Never tell me the odds.

Goals:

Keep that darn scholarship.
Go to bed by 11:00 every weeknight this week.
Do 50 crunches every night.
Go running at least twice.
Read through every chapter in my math book on which I'm being tested.
Get cracking at my chem text book as well.
Ace my math test.

Maintain my sanity.
Be happy. :)

WHY ARE PEOPLE SO STUPID?!

GAHHH.

Click here.

I cannot believe people. Filing a lawsuit against the Large Hadron Collider is absolutely ridiculous. People have been smashing atoms for nearly half a century and guess what. We're all still here! No catastrophes! Driving a car is more dangerous than a particle collider, so why don't you sue Ford?

Stop interfering with science already, and let the scientists make the world a better place in peace!

Nomenclature

Right now I'm sitting in my dad's office. Sometimes I come up here to do homework and study and whatnot, and he went home for the weekend, so I have it all to myself. It rocks. I want my own office on campus. They could just give me a little corner in some building, and I'd fill it up with books and chairs and rugs from IKEA, and cool art prints, and a mini fridge filled with the fixings for panini and cheesecake and everyone would want to come study with me so I'd start charging admission, and I'd earn all the money I need to pay rent next year just from that alone, so I'd put the money I'll be making from an actual job into a France study abroad savings account, and ...that would be really cool....
Anyway, I'm listening to Waking Ashland via imeem (if you guys haven't checked out that site, you should. You can listen to music for free; it's rad) whom I have wanted to listen to lately, but have not had the time. Anyway, I'm supposed to be doing my math homework (I swear it never ends), but I'm a little sick of parametric equations so here I am! Blogging! Woot! I really liked Alyssa's post with her list of names she likes, so I thought I'd post my own. Mine are a little less creative, but I like them, hehe:

Ivy
Piper
Ryan
William
Ashton
Tyler
Nicole
Didier (hahah it's a French boy's name pronounced dee-dee ay, it's just so fun to say...not that I'd actually name my child that)

Hmmm I think I just ran out of names. Darn. It's funny because when I was like 13 I had this huge list of all these names I loved. Now I can only come up with a few...I guess this means I must return to math. Have a supremely wonderful weekend everyone! :D

PS I trimmed my nails back down to a socially-acceptable length so I was able to type this with a minimum of typos! Yeah! I can type again!

23 credits? Psch, no problem!

So I got an email a week or so ago telling me it was "almost time to register for fall semester classes! check route y for your priority registration date! etc etc" so I did, and I can register on April 11. Ah ah aha ahaha so soon! I don't know how I'm going to decide what not to take. Haha, notice my phrasing there. See, I'm trying to pull off ballroom team, chem major, French minor. Small problem: that means I need to take a 4 credit hour math class, a 4 credit hour chem lab, a 3 credit hour French advanced grammar class, a 3 credit hour o chem class, plus 4 credit hours of ballroom. Oh and yeah, maybe I'd like to take a religion class seeing as I'm attending a religious university...hmmmm. You do the math, that's over 18 credits. Right now I'm taking 17, and it is killing me. I can't stay awake in any of my classes except dance (and even then...) All of my notes look like serial killer handwriting, all shaky and unreadable, words sort of trailing off into unrecognizable symbols that might have been letters in my head, but I couldn't get them to translate through my hands. I dropped my pencil three separate times in math yesterday because I would fall asleep and my hand would relax. Clink, there's my writing utensil on the floor, again. In French, I was this close to drooling on my desk. Drooling, for crying out loud!
Anyway, right now I'm going through the class schedule online, and it's going to be very tricky making this all work. Gah. The pleasures of an academic life.
I'm betting that all of you will be going through the same thing in the next month or so. Good luck. May your schedules magically fall into place. :)

She Blinded Me With Science

I got my chemistry test back today.

My score:
91 out of 100.

Silly boys, science is for girls :P

He Lives!

Happy Easter everyone! For this special Easter edition post I thought I'd just share a few quotes and things related to Easter. Enjoy:

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid it as it were our faces from him; he was despised,. and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

"After the agony of Gethsemane came His arrest, His trials, His condemnation, then the unspeakable pain of His death on the cross, followed by His burial in Joseph’s tomb and the triumphant coming forth in the Resurrection. He, the lowly babe of Bethlehem who two millennia ago walked the dusty roads of the Holy Land, became the Lord Omnipotent, the King of kings, the Giver of salvation to all. None can fully comprehend the splendor of His life, the majesty of His death, the universality of His gift to humankind. We unequivocally declare with the centurion who said at His death, 'Truly this man was the Son of God."
-President Hinckley

"And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the oice bering record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father- that by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God."

"We solemnly testify that His life, which is central to all human history, neither began in Bethlehem nor concluded on Calvary. He was the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world...We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles—that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son."
-the Living Christ, testimony of the twelve apostles

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophesies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

"I believe in Christ; he stands supreme!
From him I'll gain my fondest dream;
And while I strive through grief and pain,
His voice is heard, "Ye shall obtain."
I believe in Christ, so come what may,
With him I'll stand in that great day
When on this earth he comes again
To rule among the sons of men."

"Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen."

"I not only think that we will tamper with Mother Nature, I think Mother wants us to." - Willard Gaylin

Happy Friday everyone! I absolutely love, love, love this day of the week because I only have one class that requires thinking (math). Other than that I have team rehearsal and technique class which are zero stress and very enjoyable. Hmmm, what else to say? I'm trying to avoid working on my math homework right now...it's so easy to procrastinate because it's not due until Monday, and I'm not obligated to do anything until 6:40 tonight (I have an audition with a potential partner for next year! woot!) You know what I decided? I really like cooking. Recently I've made sauteed chicken with a mustard cream sauce, peach and blackberry cobbler, and berry scones. Yummm yummm yummm. Maybe if this whole chemistry/ballroom/BYU thing doesn't work out, I'll go to cooking school in France.

The cookbook that Kristen and I "borrowed" from Mike and Brad.
The subject of whether we're going to return it or not is still under debate.

Oh! I know something I can discuss. I read an article in the New York Times this afternoon talking about how more and more parents are choosing not to immunize their children because they think it increases their risk of asthma, autism, and immunology. How about how not immunizing their children increases their risk of meningitis, small pox, measles, pertussis, etc? Gahhhh it bothers me so much when people who have no scientific training and who've gotten all their information from studies of questionable credibility and the internet go about making these ridiculous claims! Not vaccinating your child puts everyone else's at risk. Death by measles in children has dropped 68% from 2000 to 2006 alone. Guess why-vaccines! Hmm, yeah, I think we should definitely get rid of them. Look at that risk. Your child could not die from measles.
Here's a quote: "Some parents of unvaccinated children go to great lengths to expose their children to childhood diseases to help them build natural immunities. In the wake of last month's outbreak, Linda Palmer considered sending her son to a measles party to contract the virus. Several years ago, the boy, now 12 contracted chicken pox when Ms. Palmer had him attend a gathering of children with that virus." (uhhh not sure how to cite this...today's New York Times. "Rising Risk to Public Health Is Seen as More Parents Are Rejecting Vaccines". Harris, Gardner....ok I think that's good...) How about you just give him a freaking vaccine and then he doesn't have to be sick with a potentially life-threatening disease?

This brings up another point, sort of not related, but in my mind it is. "Organic food vs. genetically altered food." Bunch of crap, that's what it is. Technically "organic" just means contains carbon, so by that definition all food is organic. There is nothing wrong with genetically altered food! I would think it'd make sense to have crops that will survive early freezing or whatever. Hardier crops=more food. More food should equal less hungry people. Everyone wants less hungry people, right? End world hunger? Maybe a good idea? Not with genetically altered food apparently.

I remember in fifth grade we read an article about this in "Time For Kids." (hehe, remember that little magazine? I loved getting those things.) After reading it, almost my entire class was convinced that genetically altered food was bad, bad, bad. Then I went home and asked for my dad's scientifically influenced opinion (o chem prof at byu, ye-eah! uh ok, I promise to never type anything like that again) and he told me that genetically altered food is completely safe. He was very angry that "Time For Kids" was pushing its liberal agenda on easily swayed, naive fifth graders. Meh.

Anyway, sorry this isn't very well thought-out, and I know I've got lots of holes in my arguments (mostly they are just rants) but I'd like to know your opinions on these things. I miss doing those little debates in Mr. M's fifth grade class and biology with Hodges in ninth grade...virtual debate anyone?

Thought Beads on a String

Thought #1:
I hate it when people call and don't leave a message when I don't answer, especially if it's a number that's not in my phone. I am left to wonder, "Who is this person calling me? What did they have to say? What's going on?" I realize most of the time it's probably a wrong number or some telemarketer or something, but I am a curious person! If you call me I'm going to wonder who you were and if there is no message to inform me I'll start making up a persona for you. The call I missed while in class? Oh, that was probably a middle-aged woman, classy, well-dressed, who was looking for a ballroom dress to purchase for her daughter who is just starting to compete in Youth Standard. Last night? That was a man calling to offer me a job working as a tour guide in Monaco over the summer. If I die in a wondering frenzy, it is all your fault, you messageless callers! So leave me a message!

Thought #2:
Tour should be pronounced "too-er" not "tore" as in the past participle of tear.

Thought #3:
Studying outside is a beautiful thing. Kristen and I just spent two hours sprawled out on a blanket behind our apartment reading econ and chemistry respectively. It was the most fun I've ever had reading a textbook in my life.

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

So after two somewhat depressing and cynical posts, here is a happy one:

I like lists, so I'm making a list of things I like:
lists (hehe)*ballroom*French*chemistry*harvest peach yogurt*grilled pineapple at Tucanos*talking about plans for the future*reading Amy Tan and Chaim Potok novels*getting my hair and makeup done for comps*the smell of recently mowed lawns*listening to Kate Nash*getting mail*going to IKEA*studying on the 3rd floor of the BNSN*dancing dancing dancing*sleeping*jelly shoes*cardigans*headbands*big earrings*seeing movies at midnight*wakeboarding and boating*beating boys on tests (the next time I get a high score on a chem test I'm writing a blog called "Silly boys, science is for girls!" It's going to be fabulous.)*watching "Gilmore Girls"*acting spazzy*eating at the MOA cafe*cute cups and bowls*reading blogs*photos*traveling*lasertag*finding cool poems*learning something new in church*being with friends*the smell of fake tan and aura hairspray*rereading favorite books (ie Ender's Game, pretty sure I've read that one 7 times, and it still never gets old.)*buying music on itunes*trying out recipes*not math*playing Nerts*yoga*laughing at inside jokes*being in my apartment (as ghetto as it is...)

You know, when I really think about it, I love my life. There is nothing I'd rather be doing than going to BYU, taking the classes I'm taking (except for math 113), knowing the people I know, having the friends and family that I have, being on the ballroom team, etc etc. I like where I am. And if a D on a math test and no longer dancing with the same amazing partner that I at least got to dance with for a year is all I have to complain about, then that's really nothing at all. I'm so blessed. C'est belle la vie, n'est-ce pas? Life is beautiful.

Hmm. Oh well.

I, Katie Andrus, single-handedly destroyed my math class' chance of being the highest scoring section on the last midterm.

I knew when I walked out of the Testing Center (should that be capitalized? it looks a bit funny) that I was going to be lucky to get a 50% out of that, but I didn't realize it was going to be this bad...
I signed up for an honors calculus II class because it had a better teacher, a smaller class size, and the exact same assignments and quizzes as the regular classes, and I thought why not just do honors? So I'm now stuck in this class with a bunch of math majors and math minors who actually enjoy math while I'm just gritting my teeth and trying to endure another semester of a subject I've grown to despise. Apparently math hates me too because we are not getting along right now. Anyway, my teacher always figures out which class had the highest average on each test and usually we're in the top two or three, but this time, oh no, our average was right about the same as the overall average among all the math 113 classes (63ish %). I think it was my fault. We had a girl who got a 99% in our class and two other kids who got somewhere around a 98% or a 97% and my teacher said there were a bunch of others who scored within just a few points of that. But even with all those high scores, I think I successfully destroyed any chance we had of having a high average.

My score:
thirty seven.
Out of one hundred points.

I have never, ever failed a test before. My definition of fail was anything below an 85. Unfortunately that definition has now been revised to the normal definition of fail...
And this all drives me crazy because I feel like I have to compete against all these kids who love math and whatever and I do not and I do not have time to spend on math because I've been getting ready for ballroom competitions every day all semester long and maybe if they had a life other than integrals and infinite series they would struggle a bit more too. (Ok, I'm sure they all have lives other than math, and some of them are pretty cool, it's just easier to be angry if I pretend they don't and aren't.) And another thing, I do not like being looked at as the dumb blonde who somehow stumbled her way into an honors calculus class. Ok math class? This is to you: I was a freaking valedictorian, I got a 4.0 last semester, I'm getting paid to go to college (although I think I'm probably going to lose my scholarship now) and I am not an idiot, no matter how much I look like one in this class! Meh. meh meh meh. I'm edging towards complete academic burn-out.

The worst part is I don't care. I haven't even shed a tear yet. What is wrong with me?

Teardrops on my....laptop keys?

I'm a US National Amateur Latin Semi-finalist.

I cried when I looked up to see the callbacks and mine and Bradley's number was there. We hadn't won Gold Bar Tango like I had wanted, and we hadn't made the Amateur Standard Semi-final either. I was mad and disappointed and then I looked up....ahhh seeing that 281 up there was the best feeling in the world. It is such a huge deal to make one of those semi-finals, and we pulled it off at last.
And now I feel like crying again, but not because I'm super happy. It's over! I'm done competing individually until I can find another partner, and it kills me! I hate endings. Meh meh meh. I just want to get back out there on the floor and get right back to practicing and let the ballroom world swallow me whole and forget about everything else, but I can't...I have math homework and a chem lab right up that needs to be done, and I just want to go back on that Marriott Center floor and dance it again only better this time, because I remember now what I'm going to be missing. I had a little peek into the upper echelons of ballroom, and I can't stand to let it go! I don't want to go back to not making finals and feeling good if I make a prechamp semi. I miss it already, and it's only been two hours.

THE Birthday Blog

So pretty much I have the most amazing friends, roommates and family ever. We have a bit of a tradition in our apartment where we deck out the apartment for people's birthdays. I completely forgot about this tradition as I went to sleep on March 2nd, so when I woke up I was genuinely surprised at the plethora, no, cornucopia of posters saying normal birthday things like "Happy Birthday Katie!" to the more creative "You're HOT like the stove!" (taped to the oven door, complete with illustration of me saying, "Wow, I'm pretty much a babe," and a boy saying, "Wow, she's pretty much a babe.") The table was all set with my IKEA dinnerware with adorable not-from-the-creamery balloons and a note saying, "How about lunch at the MOA? See you at 1:00..." which meant that Amanda and Kristen totally read my mind because I had been thinking of asking them if they wanted to go there on my birthday to celebrate. (For those of you who don't know, the MOA is the museum of art cafe, and it has incredible food...mmmmm....) Anyway, so I'm standing in my kitchen at 6:45 in the morning staring at all these posters and the balloons and the "Katie is 19!" banner (which I was almost expecting to read K2Bob is 19...it's an inside joke) and this wonderfully nice note from Suzy, and I just start to cry. Life has been majorly stressful and hard lately, and I was just so touched by all the things my roommates had done for me. Thanks guys :)
But the story doesn't end there. Throughout the day I got multiple happy birthday texts, facebook wall posts, and actual in person happy birthdays. When I checked facebook during the day, what do I see but a message from Alyssa telling me my birthday present was on her blog. Intrigued, I quickly went to it and what do you know, there is an entire tribute to me on her blog! It was so nice! As promised, Amanda, Kristen, and I went to the MOA. (This experience deserves a blog all of its own, but I'll write that later. Be excited.) My mom and younger sisters came by with one of those candy bar posters that has things like "You're a starburst!" with the burst part crossed out. My mom also brought me a whole cheesecake from Costco! My favorite! Woot! Jody took me out to dinner at Costa Vida, which was amazingly delicious...sweet pork salad has no match...afterward, we came back to my apartment for cheesecake with all my roommates and Mark and Matt.
The next day Noah brought me over sugar cookies which spelled out "Happy Belated Birthday Katie!" They were delicious and very cute.
It was one of my best birthdays, I'd have to say. Thanks to everyone who helped make it special. I really, really appreciate it. :)

e^i*theta=what?

I was planning on writing a blog about my birthday, but I just spent my evening doing chemistry, math, and French, and it's now almost 1:00 AM, and I need to wake up at 7 to go to the math lab to finish all the homework that I didn't get done tonight because I don't understand it (anyone ever tried to derive trig identities using imaginary numbers? yeah, it's not pleasant) and the birthday blog must be good, so until then...why don't you try to come up with a reason for the title of this painting? It's called "I Love You With My Ford." Good luck.

Roads, [cafe] Rio, and Rock Band

Utah sucks at lighting freeways. Holy cow, I cannot tell you how annoyed I am right now at how dark they are at night. Would it kill them to install some street lights along the way instead of relying on local business' neon signs to light the road, because I'm pretty sure it's killing people. Not only are the roads not lit, but the lines aren't painted with any sort of reflective paint so you can't see where the heck the lane is when you're driving. Gahhhh it makes me so angry! I think I will research how many accidents occur at night on the freeway and then write a very heated letter to the legislature. Meh.

Besides that, I am very merry happy tonight. (It's a Kate Nash song.) The comp went well, I ate at Cafe Rio with a bunch of people from ballroom, and played rock band at Bradley's freaking amazingly huge and gorgeous house. Happy Saturday everyone, and I hope y'all have a good fast Sunday. :)