i tried to resist, but it's just too good [sorry, not sorry]

In an effort to find a more visually-appealing package of sausage while grocery shopping this week I accidentally bought Irish sausage instead of the mild Italian I was after. Also, Irish sausage is apparently a thing. And I have no idea what to do with it. Ideas?

The topic of the week is, of course, Pokémon Go, the augmented-reality app that lets players "catch" Pokémon in the real world [it's like virtual geocaching]. You've probably already heard loads about this and seen people out and about playing it. I was the designated driver for my husband and one of his friends on Monday night, and subsequently downloaded the app to play with them Tuesday evening. My family owned a few of the first generation Game Boy Pokémon games, but I've never had extensive personal experience with video games. Thankfully Pokémon Go is insanely easy to play, and I have to say that I love the impact it's been having.

I work around a lot of people who are not interested in this explosive new game, and personal preference is fine, but I have no patience for the various negative and derogatory remarks about both the game and its players that I've heard and seen this week. In the last four days I have been witness to an absolutely exciting and inclusive community that has provided common ground for those with social anxiety to engage with complete strangers, an engaging reason to get outside an get some exercise [you have to move around to find Pokémon, and you have to walk a certain distance in order to hatch any eggs you find], and a very visual contrast to the general stereotype of what a 'gamer' looks like. Of all the people I've seen playing, I'd say about 98% of them look nothing like what you'd assume a 'gamer' to be. A college 'party boy' literally screeched with delight and took off running, high-stepping, past us when he heard that we'd seen a Ghastly. As a part of a generation frequently plagued with social anxiety, it makes me indescribably happy every time I see a group of people hanging out at a Pokéstop. It's the kind of energy and community that you feel at a concert or convention, but it's happening every day in ordinary places which is completely unprecedented.

So if Pokémon Go isn't for you, that's fine, but please don't criticize or degrade those that choose to participate, because this game—breaking downloading records in the week that it's been available—is doing a lot of actual good for a lot of people. And what's the point in raining on something that other people enjoy, anyway? We all need happier hobbies than pulling other people down, whether it involves cartoon characters or not.

a little life update

For those of you who may be curious about my transcription progress: I finished the third of four notebooks this week, and I'm currently on page 115 of my single-spaced Word document [over 70,000 words]. Now it's on to the final notebook, then into the great drafting and editing abyss beyond. I've got a general idea of how to approach moving forward from the place I left off, but it involves changing POV to a character that isn't directly connected to the main cast so that'll need some planning. I still can't really believe that I wrote all of these words—though the fact that everyone is shrugging all the time is less of a surprise.

I've started my summer class this week [focusing on the Adobe creative suite—Illustrator, InDesign, and PhotoShop], and we were assigned our first project today. We're focusing on Illustrator right now, and we have to trace a photo of our own signatures with the pen tool for this assignment. There's a lot of little stuff that I've learned in just a week, but I had to laugh when my professor explained what we're doing. Drawing over an image is, like, the only digital art experience I already have [not that I'm good at it], and I know from experience that it can be detailed, neck-breaking work. A perfect first exercise, but definitely one that's going to leave me with a crick in my neck.

Those that know me via facebook/instagram are aware that I borrowed 18 books from the library about three weeks ago. I'm hoping I can renew some of them, because I'm currently reading my twelfth, and, while I am a prolific reader, I don't think I'll be able to polish of the remaining 6 before this Saturday. Now, you may be wondering if I'm planning another book review post, since that's my usual wrap up for book-binges like this. I am considering a review post, but it will probably be somewhat abbreviated for a few reasons: 18 is a lot of books to write about, and several of them are parts of series that I had begun before [Dealing with Dragons and the Once Upon a Time series]. So, in the interest of avoiding spoilers and giving myself a bit of a break, I'll probably give you the entire list, but reserve full reviews to my select favorites. Thus far, I've only run into one book that I was really disappointed in, but, for those familiar with my last review post, sometimes you don't find the icky ones until the end. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't come across more of the graphic content I dealt with last time.

Speaking of graphic content, I have to throw in a small plug for Bridge of Spies, for those of you like me who somehow haven't seen it yet. Thanks to some in-laws, I was able to watch it this weekend, and, guys, it is so good! It didn't occur to me until the credits were rolling, but I'm pretty sure this is the cleanest [as far as sexual and violent content goes] non-animated movie I have seen in maybe ever [with the exception of The Martian (which I also loved), but come on, he's alone on a planet]. I mean, no crazy explosions or  bloody gun-fights, no superfluous romantic subplots with inexplicably half-naked women lounging around. I would honestly recommend this film just for that fact, seriously. It's so refreshing to be able to get wrapped up in a story and its characters instead of being constantly bombarded by all that crap. That being said, I could see some people feeling like the film moves slowly [which I personally believe to be a side-effect of all the explosions and racy-times that we've been inundated with in the media, but whatevs]. The absence of flashy action scenes was probably purposefully done, considering the movie highlights the tension associated with the Cold War when everyone was expecting to be bombed any minute. With that in mind, I felt that Bridge of Spies was masterfully done. I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish, and I loved that the drastic difference in action and pacing really highlighted the key character moments in the film. It is so satisfying to see characters coming to respect each other despite working for opposite teams. I really don't feel like I'm doing it justice here, but I really really really just loved this movie and you guys need to go watch it if you haven't before.

My brain is slowly turning to mush so, by way of parting, I will leave you with these pictures that I saw today. Hopefully they'll make you laugh as much as I did.

equality vs equity

A while ago, I was introduced to the distinction between equality and equity. Why this wasn't something I was really aware of until my 20s, I don't know [I've always just associated equity with finances and the housing market?], but I've been thinking about it off-and-on for several weeks. Most of you have probably seen this comic by now, or at least the first two panels:

It's a pretty helpful illustration for differentiating between two somewhat confusingly similar terms. I've most commonly seen it used in the context of social, political, and economical discussions [where it is certainly relevant], but it came to mind in a different way a few weeks ago when I came across Psalms 98:9 "for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity." [As a side note, why did I decide to read the Old Testament from start to finish? Guys, this thing is long.] With this terminology in the back of my mind, this verse stuck out to me. 

When we discuss equity of resources do we include patience, charity, and service on the list of things that people need? We ought to, especially because in our own day-to-day lives these are the resources that we are most able to provide. In our interactions with other people are we being equal or equitable? We've all been born into unique circumstances, with different privileges and challenges, and, because our own circumstance is the only one we really know, it's really easy to fall into the habit of holding others to the same standards that we expect to meet, regardless of their personal circumstances.

The thing is, it's easier to enact equality in our own lives than it is to use equity. Equality in our interactions with other people is a blanket behavior, everyone is given the same things, held to the same standard, etc. To utilize equity in our relationships requires us to actually have relationships with those around us. Heavenly Father can judge us in equity because He knows each of us. He knows our circumstances, our resources, our intents. We cannot truly serve and love those around us unless we come to know them, in some way, and see them the way He does.

I am far from being proficient at this. We live in a world that encourages and constantly bombards us with snap judgments—a thought process that I've seen sneaking into my life more and more. That's not the kind of person I want to be. Thankfully, I will always have a choice in that, and a loving Heavenly Father who will encourage my every effort to improve.

writer problems and heat

I'm so bad at talking about my own writing. It's a serious problem, guys. As an introvert, I really don't like having people's attention focused on me [contrary to what my having a blog might suggest], so explaining my writing and story ideas is really uncomfortable because there's no way to deflect the listener's attention as everything they're hearing is something I've made up so the information has to come from me. I'm also notoriously bad at summarizing things in a concise fashion. The two combined results in me responding to any inquiries with "do you have half an hour for me to explain this to you, but please don't look at me while I do?"

I've always been an easily embarrassed person, but there's something specific about writing that makes me feel like people will see my ideas and decision to write at all as something childish and silly. I have yet to come across someone rude enough to express that opinion to my face. but the paranoia is still there, especially at an age where I'm trying to establish my credibility as An Adult in a world that, generally, views creative fields as less legitimate uses of time than more traditional careers/pastimes. I suppose that's something that thicker skin is for. In the meantime, there might be pre-prepared summary cue-cards in my future as I suspect that my on-the-fly descriptions are more confusing that anything, haha.

In the last week the temperature around here has jacked up from the mid-70s to the mid-80s to low-90s and I am dying. How does the weather go from pretty comfortable to p;ease let me die so fast? And it's only a difference of like 10 degrees! I have quickly come to the conclusion that I do not currently own enough skirts and loose, flow-y tops to survive this summer. Sometimes I really wish it wouldn't be seen as weird for me to find my coolest outfit and just wear that every day to work. My life would be so much easier.

just leave this here...

I spent this afternoon writing a post to go along with this tumblr post I found earlier in the week, but after review, I believe I'll just leave this here. I think 1 Corinthians 13:11 is frequently misunderstood.

a brief summary of may

The last few weeks have been a bit nuts so I'm sorry for the absence of posts, but group commitments and kidney stones kind of took priority. The bright side to all that is that we were finally forced to do some things we'd been putting off [read: making a general doctor's appointment for my husband, and deciding to quit trying to make book group happen—it's not going to happen].

Aside from that craziness, life has been pretty quiet as is the norm around here. I've begun transcribing my notebooks for the novel that I shared parts of with you guys way back in 2014 [sharing is caring, chapter one part two!, a little excerpt for this holiday post—a lot of what was published here has been changed or moved around since I posted these but feel free to read them if you're bored]. There are four notebooks crammed with my somewhat cumbersome scrawl and three weeks of work has gotten me almost all the way through the first two and I'm currently at over 35,000 words. And it's only been about four days in the story...Yikes. This is definitely the drawback of writing a first draft long-hand but I don't see myself converting exclusively to word-processors anytime soon so I'll just power on.

It's been a really long time, honestly, since I read through the start of this story, and I can really see how extended time away from a project can clarify things for you. I'm resisting the urge to edit as I go, because then I'd never finish digitizing it, but there are certainly a lot of places I'm eager to get back to a tear into.

In other writing-ish news, I've been asked to be a member of the editing board for the new student journal, which is rather exciting. They're planning to have a few meetings over the summer to prep but the real work will begin in the fall when we begin advertising and calling for submissions. I think they've got the right idea of publishing the first issue in the spring as that will give us a lot of good time to build awareness and interest in the journal, which will hopefully result in a better batch of submissions to choose from.

My husband's entire family are puzzle geeks [in the best way, honey], so last Saturday we went a did one of those escape puzzle rooms as a group. I have to say, it was a total blast. This particular room was actually a gutted air-stream trailer that we were initially concerned about being able to fit ten people into, but it turned out to be the perfect size. There were enough puzzles for everyone to take part and enough room for us all to move around pretty comfortably. In the end, I think I was a bit more of an observer than a participant, but, introvert that I am, that worked just fine for me. There are some pretty big personalities in this family and, like all others, sometimes being in close-quarters doesn't have the best result, so it was really cool to see all the siblings and spouses working together on something that we all had fun with.

After two and a half years [and just as I felt like things were becoming more manageable, of course] I was released from my calling as Sunday School teacher for the 12-13 youth in my ward this month. Then I was called to be the secretary for our Primary Presidency. I've never served in a presidency before [and young women's doesn't count because I was always the only girl in my class] so it's a little intimidating to be in charge of rolls and organizing calendars and keeping track of birthdays/who's reading a scripture or giving a talk next week. I did feel right at home when I found out that I'm in charge of making a chart to track the kids' progress in memorizing the Articles of Faith, though. Independent craft time? That I can do. Forget nap time, adult jobs should have miscellaneous craft time built in.

Honestly, I'm surprised that it hasn't turned into an oven out here yet. We've been swinging back and forth in the 60s and 70s for the last two to three months along with what feels like [for Utah] an abnormal amount of rain scattered throughout. But Utah's weather is notoriously unpredictable from year to year—let alone from one hour to the next—so I'm just trying to soak up the pleasant weather for as long as we have it. Who knows? Maybe there'll be a blizzard in June. It's happened before.

brace yourselves, summer is coming

It has begun. We've had our AC on for a few weeks now but it hasn't really created a drastic difference until this week when temps have started ratcheting up again. Summer is coming. I must prepare my habitat. Scorching to death outside---blankets, hot cocoa, and fuzzy socks inside. Too bad I can't sit wrapped in blankets at work, this place is freezing!

I hope my book review post last week lived up to your expectations. [Edit: It's currently gotten 60 views which is my all-time high for a single post. Thanks, guys!] A friend told me that she enjoys my reviews because she knows I'm being honest. That should be part of my book review slogan: I may not be nice, but at least I'm honest! Age is turning me into a more demanding and less tolerant reader, haha.

Some of you may remember that I was working the "middle shift" while I waited for the powers-that-be to hire a new morning coworker for this position. That circus ended up taking two whole months and is a story all its own, but we finally landed a keeper. She started a week ago Monday, which means that I shifted back to my regular schedule last Friday. It's amazing how working a different shift for two months can make me forget how slow my usual shift is. Don't get me wrong, I'm super happy to have a coworker again and it's nice to take a step back from the more frantic pace of covering both shifts, but my brain and body have both been two steps behind all week. I'm so tired. Why am I more tired now that I'm going into work later? Mysteries. The reality is that the timing just aligned perfectly with the end of Spring semester so campus is d-e-a-d right now---a fact that's always more obvious from 2-3 in the afternoon. And Go Set A Watchman is sitting, finally delivered, in my mailbox at home. Mocking me.

With Spring semester over I have a lot more time on my hands and I'm still figuring out how to use it wisely. I'm set up to take a Summer course but it doesn't start until the end of June and the student journals don't run over the summer. There is a small potential exception on the horizon. I was invited [along with probably most students that worked on a journal last semester] to apply for positions on the editing board of a brand new student journal that's just getting off the ground. The premise of this journal is "leadership" which doesn't really grab me from the get-go but the opportunity to work as a member of the founding staff offers some pretty good experience. Applications are due by tomorrow so I'm on the waiting train for at least a week before I hear if I'm in, and while I hate waiting for responses to stuff like this it's kind of nice to anticipate the possibility of something.

One of my efforts to make better use of my free time has been to allot the first hour of my day as "writing time." Thanks to a massive migraine on Monday and general schedule adjustment fatigue, my record for this week isn't fabulous but I am getting excited for it. I just have to rename one of my MCs first... I know there are authors who can get rolling on a story without feeling totally solid on their character names but I can't work that way, especially for a main character. It's not like a pregnancy [I'm not pregnant] where you can have an adorable place-holder name until the baby is born. For me, knowing a character's name is a vital part of knowing that character so I was rather disappointed when I realized that the name I'd picked initially for this particular heroine just...doesn't fit. Back to the drawing board---I mean baby name sites! This is probably why I keep getting coupons for Similac in my mail...