The Lists that Govern my Life

Write about the things that keep you awake at night. I firmly believe that people have their deepest thoughts right before they fall to sleep. Unfortunately, we forget them by the morn and start the cycle all over again the next night. Society could have progressed a lot farther by now if we only remembered the things that we thought about at night. However, I doubt few people think about the things that I do, or maybe I'm just flattering myself. I do think about some normal things: family, love, marriage, what I need to do the next day... Lately however, I've been thinking a lot about my historical footprint. Yes, laugh all you want, but I wish so dearly that others might have left more evidence of their existences and even a window to their souls. So many people are lost, not because they weren't incredible or brilliant, but simply because we have no record of them. Their diaries, lists, notes: time has eaten them. Therefore, every time I try to clean my room...

12 months. 385 crazy things. Go. I make friends with people who don't shun wierdness and enjoy the adrenaline rushes that come with doing stupid things. You might ask, what ridiculous things do I do? Well, seeing as today was my last day of classes this semester, I'm celebrating twelve months of frivolity. Here we go (brace yourself for another list; I know I swore off lists, but they're so enticing...). We'll start off simple. Graduated high school. Barely:) First TP experience after going to a high school play. Success. Decorated someone's car with a bunch of "Just Married" nonsense (while supposed to be at a state tennis tournament. Double Success). I really wish I had a picture of this because it was possibly one of the funniest things I've ever done. Made an epic history cake for the history department. Chalked a myriad of houses (Thanks to those people who took pictures and posted them on facebook asking who did it. Thanks also to the per...

People have an obsession with possession. Since all the men in my head love social critique, I'm usually in favor of condemning many parts of society, even when I'm a part of it. Material obsessions do digust me, but I think a larger problem is the desire to own people in a sense. The little Freud upstairs takes me back to first grade, where I remember playing tug of war with some other girls over my best friend. MY best friend. She was mine. Not theirs. Middle school, too, was a time where I struggled to keep my best friend away from envious other potential best friends. But why couldn't she have more than one best friend? Or why couldn't I? Maybe it's because we have problems with sharing. We have to share our toys, so we learn to hold onto our people. And when someone else is holding onto the same person, my little Pope Urban II tells me I need to fight them off and take hold of as many people as possible. You see, those men in my head are often pretty selfish. ...

Write about spring. Spring Fever has definitely hit Provo hard this past week with our balmy 50 degree weather. Pants have turned into shorts, apartments have spewed forth their inhabitants on the front lawns where everyone wants to study, and peoples' hormones have heightened, leading to a 300% increase in relationships. I admit I love spring (yes, I do love things, and not just because Rousseau told me emotions are good). I love being outside and being able to run and play sports in short and wearing flip flops and feeling sunshine on my face and most of all, I LOVE GREEN GRASS! Is there not a more pure sign of spring than little green guys poking out from the earth? I say unto you, nay! There is something magical (yes, I also realize that I think lots of things are magical. Thank you Harry Potter) about new life (or recycled/hibernating life?) that just makes me smile. Usually springtime means tennis too, but not this year, which is really sad for me. I actually really miss p...

Briefly describe your thoughts on winning and losing. Well, the Machiavelli in my head is shouting that we celebrate winners in history, whether they be good or bad. And then Rousseau is saying we're all losers because of nasty civilization, and Karl Marx wants to change those words to "haves" and "have-nots." But those are my plagarized thoughts. I like winning, as most people do. Rarely do people walk into BYU's testing center and say, "I hope I bomb this test; it will be so humbling!" I want to win board games, sport competitions, and others' affections, and leave tests quivering after I finish them. There is that part of people that just wants to be the best, though how big they let that little person get is up to them (yes, I do personify every thought and feeling and picture them as funny little people inside of us). My roommate Charlotte and I keep starting fights that we can't win, but I almost think that's why we start them...

Briefly describe your feelings concerning books. Sometimes I think I love books more than people, though in the end, human beings end up winning (usually). Books are magical. Words take my breath away. The fantasy and imagination of fiction expose the depths of human thought and I am continually amazed at the stories that our brains can weave. There is something incredible about words taking you in and out of several different worlds and leaving you with intense feelings about those experiences. I love the stories of real people too; I probably spend too much time with history books, and the people who see me leave the library with fifteen books about the Soviet Union must no doubt think I'm crazy. But really I just like books more than most people do. I'm obsessed with gaining as much information as will fit in my head, and so yes, I will bring my copy of "A History of Intellectual Thought" to the doctor's office and strike up conversations with my comrads abou...

Assignment: Write about your least favorite holiday. I hate Valentines day. And not just because I'm single. I think it's mostly just an excuse to spend more money and be more commercial than we already are. People shouldn't need a day to tell someone that they love them; we should be constantly reminding the people around us that we love them (though I probably wouldn't be opposed to a Friendship day). So I hate the consumerism and the shallowness of Valentines Day, not to mention those disgusting tokens of love people carry around all day. We don't all need to see that someone loves you; keep that personal please. If there was ever a day to experience being blind for a day, it would be Valentines day. I'm also a PDA hater. And I guess I hate Valentines day too because I'm single, but it's not like I have a real positive view of relationships currently. So I might loathe this day even if I had a boyfriend. Apparently I just like to hate t...