England!

Thursday very late at night, we returned from England (just in time too, since the volcano started spewing over Southern England again just after). It was such a great trip! There were so many things that I loved about it, and only a couple of things I can think of that would've made it better (warmer and less windy weather, living closer to a Tube station, having more time and a bigger living space) and everything else was a wonderful experience. I learned so much about English history, about architecture, and other stuff. And I learned Christopher Wren was like...I don't know...the Frank Lloyd Wright of his day. He seriously built everything. But it's cool. There were so many highlights, I can't pick just one, so maybe you'll have to ask me about it in person when I can go on and on...

Oh, and we went to Paris for a day...

Sloths

This will totally make your day. It made mine, and it's only 7:30am.

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

Invictus

On the plane ride home from England, I watched a bunch of movies, one of which was "Invictus." It reminded me of how much I love the namesake poem. It gives me hope.

Invictus

by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

Flying

Tomorrow morning my sisters and mom and I leave for England for two weeks. It's going to be a reeeeeeally long flight, and that's the part I'm not looking forward to. But it made me think of this hilarious skit of Brian Regan's, so I thought I'd share it with you for a little laugh:

We'll have internet access at the flat in London (!) so I might have the chance to write periodically while we're there. Wish us luck!

Blame It On the Pop

Do you like the new layout? I'm pretty sure it's actually looked this way before (at least I know I've used that picture). I was going to make the colors brighter/lighter to make it seem more summery, but mostly I'm too lazy to redo all the fonts and everything. Anyway.

Last night I was at Adrien's and we were watching videos on Youtube. She showed me these mashup videos (I love mashups...and montages...seriously love them) of the top 25 pop songs from 2007, 2008, and 2009. I can't decide which one is my favorite. Last night it was 2009, this morning it's 2007. But you should just watch them, they're loads of fun and seriously cool, even if you don't like/listen to all these songs.

2007:

2008 (Viva la Pop):

2009 (Blame it on the Pop):

In Memory

My grandmother passed away on Sunday morning. That afternoon I wrote this based on what I felt. They are merely my thoughts at the moment, and an inspiration of how I want to live my life, based on the example of my grandmother and others:

Today my grandmother died. She was 95 years old. She had been a widow for something like 60 years, and raised four children on her own (the oldest, my dad, was only six when his father died). Though I am not terribly sad at my grandmother’s passing because of her age and her readiness to go, it got me thinking about my relationships with my family and friends, and I find that this does make me sad. Whenever someone dies I think of when my 22-year-old cousin Carly died about five years ago. Carly made such an impression on the world, and her untimely passing was difficult for everyone that knew her. Today I reread her eulogy and felt that the things everyone said about her—a kind heart, caring for everyone no matter who they were, etc—were not things that could be said of me if I were to die tomorrow, perhaps not because they aren’t true of me, but because I hide them from everyone. I thought again of my grandmother, and of the impact that she had on her children and grandchildren, and wonder why I never really got to know her. She wrote me letters when I was little, but I don’t know how often I wrote her back. By the time I was old enough to enjoy letter-writing, she could no longer comfortably write for long periods of time, and my opportunity was lost. I wish that I had known my grandmother better, for she seems to have been a remarkable woman, and one whose strength I’ve always admired. I never told her that, and I wish that I had.

Sometimes I forget what life is about, and feel like I need to experience everything I can so that I can better myself before my time is up, but it is times like these when I am reminded that this is wrong. While it is important to improve ourselves, it is more important to be an example and a friend to others in our lives. So many times I have encountered people in my life that I have become close to, and had the opportunity to help them with their trials, perhaps just by being there for them, and sometimes have let these people slip away. I know that I cannot single-handedly bring peace to the world, but I know that I can do my part, and that sometimes I have been neglectful.

When I die, I want people to remember me as someone who they appreciated having in their life, and not just because they were obligated to for one reason or another. I want to affect people and forget about myself. I know that I have an enormous amount of compassion and empathy and understanding for nearly everyone (if it is not so bold to say so), but I don’t always act on it.

I hope that I can become a person like my grandmother and my cousin, and do my part to make the world a better place. I want to be rid of my selfishness and spend my life making other peoples’ lives easier. I am afraid. But I will try.

The Answer

Finally, thanks to my textbook, we know the real difference between humans and other primates:

George Clooney.

What??

Today I discovered this seriously random and sort of hilarious thing. I might be crazy for thinking it's funny, but...maybe not. Look at it.

Who comes up with this? Who thinks it's just such a great idea? Really.

Bone.

Tonight in my Biological Anthropology class we had a bone lab. It was a lot of fun, and kind of a review from my high school anatomy class. There's something about bone names that makes them stick in your head. I've had terms like "greater trochanter," "mental protuberance," and "olechranon fossa" running around in my head all evening.

Anyway, bones are fun. Here's this amusing video we watched in class that can teach you a little about...

THE SKELETAL SYSTEM!!!

(Make sure your sound is up. It being loud helps, I promise.)

P.S. Yes, I realize I'm rather a huge dork. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go clean my pocket protectors and read a little Brief History of the Universe.

Happy

Sometimes people do things that make me happy to be part of mankind. This is one of those cases:

Read about it here.

Beautiful

I have always loved this song. I might even have the sheet music somewhere. I recently found this version played by Rachmaninoff, and it just brings it to a whole new level of depth.

Okay, I don't really know what I'm saying, but really, the song speaks for itself.

Listen:

Frederic Chopin's Nocturne in E-Flat Op. 9 No. 2

We've Made Our Turn Northward, Doctor-- We're Headed Back Toward the Sun!

Today is the first day of spring, and I am so very pleased! I have been waiting like seven months for this day (you know, since the last day of summer...) and it could not be better living up to my expectations (well, actually, I've felt very sick this morning, but even the sliver of blue sky I can see from my bedroom window has contented me). I love Spring because it's like Summer, only milder. And Spring here in Utah is a little closer to how Summer sometimes is back home. And my birthday is in the spring.

I'm also really excited because my parents are on their way up to Provo today. I appreciate their making the drive up here as often as they do-- I love it when they visit :)

Well, there's much to do today, and since I'm feeling a bit better, I'd better get to it! Happy Spring everyone!

P.S. Points if you know what the title is from. It won't be hard.

Hogle Zoo

Yesterday morning I went to the Hogle Zoo and met up with a few other people in my Biological Anthropology class to do our primate observation! I end with an exclamation point because even though it was a really long drive up and back for only being there a couple of hours, and besides the fact that I had to drive through an impossible snow storm on the way home, it was kind of fun to watch animals for a little bit, and to watch my classmates be so excited about the primates. Hahaha.

Anyway, I took some pictures, but they were all blurry because primates move around a lot apparently. I did take some videos though. My favorite actually is of the cougar they had, even though it isn't a primate. I passed their enclosure on the way up to one of the primate houses from my first observation and it was dead silent, the snow was falling, no one was around (seriously, who would be on a day like that?) and I saw the cougar pacing and went over to it and I could hear it chuffling and making small yowls or whatever cougars do. It was kind of a magic moment for some reason. I felt bad though, as it was pacing back and forth, that the tiny cage was all the space the two cougars in there had for their entire life. I go crazy if I'm in my bedroom just for a day. I can't imagine how awful it must sometimes be for these animals cooped up in there.

Anyway! Video time.

The cougar (turn up your volume):

The squirrel monkeys:

The ring-tailed lemurs (turn down your volume):

The gibbons:

There are descriptions on the Youtube website if you're at all interested.

Painting

I needed some art today, so I painted this. It's Point Loma.

I daresay I'm getting better at this :)

A Letter

Dear Home,

I just want you to know that I miss you. I find myself wanting to sit on the kitchen counter with three cats in my lap, to play through every song I know on the baby grand, to wake up to the whine of the tired old juicer squeezing out fresh orange juice, to stand by the pool and look up at the sky above the church on the hill and listen to the blue-domed bell tower chime six o'clock in the evening. I want to walk through the jungle and poke my thumb on a thorn of the silk floss tree. I want to do some shifting in the greenhouse, with tinny tunes blaring through the ancient radio, or even do some watering, my bare feet squishing in the mud. I want to stroll along Edgar's Bikepath and down into the eucalyptus forest. I want to climb the star tree in the jungle and stare out at the water tower from my perch. I want to hear the coyotes howling and the crows cawing and the shouts from the Jones' tree-chopping place, and I want your sunset burning red and orange over the trees. Don't forget me.

Thinking of you,

Shannon

Postcrossing

Today was an excellent day because I received my very first postcards from random people in the world via Postcrossing!

I sent out five of my own a few weeks ago, and two of them have arrived in their foreign destinations. I've sent postcards to Mexico, Canada, China, Luxembourg, and Germany. Tomorrow I'll be mailing out ones to Finland and Poland.

My map (only shows received postcards on both ends. Blue are ones I've gotten and red are ones others got from me):

Here are my two first postcards:

From the Netherlands (according to babelfish the front says something like "The cordial greeting from Zoetermeer!")

From France (if you don't read French, it says roughly "Receive all the friendship of the South of France")

I'm so excited to get and send more postcards. What a wonderful way to create amity throughout the world :)

Les Musées

Museum: n. A building, place, or institution devoted to the acquisition, conservation, study, exhibition, and educational interpretation of objects having scientific, historical, or artistic value. [L mūsēum place sacred to the Muses, building devoted to learning or the arts (referring esp. to the scholarly institute founded in Alexandria about 280 b.c.)

The Muses were the daughters of Mnemosyne, a Titan who was the deification of memory. These nine (or three) daughters of memory are typically known for being in charge of art, but they actually had domains in history, science, literature, drama, music (which name comes from 'muse'), etc. The Muses taught Hesiod to sing and Homer asks them to tell the tale of Odysseus. Whenever someone working in any of these branches was about to create, he or she would invoke the name of the Muses to guide them in their work.

Painting of a Muse, probably Erato, guiding Hesiod the poet.

It is interesting to me that the Muses are the daughters of Memory, for it is through memory that we learn everything and anything. It is very fitting that museums should be named after these nine sisters, as museums today house objects that are generally derived from these branches of culture, and are places where we can learn many things that are essential to living full, educated lives.

It is sad, then, that so many people today do not see the relevance of museums. Take, for example, the thoughts of a girl who was lucky enough to visit the British Museum (taken from said museum's website):

"Everywhere you look there's

old artifacts no one has seen before

but what they forget is that its so old

its not important! I feel like we should

focus on important things like life

and what we are doing NOW!"

When I heard this, I was shocked. I then read it to my brother, who proceeded to say, "Yeah, I agree." This shocked me even more, and even saddened me a bit, because he and I had nearly the same exposure to the past and its importance as children, but somehow got lost along the way. I may have a biased point of view, working in a museum and majoring in the study of ancient cultures, but I sincerely believe that without learning about those who have come before us, even if we are not related to them, greatly expands our knowledge and understanding of the way people have lived, do live, and will live. It increases compassion and empathy for others in ways it is difficult to describe. For example, I am very interested in the way certain societies have been able to live off of the land, growing closer to it and treating it with respect. I feel that we can all learn a great deal from these people, who might be long gone.

I can provide numerous quotes on the importance of learning from the past. Not only can we foresee possible outcomes in certain situations (the whole "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it" concept), but it also makes us better individuals. Humans are the only living organisms blessed with obvious self-awareness and an ego, which makes us want to better ourselves indefinitely. And we should! People always talk about how they want to be "cultured," exposing themselves to art, plays, music, etc. But what they sometimes fail to realize is that if they skip over learning about human past, not just history (because humans also exist outside of history, which is defined as the recorded past-- some cultures do not or did not have written records) they greatly deficit themselves in knowledge.

I searched everywhere for a really good quote that might crystallize the point I'm trying to get across, and the closest I could find was one by some author I'd never heard of in some book I'll probably never read:

"No matter how much time has passed, these things still affect us and the world we live in. If you don't pay attention to the past, you'll never understand the future. It's all linked together."

— Sarah Dessen, Just Listen

I think that many times we will, such as the case with my brother, be exposed to museums and their goodness as children, but as we grow older, we forget that learning about these sorts of things is important. At the Museum of Peoples and Cultures, where I work, really the only visitors we get are Cubscouts or private school groups. Why is it that this type of learning has become extracurricular? I think that, in this world so fixed on math, business, and physical science (What? The Space Race is over you say?) it is even more important that museums be visited and history and culture be taught, and not just to our youth. This obvious lack of care for museums is evident in the museums on the BYU campus. The only museum that really gets any attention is the Museum of Art, and this is probably only because it has the most money and a classy-ish cafe on the second floor. The Life Science Museum gets visited by people who want to laugh at weird stuffed animals. The Paleontology Museum is a bit of a joke amongst the geology department (most people don't even realize that the study of dinosaur bones is even part of geology-- another oversight). And the Museum of Peoples and Cultures' existence is often forgotten, at least by 98% of the students on campus (I can't speak for the staff). It is sad that the MPC has been so neglected, especially financially, that certain bathrooms have to be used for material storage, that the building is so old that humidity and light conditions are difficult to control in certain areas, and that certain of the staff gets paid less than what they might get paid elsewhere on campus (not me-- I'm happy with my wage). Despite all of this, however, the staff is dedicated to their work, and try to make it interesting and even fun for anyone that might wander in.

With all of this, I hope that you will start visiting museums more often, especially smaller ones that might be struggling to get by, or at least learn to appreciate their existence or significance a bit more.

Post Script: I want to know your opinion! Do you agree or disagree? Did I get something wrong? Tell me all.

Blah!

Half the time I post on this blog I feel like such a dork. This is one of those times.

Have you ever seen "Meet Joe Black"? If not, stop reading and go watch it right now. Seriously. It's a great movie, and the music is beautiful.

While searching for a song from MJB to add to my soundtrack playlist on youtube I came across this video. Okay, no, actually, I was looking for clips from "Giant" with James Dean and there was a clip compilation with this music and some other dumb song that totally ruined it or I would've recommended it. Anyway, that led me to the search to add it to my list, and then I found this video, which is really cool. In my opinion. But hey, it's my blog, so I can say what I want, right?

Music is "Whisper of a Thrill" by Thomas Newman (from Meet Joe Black)

There's a "real" post coming soon. Sorry for the randomness this time around.

Goats in Trees

Yesterday I was with Adrien and we opened an email (in the library-- unfortunately for anyone that had to listen to us laugh while they were trying to study) that had pictures of goats in weird places. Several were of goats in trees. Goats in trees, yes. It looks like a tornado came through and plopped all the goats in a tree.

So I looked it up.

Apparently in Morrocco they have these trees (called Argan trees) that are knobbly and hard, which the goats naturally climb to get at the fruit, which have little nuts in them that the goats can't digest, and are subsequently collected by goat herders and pressed for oil that apparently smells terrible but tastes really great and also will keep you young forever.

Not sure how I feel about that.

But goats in trees? Someone will have to get me the calender next year.

Don't you feel great now that you know something useless about goats? I sure do.

Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief

Last night I saw Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. I have a lot to say about this movie, mostly because I'm a dork for Greek Mythology.

NOTE: SPOILERS AHEAD!

The German poster; because unlike in the American one, this scene actually happened in the movie.

I realize that the movie is both for children and based off of a book, so I tried to suspend my disbelief, but some things really bothered me with the mythology. Here we go:

1. Medusa. People always get her wrong in movies. She's supposed to be super ugly, but people always make her really beautiful. Although I guess the only really consistent description of her in mythology is the snake hair, it's supposed to be her frightening appearance that turns you to stone. And yet there she was, looking as beautiful as ever:

A beautiful Medusa.

Another thing that really bothered me was that she was still alive even though they mentioned on more than one occasion that Perseus had killed her, that the head was still good for killing things after it had been cut off, etc. If she'd never been killed, how would they know these things? And even though he wasn't in the movie, how could Pegasus exist? One thing I did appreciate that they got right though was that Athena was the one who had cursed her and that she (Medusa) used to "date" Poseidon (it was for being with Poseidon in Athena's temple that Medusa was cursed).

2. Athena. This portrayal actually made me kind of angry. Athena has a daughter (named Annabeth...the main female character in the film). Seriously. Athena, who is known for being a complete and total VIRGIN. Now you can tell how much of a dork I am when I get so mad when Athena is improperly portrayed in a kid's movie. Haha. Anyway, you know the Parthenon, Athena's main temple dealy? The word Parthenon comes from "parthenos" which means-- guess what-- virgin. And they definitely cover the fact that the Parthenon was Athena's temple in the movie. They even go to the one in Nashville (which by the way, they say is an exact replica, but I didn't see a reflection pool...). And even though I can't recall any instance when she punished guys for trying to take advantage of her (unlike her half sister Artemis), rape attempts definitely happened, and she deliberately escaped them. So why would she voluntarily go have a child with a mortal?

Athena Parthenos. Never had any kids. She's too vain and proud anyway.

3. Poseidon. He was just as prolific as Zeus and had something in the neighborhood of 56 children. So why would he care about one measly half-mortal son? I mean really, he built an entire "half-blood camp" just so that son could train and become a hero. And they never even mentioned he has a wife (or at least a permanent consort). Aside from Medusa's brief mention to Percy Jackson that "I used to date your Daddy" (see above), everything pointed to Poseidon's being totally in love with Percy's mother and almost becoming human to be with her and his son, but having to leave only because of his godly duties.

Poseidon in his armor on Olympus, looking longingly at one of his several dozen children.

And the whole concept the movie is based on, where the gods aren't allowed to have contact with mortal offspring, came from Zeus trying to punish Poseidon for his actions. Silly.

4. Zeus. He mostly acted in-character but for one thing at the end. Percy asked him to get his friend Grover the satyr out of Hades and Zeus was all like "Eh, no prob." Even though part of the whole thing with Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades splitting the heavens, sea, and underworld was that none of them could intervene in the others' realms. That's why it's such a big deal when people return from Hades; it can't typically be done, even for gods!

5. Olympus is in New York City?!? Since when, really? On top of the Empire State building? And why is it that Percy's mother, a mortal, knows exactly how to get there but can't get out of the elevator because of the barrier? Also, the entrance to Hades was in Hollywood, which I think is pretty funny.

6. I just checked something on the Twelve Olympians on Wikipedia and guess what they said? "If interested in Greek Mythology, read Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Lightning Thief. Ha!

7. The demigods spend so much time training they never take a mythology class, which, it turns out, would be incredibly helpful in living in that world. They'd know not to cut off Hydra heads, not to eat Lotus flowers, that they need to pay the ferryman in Hades, and all sorts of other useful things.

Things I liked that they included:

1. The gods were huge, as they should be. The opening sequence is particularly awesome, when Poseidon walks out of the ocean and a teeny-weeny fisherman on the pier stares in awe.

2. Annabeth mentions that her mother and Percy's father hate each other because of the contest in Athens. I'm glad she remembered that.

3. Chiron was there teaching everybody. And he really does teach everybody. The only thing wrong with this is that he's supposed to be dead. But I guess that's not really a problem since he's technically immortal anyway.

Um, well...that's about it. Sorry if I totally spoiled the movie for anyone. You should probably still see it though, it's a good movie aside from these sad oversights (I don't know whether to blame the author or the scriptwriters. I guess I should read the books). The score was good, the special effects were pretty cool, and it's still about Greek mythology!

Also, I'll probably have to skip Clash of the Titans. There's no way I can watch Perseus battling minions of the Underworld trying to take over everything. My eyes would get tired with all the rolling they'd do.