when it was linked from the Operation Beautiful website. I subscribe to the Operation Beautiful blog just because seeing those notes each day makes me smile. I loved this post because we had talked some in class about how hard it is being surrounded by thin-ideal media and how we could handle it as parents. During that discussion, I really had no idea how I would handle it as a mother when my girls feel like they are fat and ugly. This post really has some good suggestions, though. I may just have to use them one day...

Article by Orson Scott Card

I know we're pretty much done posting blogs, but I was on Faceboook today and one of my friends posted a link to an article Orson Scott Card wrote for Mormon Times. It was too beautiful to not share. I'm grateful she posted it because I never would have found it on my own. I also thought that by posting it here, I can look back on it later and not lose it. This article really makes me feel better about my life, in a way. I move so much (I've moved 6 times since I've been at college, and I moved plenty with my family before that) and this reminded me that it's okay to let people drift in and out of our lives. It's not reason to feel guilty. It's actually a cause for celebration. I've made so many amazing friends throughout my life and even though I don't keep in touch with all of them, they have helped to make me who I am today.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the article as much as I did.

Thanks, Steve Jobs!

My aunt posted this link on Facebook. I'm not really an Apple user, but I really appreciate what Apple is doing. I think more companies should follow suit, especially knowing what we know about how pornography affects people.

Freedom from Porn

Media at the Gym

So, for those of you who didn't hear me complaining in class last week about how sore I was (sorry about that, by the way...I got better!), I joined a gym last week. I've never been one for a traditional gym experience. I swam all during high school, but I've never been super into cardio machines or weights. However, I know that I need to work out, so I joined a gym. It's not my favorite thing, but one thing that really helps me during my workouts is having music.

I think I'm one of the last people who doesn't own any sort of iPod. However, my phone is able to store music on it (super grateful for that). It also has this really cool feature called "SensMe" where it plots all the songs on a graph of fast to slow and happy to sad. You can then use that to create a playlist of upbeat or slower songs as you feel like it. It's not always super accurate, but it's been good to have. I find myself working out longer than I planned on if I am listening to upbeat music. The music is able to distract me from any pain I may be feeling and keep my energy levels up. It's also fun to watch the TVs that are set up in front of the cardio machines. I may not know what's going on, since I don't plug in to listen, but it's fun imagining what may be happening. Thank you media, for making my workouts (at least slightly) more enjoyable.

Virtual Choir

I love music. I love going to concerts and am almost always listening to music on my computer while on the web or doing homework. I can't really picture my life without using Windows Media Player/iTunes, Pandora, and YouTube. But one thing that really amazes me is how technology has made music even cooler. In this post, I talked briefly about some awesome mash-ups I love. This sort of music wouldn't have been possible that long ago. And I just heard about another use of technology to create music that also wouldn't have been possible until recently.

From what I understand, people sang a certain song and then posted themselves singing it on YouTube. Then, all of these videos were put together and made into one song. Suddenly, you have a virtual choir with people from all over the world. Awesome! Technology is amazing!

The Photoshop Effect

I found this video interesting, especially in light of our upcoming health concerns lecture. So many people try to look like the celebrities on TV and in magazines and it's impossible. I wish more girls would understand that and stop stressing about their weight and body and just worry about healthy. (I know, I know...easier said than done!)

Story of My Life

Thank you, Pearls Before Swine. I think we can all relate...

Another Facebook in Real Life

After Dr. Coyne showed the "If Facebook were real" clip in class today, I thought I'd post another one. I especially like the MySpace jab at the end. :-)

Bloglines

I discovered bloglines.com relatively recently and I LOVE it. I read a ton of different blogs, but it's hard to remember to check them all individually. I used to have them all on Internet Explorer, because if you subscribe to them, it's easy to see them all at once and see which ones have new entries. However, I really dislike Internet Explorer because it's terribly slow. Firefox doesn't have the same subscription system and so I couldn't see as easily which blog had new entries. Enter Bloglines. I set up an account, added the blogs I wanted to read, and now I just go to the website whenever I feel like checking up on blogs. Blogs that have new entries are bolded and when I click on them, they take me to the reader and I can read it instantly. Love it!

(Sorry... After reading back over this, I don't think I explained it very well. But if you tend to read a lot of blogs, I highly recommended that you check out Bloglines and see if it works for you.)

AT&T Ad

I absolutely LOVE this AT&T ad for some reason:



I think it might be because it made me think about how life is like that. Little moments can totally transform your life projectory without you really realizing it at the time. But then, when you look back, those small moments meant everything.

Time to Read!

I love reading, but I don't do it as often as I should while I'm in school because I feel guilty if I'm reading anything besides textbooks. Well, that and the fact that I'd never get anything school-related done because I'd be reading instead.

But I am changing that now that I'm just hanging out and working for the summer. I checked out a bunch of books from the Provo library and have been ripping through them. I'm excited to read a bunch of fun young adult novels, as well as some classics I've been meaning to read for a while. Plus, as even more of an incentive, the Provo library is offering a summer reading program for adults, complete with prizes. Score!

Pearls Before Swine

I love comic strips. (Not comic books...I don't think I've ever even picked one of those up.) But when I'm at home, I immediately grab the section of the newspaper that has the advice columns and comics and enjoy. Since I don't get a newspaper at school, I've subscribed to some of my favorite comic strips on my igoogle homepage. One of these comic strips is called Pearls Before Swine. I don't know why, but it really strikes my funny bone. Here was the one today:

Taking Care of the Ladies

How absolutely adorable is this little boy? Say it with me, "Awwwwww!"

Seat Belt Ad

As I was procrastinating homework (I seriously have NO motivation for school right now), I saw that one of my friends had posted this ad on Facebook. I think it's quite well done. Used many of the facets of advertising. Enjoy... and buckle up!

After Conference...

Wasn't General Conference amazing? I could do a whole post just on that, but I'll refrain because many of you will probably blog about it, as well. And because most of you probably watched it.

But I kept the TV on after the last session yesterday and there was an incredible movie about Emma Smith. I think too often people judge her for staying in Nauvoo. But after seeing that movie, I don't think I can. She went through SO much. So many trials and difficulties. I don't know if I could have made it through all that she did. She truly was an incredible woman.

Then, right after that, they showed a performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The music is so uplifting. I just feel happy thinking about it.

Yay for uplifting media!

Indexing

I'm currently in a family history class in my ward that meets during the Sunday School hour. It's been so cool for me to be able to use technology and the media to learn more about my ancestors, as well as help others to find their ancestors. One of my favorite things I've learned from that class is indexing. It's basically where you see a scanned document (like a census record) and you type in what it says, so that people can more easily find their ancestors. It's pretty easy to do (as long as the handwriting is legible) and rather addicting. But I suppose that if I had to get addicted to something, this is probably a good choice. :P

This commercial...

...makes me happy.

Normal people in commercials

After the discussion we had in class last week about all the beautiful people on TV, it made me think more about maybe how we only WANT to see beautiful people on TV. We see enough normal people in regular life, right? So the thing that stood out to me was one guy that is especially normal looking (see seconds 24-26), and that's the main thing I remember for the commercial. I'm actually almost turned off from this commercial because of it. Is that bad of me for being so conditioned that I want to see only beautiful people on TV?

Ponderings

Last night, like most Thursday nights, I went to the temple. It's always a nice, needed boost in my crazy life. To prepare, as I drive there, I like to turn off the radio that's pretty much always on in my car and just have it be silent. And then, since I go so late, the person playing the organ isn't there anymore, so it's also quiet in the baptistery. It's so nice to just sit and be still for a while. I am able to feel so much more peace when I'm not constantly surrounded by noise from music, TV, and people talking, like I am pretty much everywhere else.

But what really got me thinking is that last night was a bit different. Normally I feel so uplifted and feel so much peace as I sit there pondering. But last night I started feeling a bit down as I thought about different things going on in my life. A lot of it probably has to do with how crazy this week has been and how tired I am. But I couldn't help but wonder if maybe I unconsciously use music and other media to turn out things I don't really want to think about. I almost felt uncomfortable having it be so quiet. I know that's really bad of me. But it really made me think of how important it is to really stop and decompress in silence. It may be uncomfortable every once in a while, but it really is necessary. And I really do feel better about life now that I worked out those feelings instead of just tuning them out through media.

SEX

My roommate and I had an old episode of CSI: NY on tonight in the background as we were doing homework because we like having some noise. Then, a character said, "Rough Sex" and my roommate immediately reacted, saying, "What?" And she hadn't been paying attention at all. Funny how that word automatically can get our attention...

(And for the record, it was the name of a band.)

Bowed piano

Earlier this week, there was an article in the Daily Universe about something called a bowed piano. I was intrigued. However, I was unable to go to the concert for it, so I looked up a video on YouTube and have been listening to it quite a bit. It's a very unique sound that's kind of creepy and kind of soothing at the same time. I think I like it... :-)

Dollar Theatre

I normally don't spend lots of money on entertainment. I mean, I love going to plays and movies and going out to eat, but I don't feel like I have a lot of extra money to do so. So instead, I tend to stay in my apartment and watch TV and read books and cook quick and easy meals. However, I've been feeling the need to get out of my apartment for some entertainment lately and I so ended up going to the dollar theatre twice in three days. It's so easy to feel okay about dropping 75 cents (on Mondays if you come with a group of three or more) to $2 (on Friday and Saturday nights) to watch a full-length feature film. You really can't beat that. Now I just need to make sure that I don't keep up with that pace and my budget should be okay AND I can still be entertained. :-)

Housing Search

I am so grateful for the technology we have for making searching for housing so much easier. Even though I hate the actual process of moving, I tend to move around a lot because I like moving into new wards to get to know different people. In the search for housing, I have made Craigslist and BYU's Housing website my new best friends. I also occasionally use KSL classifieds and Facebook marketplace. But anyways, I'm very grateful because by using these sites, I just found a great place to live for spring/summer. And I know I'll keep using them as I look for another place for fall.

I Will Be Me

I went to the MDT showcase on Saturday night and it was a great show. One song in particular captured my attention, though. It's called "I Will Be Me" and it's been stuck in my head ever since. I'm really glad I found a version on YouTube so I can listen to it over and over again. It just totally pumps me up for life. Enjoy!

Laptopless

I lost part of my laptop adapter on Tuesday and so I haven't been able to use my laptop since then. It's been rather inconvenient. Of course, I was able to use computers on-campus, but it wasn't the same. I felt so disconnected from everything, because I always use my laptop at home to check e-mail, Facebook, the news, and do homework. My new charger arrived today and I am SO happy to be able to use my laptop again. It's almost sad how reliant I am on this thing...

Halo: Divine Comedy Style

In honor of the video game lecture last week, I thought I'd share a Divine Comedy sketch from a couple of weekends ago. The show was the best overall show I've ever seen from them (and that's saying something) and I LOVED this video because it really shows how addicting video games can be. And it's just really well done. (Of course, I might be slightly biased because my brother is their videographer... but I think I'd love it as much as I do even if that weren't the case.) Anyways, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. :-)

Grad School Acceptance!

I blogged last semester about how the media makes it so much easier to apply to grad schools (doing everything online, getting e-mail reminders about what's not in yet, etc.), but now I want to blog about how much easier the media makes getting accepted for grad school.

I just found out on Tuesday that I got into BYU's MSW program (my first choice). I was so excited! I found out through an e-mail they sent, so I didn't want to wait for mail to come with the decision and then I was immediately able to click a button saying that I accepted their offer. I then paid the enrollment fee and was good to go. After all that, I was able to already start looking at the MSW handbook and different agencies where I could intern. If I had gotten accepted even 10 years ago, this whole process would've been a lot longer and more annoying.

I also was immediately able to spread this good news to my friends and family through phone calls, texts, and Facebook (and now this blog).

Thanks for making my life easier, media!

Dear Olympics...

I never was really into watching you in the winter. I really only liked watching the figure skating. Unfortunately for me this year, it's been on every night at my apartment. Please stop being so interesting and entertaining that I can't pull myself away. You are affecting my ability to actually do any homework and that is never a good thing.

Thank you,
Colette

Pictures of you, pictures of me...

So, once again, I am procrastinating homework. It's seriously difficult to keep the motivation up when you've been going to school year round since fall 2008 and April graduation seems so far away. (But I digress.)

As I was procrastinating, I got on Facebook (what else?) and starting looking at pictures of some of my friends and was just hit with a wave of nostalgia. It's always amazing to me the power that pictures have to bring back memories, both good and bad. I almost started crying over this one picture, but then a few pictures later, I couldn't help but smile.

Pictures truly are worth 1000 words.

Watching "little kid" movies

I recently watched some movies that are aimed at younger kids (Aladdin and Little Rascals) with my friends. I forgot how funny they were. I actually think they're funnier than I remember. And I think that's because I am now better able to appreciate the jokes that went over my head as a kid. Movies like this have humor that kids enjoy, but also enough intelligent jokes to keep the parents (or just young adults who happen to be watching) amused, as well.

Love it!

This is going to sound creeperish, but...

I was texting one of my friends and told her some information that I learned about one of my friends and said, "Thank you, facebook stalking." She replied (in part) "You could like make a living professional facebook stalking people!" I literally laughed out loud. But...she kind of hit the nail on the head. I totally could. I learn A LOT about people through Facebook. Facebook really has made stalking SO much easier. I'm able to find out information about people that I definitely wouldn't have access to otherwise. I know that sounds creeperish. But it's totally innocent, I promise. :-)

Hm... Professional Facebook stalker. Maybe that should be my back-up plan in case I don't get into grad school... :P

It's quite liberating to...

...delete Facebook friends.

(And yes, this is another procrastinatory tool. Don't judge.)

Solitaire

I've been having issues with motivation lately. I'm feeling slightly burned out from everything (going to school year-round will do that to you, I guess). I don't want to do my homework or reading or write on my personal statements. So instead of doing these more productive endeavors, I always somehow always end up playing solitaire. It's a problem.

On the bright side, though... I got a new high score a couple of days ago! :-D

Movie Conventions

In my Bible as Literature class, we were talking about conventions and how if you don't understand the conventions/culture of something, you won't fully understand what's going on. Before we applied this to the Bible, our professor handed out a list of movie conventions and explained that if aliens came and watched our movies, they wouldn't fully understand what was going on, because it doesn't make sense on its own. Some of my favorites from the list:

"Ali MacGraw's Disease": Movie illness in which only symptom is that the sufferer grows more beautiful as death approaches.

"Balls of Steel Rule": Bad guys who suffer a blow to the groin are down for the count, just like in real life. Good guys shrug it off and are back in action within seconds.

"Cape Fear Syndrome": Derangement that causes heroines, upon learning they are in great danger, to go immediately to an isolated cabin (houseboat, sailboat in the harbor, farm) alone, knowing that no one, especially their friends, will be able to find them.

"Dead Werewolf Defense": In any horror film involving a human transforming into a monster, the hero never has to explain to the police the naked dead human body that is left after he has killed the monster. This despite the fact that no on in authority ever believes in the monster in the first place.

"Explosion ESP": The characters always know whether the crashed and smoldering vehicle they are in will explode. If they don't get out and run, it won't explode. If they do, it does.

"Human Antennae": Movie characters who have an amazing ability to turn on the TV precisely at the moment when a newscaster begins a report on something directly related to them.

"Lawyer with One Case Scenario": In nearly all legal dramas, the lawyers involved have only one case--the case the movie is about.

"Miracle Twenty-five-pound Newborn Syndrome": Newborn babies in movies instantly look about seven months old, and weight about twenty-five pounds. Their postpartum mother seems perfectly refreshed, made-up, and comfortable, despire the gargantuan child she's just given birth to.

I would just like to profess my undying love for...

...The 100 Hour Board. I know somebody already posted about this, but I think The Board deserves more than just one post from people in this class.

For those who don't know, The 100 Hour Board is a website kept up by various BYU students (I think there may be some previous BYU students still on there, as well) that answers all sorts of questions ranging from serious to silly. Anyone can submit a question and it will be answered in 100 hours. Pretty dang fantastic. And super entertaining.

I knew this site existed, but never took full advantage of it until a few months ago, when I started reading it every day and even started searching their archives for answers to random questions. Love it. And if you haven't checked it out, please do. It's that amazing.

(Blame It on the Pop)

So, like most college students, I really like Facebook. In addition to liking it because of how easily I am able to keep in touch with friends and family far and wide, I love being able to discover new artists and songs because my friends post videos or lyrics.

On Monday, one of my friends posted this video on Facebook, it showed up on my feed, I listened to it... and it's been stuck in my head ever since. This DJ made a mash-up of the top 25 songs of the year according to Billboard Magazine. It's so fun and I love it!



If you liked this song, he also has mash-ups of the tops songs from 2007 and 2008.

You know you've lived in Provo too long when...

...you automatically check the left ring finger of people on TV and in movies, even if you already know whether they (or their characters) are engaged/married or not.

True story.