Wednesday, November 18, 2009

I Want a Wife



It's been a while since I have written anything. College just kind of takes over my life. Especially lately. Though you probably don't want to hear about my problems. Your mind is probably stuck on the title of this post. I will say it again just for extra emphasis... I want a Wife!

In my English class, we are talking about Feminism. And although this is one of my favorite topics ever, I find it hard to get through the 40-page essays on how the pen is like a particular male reproductive organ. Not exactly my kind of subject matter. However, we have been reading really, really good material lately. There is one essay, by Chodorow, that I think particularly relates to feminism and life and consequently everything.

Chodorow says that males grow up, traditionally, in a family unit where they are being raised by women. So to establish the gender differences and masculine identity, males begin to equate what they should be with what their mother isn't. This simple fact explains so much because then males grow up thinking that their identity and ways to identify with others has to do with difference, stemming from their identity as different from their mothers. This is the cause of male competitiveness and interest in violence and sports. Interesting, right? And women are traditionally raised by mothers so they relate to their mother on a fundamental level that makes them relate to the world by similarity, not difference.

This class makes me think of so many new and interesting things that I have never thought of before. It makes life more exciting, believe me. In that class we also read an essay by Judy Brady called...

I Want a Wife

I put a link to it here because I think that it's so funny and in some cases, very true. So read and enjoy. Keep in mind, though, that it was written in 1971. So use your own judgement to see if you think it rings true or not.



So I was sitting in my astronomy class today and we watched this video news clip about how there was a huge meteor that crossed the earth's path last night and the whole sky lit up for like five seconds. I remember seeing the same thing last night but thinking that it was a car passing or lightening...even though the sky was clear. I just must have been really, really tired. Which is understandable considering that I only got three hours of sleep the night before. I love college.

One more thing. Last night, when I was very likely delirious from ice cream, fun and lack of sleep, I found theme songs for everyone in my dorm. My theme song is this one... don't be scared by the artists(if you can call them that) because the song is perfect!

I don't need a man
By: The Pussycat Dolls

My other room mate's was She Wolf by Shakira. It's good stuff.
Great week ahead! I'm going to Disneyland for Thanksgiving! The happiest place on earth! I am stoked.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Facebook and Halloween

So I started writing these lists a during last November and just finished them...and have decided to share them with the world. But don't read too much into them, or do. They can be very telling.

For some reason, this weekend I have been thinking in terms of ten...
Ten things I could have done differently, ten things I hate about cell phones, ten things I do not want to do, and ten chick flicks that I love. I decided to share what these would be because this semester has had many...and I mean MANY ups and downs.

Top Ten Things I Could Have Done Differently
1. Decided what I want before I need to act on that decision
2. Never gotten facebook in the first place. It is addicting and bad for me.
3. Not procrastinated till the last minute
4. Kept in touch with some people from my past
5. Gone to bed three hours earlier so I am able to function to morrow morning
6. Cleaned my dishes when I used them...instead of four days later
7. Not messed everything up
8. Not gotten attached to something that couldn't last
9. Started some of my school projects a few weeks earlier
10. Not eaten that last chocolate chip cookie


Top Ten Things I Hate About Cell Phones
1. They are impersonal
2. I can hide behind them so easily
3. They frequently run out of battery(which is very inconvenient)
4. Sometimes they decide to forget about texts you get
5. People think that they can talk to you about serious things over it...which is not cool
6. When I wait for a text from someone, all I can do is wait for it beside my phone. It is attached to me by the hip.
7. Somehow I end up thinking about that said text more than anything else. It is not healthy.
8. Cell phones are just one more thing that you have to make sure is with you at all times. It's inconvenient.
9. Along with being annoying and time-consuming it has to always be updated to the current style and type(which keeps on betting more expensive every day).
10. And last but not least...they take money. Lots and lots of money. They are like the cookie monster...except they eat my dollars instead. They have bottomless stomachs.


Top Ten Things I Do Not Want To Do
1. Confront things that scare me.
2. Get bad grades this semester(which is a very real possibility, btw. Colleve is hard!)
3. Study. Ever.
4. Get less than seven hours of sleep, but it always seems to happen.
5. Worry about classes for next semester
6. Have to worry about money. It is just one more thing to add to the long list.
7. Face the cold wind every morning...or the cold snow for that matter. Ick.
8. Look back on my actions and realize my mistakes.
9. Exercise when I am tired and feeling icky.
10. Eat healthy when I see that ice cream in the freezer. Stupid metabolism!

Top Ten Movies EVER (in no particular order, except the first one)
1. Lord of the Rings
2. Casablanca
3. Pride and Prejudice (A&E version)
4. Mulan
5. Dark Knight
6. Zoolander
7. Batman Begins
8. North and South
9. She's the Man
10. Gladiator

Friday, October 9, 2009

I am a food blogger!

Well...I am back again. In the midst of midterms and such I have found time to blog. I love procrastination. So anyways, college is picking up. I didn't think that it was possible to be more stressed than a week ago...but I am once again proven wrong. I don't know how some people are able to make it out of college alive!

Last night my room mates and I had just had enough and so we put our books down and went out to dinner! And then we just had to watch Jim and Pam get married so that took up a large chunk of my night. I went to the most amazing restaurant! It is called Zupas and it is one of those soup/salad/paninni places. And it was TO DIE FOR! I had Chicken Enchilada soup and a caramel brownie... which was heaven, by the way. This is the picture of the delicious soup that I found on the handy-dandy web site...


For therapy, some people listen to music or hang out with friends. I bake. When I am bored I search the web looking for new and exciting recipes to make. It is an addiction. I follow so many food blogs that I start to get them all mixed up. "Annie Cooks" or "Baking with Annie"...who knows the difference? I just recently made sugar cookie bars. You need to understand how absolutely delightful these are. They are really easy because you don't have to roll and cut them. You just press the dough onto a cookie sheet and bake for fifteen minutes. It is the most perfect college recipe ever!

Most people used Pink frosting when making these, I think, but I decided to try to make them a little halloween-ish. It worked somewhat. The food coloring at the BYU creamery is not the best so it turned out kind of pink-ish. The frosting was delicious, so it made everything alright. I am keeping that frosting recipe because it was a-maz-ing. Here is the recipe, I found it on The Repressed Pastry Chef. I love her. Every recipe is amazing. You need to check out the blog.



Sugar Cookie Bars
-The Repressed Pastry Chef

1 cup butter (at room temperature)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
5 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda

'Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and mix after each egg. Add in vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients. Spread dough onto greased baking sheet (13 x 18 pan). Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool completely and frost.

Frosting!
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
4 cups powdered sugar
5 tbsp. milk
food coloring

Combine butter and shortening until smooth. Add vanilla and salt. Add powdered sugar in 1-2 cup increments until combined. Add milk and mix until smooth. Apread over cooled cookie.



Eat!

By the way, the best part about college is how you buy all of this food and have no time to eat it all! That is what happened with these beautiful bananas. It is a good thing, though, because now I have a good excuse to make banana bread. Yum! My visiting teaching sisters are going to love me!



Have a great day!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Study!

College. Where you are expected to simultaneously be rebellious, get good grades, hang out with people, take tons of tests, hang out at dance clubs, hang out in the library and also be meeting new people. And since I am at BYU, I could add that we are also supposed to be looking for our future spouses. It is just crazy. How am I supposed to do it all? Not to mention all of the school activities: football games, tailgate parties, church activities. I don't know how anyone graduates alive from this place. As I write this post at 12:45 in the morning. These expectations are going to kill me. I guess I will see how I do as I take my first big test on Tuesday. I will let you all know, but only, of course, if I get a good grade. If not, any mention of a test will be suspiciously absent from this blog.

Don't get me wrong, college is fun. It just seems like a never-ending stream of homework and fun events. How is one lone teenager supposed to do it all? I am just trying to stay afloat. My dad put a little guilt trip on me the other day when he told me that I was worrying my mother. I guess that's what I get, right? I am happy to announce to her that I have been studying my tail off. If I get a bad grade, it is because I don't know anything and I should quit college and become a plumber or something. And just to not be stereotypical, I am sure that plumbing takes skills, it just won't take any astronomy skills (the subject that I have a test in).

So, I thought that I would just give myself that little plug so my parents will know to STOP WORRYING! I read an interesting book on Saturday...at least part of it. I skipped the middle because I got a little bored. It was called 'Hunger Games'. It was an interesting book. It was about a society that takes one boy and one girl from each 'territory' every year and makes them fight to the death on national television. One might wonder why they do this. It is because the government wants the people to know who is in charge. One might think that the concept is kind of gruesome but it was nothing compared what we are reading in English. It is a short story called 'the Lottery'. This story is a lot shorter but somehow more shocking and disturbing, with all of its implications on human nature, society and such. I would recommend the book 'Hunger Games'. It is a fast read and is pretty entertaining. It is just hard to enjoy when I start analyzing the Hegemony and ideology of the government. My English class has taken all of the joy out of a good fantasy/scifi teen novel. How will I ever recover!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

The Game


Yesterday was not the high point of my life, or of any other BYU fan's. As we all sat in the stands of the Lavell Edwards Stadium, jaws wide open, as Florida State thoroughly kicked our trash. It wasn't so much a battle but a slaughter. It was all I could do not to run onto the field and shake Max Hall by the shoulders. I don't think I have ever seen a larger crowd of people whose moods matched exactly the color they all had on. It is amazing how all of those dreams of one college can go down the drain in an amount of hours.

Although there was this university-wide depression, my friends and I still managed to find joy. In a movie called Nacho Libre. If you haven't ever seen it...you aren't missing out on much, believe me. Unless you find enjoyment in a movie that is full of this...



for a solid hour and a half. It's great stuff.

I am teaching a lesson today in relief society for the first time and, to say it lightly, I am scared out of my mind. I have been agonizing over every little sentence and am sure that I am going to freeze up as soon as I get up there in front of all of those people. Cross your fingers for me!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Hegemony

Sometimes I feel so out of my league at college. I am again at the bottom of the heap, especially intellectually. Some days I just can't balance out all of the chaos. I have realized that I can't stay up till two and then expect to be able to wake up at five thirty so that I can go to the temple before classes start at eight. It just can't be done. It does make me laugh, though, that only a byu student would write such a sentence. It is interesting to go to a religious college.

The topic of a religious college brings me to another point. I am going to be getting all intellectual for a little bit. In my English class, we are talking about Hegemony (which I had to look up in the dictionary, BTW). My teacher showed us an equation of Hegemony. So, breaking down that sentence, it means that Hegemony is not just this ideology and theory but something that actually is applied in our life.

Hegemony= Belief + Action + Reciprocal Confirmation

This probably makes no sense to anybody. It didn't really to me the first time I saw it. It means that the things that are common sense and basic beliefs for us happen because of that equation. It basically means that if you truly believe something, you act in a way that makes it seem to be true, which is the reciprocal confirmation part. My teacher related it to religion. He said that because we believe in the religion and we act in a way that supports the belief, then we will always get the confirmation that it is true.

This gave all of us in the classroom pause. I mean, is it a good or bad thing that you can sum up the whole belief system of our church in one equation in a college English Literature class?

We also learned about why certain organizations are so effective. I will relate it to the LDS church because that is what I have the most knowledge of. There are three kinds of Hegemony, Dominant, emergent and residual, and each of these are needed for an belief organization to succeed. The LDS church is so effective because it uses all three of the different kinds of Hegemony. We believe in the truth and power of ancient texts, which is the residual part. We believe in receiving current words from current prophets, which is the current hegemony. Lastly, we believe that god still has more that he will reveal later, which is emergent hegemony.

These things make me really think about religion and belief a lot. I mean, it seems like the LDS church just took all of these reasons for belief and incorporated them into church doctrine. Which, as I have said before, I don't know if that is a good thing or not.

My teacher did point out that you do get a confirmation after you believe and act on the gospel of the church which is the Reciprocal Confirmation. But also, something that is true would have to give the same kind of confirmation. You just have to know when to separate the societal confirmation from the truth. Because people one hundred years ago received reciprocal confirmation that women and blacks were inferior, which is obviously not true.

Just some food for thought.

Sorry that that was kind of a dreary post. It is just something very interesting that I learned today. I just had to write those thoughts down.

On a lighter subject, I bought the cutest poster at the poster sale today at the BYU bookstore! It had five girls and said 'girls just want to have fun'. It made me think of my sisters and I. This is what it was. Observe my technical genius as I am able to load this graphic on to my blog!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Procrastination

I have discovered that there is at least one thing that I have become an expert at over the past few weeks at college. It is not, as my mother would hope, studying or time management, but Procrastination. The dreaded P-word. I have become an expert at making a 'quick check' on facebook last several hours and I have learned how to make just a 'quick snack' last until bedtime.

Speaking of bedtime...the average hours that I sleep has gone steadily downward. I used to be so good at getting at least seven hours. But not anymore. I am lucky if I get five in between my homework and necessary procrastination. I can see trouble a mile away because of all of the TV shows that are starting up. Add in at least a dozen television shows to watch to everything else that I am doing and you get one sleep-deprived, sugar-high college student.

In one of my times of procrastination, I was watching random movie trailers on Yahoo and I saw the new New Moon trailer. You have to see it to understand what I am talking about but it is amazing how much I can hate something yet still love it at the same time. How this happens, I do not know. I was wondering this as I stared at the computer screen, my forgotten Astronomy homework splayed out in front of me. The simple joy of seeing Taylor Lautner shirtless will bring me joy for quite a long time. You gotta love it...

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Krispies!


Today I realized something very important about myself. I am a stress eater. Somehow, between two of my classes, I managed to find the biggest rice krispie treat ever and proceeded to eat it all. The cause is currently unknown. I decided to blame it on stress because I hate to think of myself as someone with little self-control. Gotta love self-denial, right?


I had the funniest experience that just made me realize how stereotypical life can be sometimes. I was sitting in the Science building, minding my own buisness and studying. All of a sudden, I realize that I am the only girl in the whole room, which had at least twenty people studying in it. I just had to chuckle, especially because if I had had my choice, I would not have been in the science building either. Interesting.


Sunday, September 13, 2009

My First Post

I am told that everyone who is anyone has a blog now, so how could I resist? This is also a very handy way of procrastinating homework that I have no desire to do. Facebook only works for so long.
So, I have been slaving over reading about three pages of this criticism of Karl Marx. It should not take me more than an hour to read it, yet I have been sitting at this computer for at least three hours. And this is not the first day that I have tried to read it. So here is an example of a sentence from the text, just so you can see the monstrosity that is my English homework:

" In the later twentieth century there is the notion of 'homologous structure', where there may be no direct or easily apparent similarity and certainly nothing like reflection or reproduction, between the superstructural process and the reality of the base, but in which there is an essential homology or correspondence of structures, which can be discovered by analysis."

Now if you only had to read that once, you are a genious. I certainly spent a good twenty minutes on that particular paragraph.

So I made Peanut Butter cups today. My blog is called Cookie Dough Carols for a good reason, as you will soon find out. I probably have eaten more sugar and ice cream in these two weeks that I have been at college than in the whole past year. I can just feel the freshman 15 looming over my head. Peanut butter cups were some of the desserts that I have made in the last two weeks that were all gone by the end of the night. There is no saving things for later...at least, not in my apartment. I love the recipe, though, for my peanut butter cups. Only three simple ingredients are needed: Peanut butter, chocolate chips and powdered sugar. How can you go wrong, right? Cooking is always a little interesting in college because you never have quite what you need. It leaves room for a lot of improvisation, which is fun, but it sometimes turns out a little wierd. That's ok, though. Just adds character, right?

Well, this has been a lovely first post. Many more to come, hopefully!