It's never what you think it is. I decree that there are four categories to this. Sometimes it's frustrating, sometimes it's happy, sometimes it's sad, and sometimes it's downright hilarious.
The first one is frustrating. This expectation vs. reality leaves you disappointed, sometimes mad, and occasionally wanting to punch someone. Like when I was waiting at a stop sign to turn right. There was a car coming from my left, and I was waiting for it when it put on it's turn signal to turn right. Expectation: this car is going to make a right turn into the street I'm coming out of, and not go past me. It's okay to go. Reality: the car was actually making a right turn into the driveway just barely past the intersection. Result: I pulled out in front of them, the lady honked and waved her fist at me. And to make matters worse, my truck was in slush and I wasn't in four wheel drive so my tires spun out and everyone in a two block radius thinks I'm a bad driver. Not like that's anything new.
The second one is happy. This expectation vs. reality brings me joy. This is the expectation where you're going to fail a test and you get an A. The expectation where you try to cook something edible and it's delicious. The one where you think you won't be able to sleep and you sleep like a rock. Where you forget to do your homework and the teacher extends the date. The result of these situations are always the same: the feeling of happiness and joy and feeling like you're cooler than Batman.
The third one is sadness. This expectation vs. reality is practically the polar opposite of the happy category. You think you're going to ace a test and you utterly fail it. Your cooking burns and your roommates declare it a health violation. You are so tired and you toss and turn and don't sleep until right before your stupid alarm goes off. You go to class and everyone is turning in their homework and you never knew you had an assignment in the first place. The result of these scenarios can be described as lonely, sad, depressing, and you know how much of a failure you really are.
The fourth category of expectations vs. realities is my favorite. The ones that turn out to be downright hilarious. I have many examples for these. The most recent one is when I went sledding down Old Main in the dark last night. I was standing at the top of the hill looking down the hill at the sled tracks that other people had made. Expectation: this is gonna be awesome. Reality: someone had built a little sled jump on the track and I didn't see it till I was almost to it and as I couldn't steer away, I hit it, my sled went into the air (with me on it) and I almost didn't make the landing because I was laughing so hard. Another sledding expectation vs. reality that turned out really funny was when I noticed sled tracks on the stairs and decided I would have a go sledding down the stairs. Expectation: this is gonna hurt. Reality: it really did hurt but it was SO FUNNY sledding down stairs and then watching my roommate do it. I laughed so hard I almost cried.
So in conclusion, expectations sometimes exceed realities. Realities sometimes exceed expectations. Sometimes you wish you had a video camera. Other times you wish it had never happened.
But I expect it's all part of life.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Fun vs. Practicality
It has come to my attention the fact that things that are "fun" and the things that are "practical" rarely fall into the same category.
It started out when I was talking to my lovely mother about how I'll be doing two days of driving this weekend for one day at home. My mom pointed out how it was not practical.... and I retorted that if she was going to always be practical, she'd never have any fun.
First let me apologize to Mom for being a smart aleck, but second let me point out how true it is. Just think about the funnest moments in your life. And stop correcting my grammar, I know "funnest" isn't a word but I like it better than "most fun".
For example, the other night a friend and I were playing Catch the Chocolate Chip, you know, chucking chocolate chips at each other from across the room and trying to catch them in our mouths. There are many different versions of this game, like Catch the Cheerios or Catch the Goldfish. Or Catch the Pebble, but that's usually a game between two people when only one person, the person throwing the rock, knows what you're both playing.
Anyway, we were having fun, but it wasn't practical because chocolate chips are expensive and would be better used for their intended purpose, like baking. I guess their final intended purpose is being eaten, but they're more cost effective if you use them for baking first.
And then my roommate handed my Catch the Chocolate Chip pal a potato. And as he had run out of chocolate chips (I think), he pretended to throw me the potato. And as I put my hands up to catch the potato, he actually threw it. Thus started the game of Hot Potato. We started throwing it to a third person, then a fourth, then a fifth, and then we had five college kids playing Hot Potato for an hour and a half.
Again, this was impractical because food costs money. We could have saved that potato and eaten it. Another reason this game of Hot Potato was impractical is because it took place after midnight, when we should have been studying or sleeping. It was a waste of time.
Other examples of impracticality include vacations, especially the ones to the beach, watching TV or movies or YouTube, lounging, eating because you're bored (which is really fun in my book. I love food), joyriding around town, or napping just because you have free time. And yet those are all things we love doing.
There was a quote by what's-his-bucket, John Lennon (I just looked it up), that says, "Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted."
Long story short, I've decided impracticality is okay.
It started out when I was talking to my lovely mother about how I'll be doing two days of driving this weekend for one day at home. My mom pointed out how it was not practical.... and I retorted that if she was going to always be practical, she'd never have any fun.
First let me apologize to Mom for being a smart aleck, but second let me point out how true it is. Just think about the funnest moments in your life. And stop correcting my grammar, I know "funnest" isn't a word but I like it better than "most fun".
For example, the other night a friend and I were playing Catch the Chocolate Chip, you know, chucking chocolate chips at each other from across the room and trying to catch them in our mouths. There are many different versions of this game, like Catch the Cheerios or Catch the Goldfish. Or Catch the Pebble, but that's usually a game between two people when only one person, the person throwing the rock, knows what you're both playing.
Anyway, we were having fun, but it wasn't practical because chocolate chips are expensive and would be better used for their intended purpose, like baking. I guess their final intended purpose is being eaten, but they're more cost effective if you use them for baking first.
And then my roommate handed my Catch the Chocolate Chip pal a potato. And as he had run out of chocolate chips (I think), he pretended to throw me the potato. And as I put my hands up to catch the potato, he actually threw it. Thus started the game of Hot Potato. We started throwing it to a third person, then a fourth, then a fifth, and then we had five college kids playing Hot Potato for an hour and a half.
Again, this was impractical because food costs money. We could have saved that potato and eaten it. Another reason this game of Hot Potato was impractical is because it took place after midnight, when we should have been studying or sleeping. It was a waste of time.
Other examples of impracticality include vacations, especially the ones to the beach, watching TV or movies or YouTube, lounging, eating because you're bored (which is really fun in my book. I love food), joyriding around town, or napping just because you have free time. And yet those are all things we love doing.
There was a quote by what's-his-bucket, John Lennon (I just looked it up), that says, "Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted."
Long story short, I've decided impracticality is okay.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
On Finals
Its what's on every college kid's mind at this time.... Even the ones that don't have finals this upcoming week are thinking about it, because those of us that do are reminding them how easy and lucky their life is.
I didn't think finals were so bad in high school. I thought college kids exaggerated just to get pity. I would talk to my college friends on facebook, or in person when I ran into them and when you give the polite greeting, "Hi, how are ya?" The would always respond something along the lines of, "MY LIFE STINKS!! I have three hundred tests to take this week and they're all comprehensive and my teacher hates me and no matter how hard I study I'll never get an A so what's the point I give up and I'm dropping out of college and moving to California to be a street musician."
But then I got finals. And now I understand.
I have five finals and two final projects to get done before Saturday. Plus I had a research paper due this week and two final projects. I've already pulled one all-nighter and half of another all-nighter this week. And I was working on getting an online test out of the way today when the online system decided to take the day off. Blackboard is down until 10 later this morning. So instead of studying and taking a test, which I've been studying all afternoon for, I'm writing a blog post.
However, now that I have a legit reason not to be productive, I think I'll go to bed relatively early compared to all the other late nights I've pulled this week.
I didn't think finals were so bad in high school. I thought college kids exaggerated just to get pity. I would talk to my college friends on facebook, or in person when I ran into them and when you give the polite greeting, "Hi, how are ya?" The would always respond something along the lines of, "MY LIFE STINKS!! I have three hundred tests to take this week and they're all comprehensive and my teacher hates me and no matter how hard I study I'll never get an A so what's the point I give up and I'm dropping out of college and moving to California to be a street musician."
But then I got finals. And now I understand.
I have five finals and two final projects to get done before Saturday. Plus I had a research paper due this week and two final projects. I've already pulled one all-nighter and half of another all-nighter this week. And I was working on getting an online test out of the way today when the online system decided to take the day off. Blackboard is down until 10 later this morning. So instead of studying and taking a test, which I've been studying all afternoon for, I'm writing a blog post.
However, now that I have a legit reason not to be productive, I think I'll go to bed relatively early compared to all the other late nights I've pulled this week.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Distractions
We've all been there... the unable to focus issue.
For example, I should be studying for a major test I have tomorrow. But my studying so far is going like this:
"Study.... study..... hmm.... facebook. No, study..... study.... facebook! NO! STUDY! .........facebook. NO MORE FREAKIN FACEBOOK!!! STUDY!!!! YOU NEED TO STUDY!!! ......................................youtube."
And then I get over youtube and wind up writing a blog post about it.
But let's be honest, what's more interesting? Facebook? Or the difference between a Baroque Louis XVI fautoil or a Rococo Louis XV fautoil?
I know, I know..... it's my major. But that doesn't mean I find a study session on a sillon de cadero versus a sillon de frailero interesting.....
And then I finally start focusing and then I think, "......I'm hungry..."
And then I try to bribe myself to study. "If you study this chapter until you know it really well, then you can have the ice cream in the freezer that you're hoarding..."
But when that doesn't work, I try to force myself to study. "No food till you're done!! You'll starve first!!"
And then I think, "No, I'll study better if I'm full..." so I go eat then come back to studying.
..........
And then I think, "I need to use the bathroom............"
For example, I should be studying for a major test I have tomorrow. But my studying so far is going like this:
"Study.... study..... hmm.... facebook. No, study..... study.... facebook! NO! STUDY! .........facebook. NO MORE FREAKIN FACEBOOK!!! STUDY!!!! YOU NEED TO STUDY!!! ......................................youtube."
And then I get over youtube and wind up writing a blog post about it.
But let's be honest, what's more interesting? Facebook? Or the difference between a Baroque Louis XVI fautoil or a Rococo Louis XV fautoil?
I know, I know..... it's my major. But that doesn't mean I find a study session on a sillon de cadero versus a sillon de frailero interesting.....
And then I finally start focusing and then I think, "......I'm hungry..."
And then I try to bribe myself to study. "If you study this chapter until you know it really well, then you can have the ice cream in the freezer that you're hoarding..."
But when that doesn't work, I try to force myself to study. "No food till you're done!! You'll starve first!!"
And then I think, "No, I'll study better if I'm full..." so I go eat then come back to studying.
..........
And then I think, "I need to use the bathroom............"
Thursday, October 27, 2011
"Free" Time
This week I had two projects due. Both projects I worked really hard on, not because I'm a perfectionist, and not because I wanted the good grade, but because in order to get accepted into the program, I want to really impress my teachers. Show that I have potential. That I can do it!
So all weekend I tried to work on Project #1. Due Tuesday. I ended up staying up late, going to bed, going to class, quickly finishing, and handing it in a half an hour before the deadline. The next couple of days were spent on Project #2, which must be done on a computer with Photoshop. Due Thursday. I stayed in the computer lab yesterday until it closed, then got up early before class and went and worked on it today. Long story short, I finished the project in the first 10 minutes before/during class because my teacher is usually a few minutes late or right on time. And then I handed it in.
So now I unexpectedly have "free" time. I say "free" in the sense that.... well, let me make an analogy.
When you grow up and have a job, your income is never your own. The government gets a chunk, the bank gets another chunk, your mortgage, your car loans, your rent, your utilities... Which leaves you with little for yourself.
I feel like life and time are the same. College gets a chunk of your time, sleep, eating, walking across campus, and homework takes a huge chunk.
When your boss decides to give you a bonus, you have "free" money. You would think that people would take that money and put it towards their mortgage or something, but usually because it's unexpected money, they do something fun with it. Like a vacation.
So when projects that normally were the cause of stress and complete focus for a time, are no longer there, I have "free" time. Time that could be spent studying or catching up journaling or scripture reading. But instead, I think I'll take a "vacation".
The question is, what should I do with that "free" time? I could
So all weekend I tried to work on Project #1. Due Tuesday. I ended up staying up late, going to bed, going to class, quickly finishing, and handing it in a half an hour before the deadline. The next couple of days were spent on Project #2, which must be done on a computer with Photoshop. Due Thursday. I stayed in the computer lab yesterday until it closed, then got up early before class and went and worked on it today. Long story short, I finished the project in the first 10 minutes before/during class because my teacher is usually a few minutes late or right on time. And then I handed it in.
So now I unexpectedly have "free" time. I say "free" in the sense that.... well, let me make an analogy.
When you grow up and have a job, your income is never your own. The government gets a chunk, the bank gets another chunk, your mortgage, your car loans, your rent, your utilities... Which leaves you with little for yourself.
I feel like life and time are the same. College gets a chunk of your time, sleep, eating, walking across campus, and homework takes a huge chunk.
When your boss decides to give you a bonus, you have "free" money. You would think that people would take that money and put it towards their mortgage or something, but usually because it's unexpected money, they do something fun with it. Like a vacation.
So when projects that normally were the cause of stress and complete focus for a time, are no longer there, I have "free" time. Time that could be spent studying or catching up journaling or scripture reading. But instead, I think I'll take a "vacation".
The question is, what should I do with that "free" time? I could
- read a book. Maybe. If I had one.
- do laundry.
- crochet. A favorite pastime of mine, if only I had the money to buy yarn.
- bake. I've got some bananas that need to be made into bread.
- goof off on the internet for a few hours.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Creative Blogging
Did anyone else notice the trend from texting to Facebook to Twitter to blogging? I totally left out MySpace on purpose, cause no one really cared when it was "big" and now it's practically dead. Muah ha ha.
So blogs are apparently the big thing now. I'm almost ashamed to admit that I got caught up in it. But you can find blogs on everything from silly to crafty to showing off the kids to anti-Mormonism to cheese and crackers.
Yes, I did find an anti-Mormon blog. It was kind of sad. The guy was talking about how the "Angel Moronic" is "Joseph Smith's imaginary friend." I wanted to slap him in the face, but I blocked his blog from my Google results instead. (That's a new feature of Google's and I like it a lot.) It was almost laughable.
But blog ideas can go anywhere from how to curl your hair with socks to the top ten ways to fluff your pillow to travel places to school supplies to making Christmas advent calendars 500 different ways to creative Kleenex oragami to just about anything you can think of.
Blogs can also be classified into all sorts of categories. Food, crafts, travel, pretty much just people's hobbies.
I'm not going to classify my blog, and don't you dare either. I like it the way it is, unstereotyped.
And yes, I feel allowed to stereotype other people's blogs.
So for those of you thinking of starting a blog, I have some ideas for posts:
So blogs are apparently the big thing now. I'm almost ashamed to admit that I got caught up in it. But you can find blogs on everything from silly to crafty to showing off the kids to anti-Mormonism to cheese and crackers.
Yes, I did find an anti-Mormon blog. It was kind of sad. The guy was talking about how the "Angel Moronic" is "Joseph Smith's imaginary friend." I wanted to slap him in the face, but I blocked his blog from my Google results instead. (That's a new feature of Google's and I like it a lot.) It was almost laughable.
But blog ideas can go anywhere from how to curl your hair with socks to the top ten ways to fluff your pillow to travel places to school supplies to making Christmas advent calendars 500 different ways to creative Kleenex oragami to just about anything you can think of.
Blogs can also be classified into all sorts of categories. Food, crafts, travel, pretty much just people's hobbies.
I'm not going to classify my blog, and don't you dare either. I like it the way it is, unstereotyped.
And yes, I feel allowed to stereotype other people's blogs.
So for those of you thinking of starting a blog, I have some ideas for posts:
- Your best drawing ever (don't forget to post a picture so we can ridicule it)
- The one time you peed your pants in first grade
- Your kindergarten crush
- Top ten things you can do with a Kleenex
Saturday, October 22, 2011
On Eating
Let's face it, who doesn't love it??
In the past two days I've been to Pizza Pie Cafe, Arby's, and Dairy Queen. And in all three cases I ate myself sick.
Starting with Pizza Pie. That was the first time I've been there, and it was AMAZING!! I had two pieces of pepperoni pizza, a piece of buffalo wild sauce (or something like that... it was weird), an ENTIRE serving of bowtie pasta with meaty marinara sauce, and a piece of ridiculously good cookie dough pizza. Plus two cups of root beer.
And pretty much felt like I was rolling home.
Then tonight I had two regular roast beef sandwiches, as many curly fries as I could get before my sister did, and then a midnight truffle blizzard at Dairy Queen.
And my poor college stomach couldn't be any happier. After a two week long diet of mac and cheese cause it's my new favorite food at only 66 cents a box, I went and gorged myself repeatedly this weekend. Poor tummy won't be happy again for a while when that's what I go back to eating.
But you all should be jealous! I had food, and lots of it! I literally crammed my stomach so full, especially at Pizza Pie, that I was miserable for an hour afterwards, when I curled up and tried to will myself to digest faster, but it was a conquering miserable! It was worth the misery to be so full of delicious food!
And when you're at the buffet, it's impossible not to cram yourself full. Because you paid for it (actually my lovely sister and brother in law did) and 1) you want your money's worth, and 2) look at all that free food!! There's no limit, which makes it a challenge. I will eat as much as physically possible because the opportunity is there. I always accept the challenge!
And now I'm still full from Dairy Queen. I will sleep good tonight.
In the past two days I've been to Pizza Pie Cafe, Arby's, and Dairy Queen. And in all three cases I ate myself sick.
Starting with Pizza Pie. That was the first time I've been there, and it was AMAZING!! I had two pieces of pepperoni pizza, a piece of buffalo wild sauce (or something like that... it was weird), an ENTIRE serving of bowtie pasta with meaty marinara sauce, and a piece of ridiculously good cookie dough pizza. Plus two cups of root beer.
And pretty much felt like I was rolling home.
Then tonight I had two regular roast beef sandwiches, as many curly fries as I could get before my sister did, and then a midnight truffle blizzard at Dairy Queen.
And my poor college stomach couldn't be any happier. After a two week long diet of mac and cheese cause it's my new favorite food at only 66 cents a box, I went and gorged myself repeatedly this weekend. Poor tummy won't be happy again for a while when that's what I go back to eating.
But you all should be jealous! I had food, and lots of it! I literally crammed my stomach so full, especially at Pizza Pie, that I was miserable for an hour afterwards, when I curled up and tried to will myself to digest faster, but it was a conquering miserable! It was worth the misery to be so full of delicious food!
And when you're at the buffet, it's impossible not to cram yourself full. Because you paid for it (actually my lovely sister and brother in law did) and 1) you want your money's worth, and 2) look at all that free food!! There's no limit, which makes it a challenge. I will eat as much as physically possible because the opportunity is there. I always accept the challenge!
And now I'm still full from Dairy Queen. I will sleep good tonight.
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