my double rainbow

Since my older sister is getting married in a little less than a month, I figured I should get my (gasp!) bridesmaid dress. The only requirement? Grey and knee length. Not too bad, right? That's what I thought too, but it turns out grey dresses (that aren't extremely expensive, fit me, and are a decent length) are terribly hard to find.

Today I went to the University Mall, and went to every single store (with women's clothing, at least 15, I swear) looking for that dress. I looked through every dress rack, tried on every grey dress I could find (even some that looked like they were grey but I think they were really navy...) and was about to give up after about three hours of searching. With maybe two or three clothing stores left, I gave American Eagle a try, and, low and behold, there was my dress! I almost didn't try it on; the tag had a size larger than what I generally wore, and the price was more than what I wanted to pay. But, looking up, I saw a clearance sign, 40% off! Luckily, I did try it on, and not only did it fit, but it also only cost about half the price I thought it was going to be, even with clearance.

That's more or less how I will look wearing it...

So, things were shaping up, and I was optimistic even though it was late afternoon, and I was hungry and in need of a bathroom stop. Then I step outside, ready for the long journey home. And it's pouring. Undeterred, I pull out my umbrella. But still, I have two miles to trek home, and the wind is blowing  right towards my so me umbrella is not really all that effective. I walk along, desperately hoping some kind (and not at all creepy) soul will offer me a ride. No such luck.

I'm slogging along in my now wet shoes and I happen to glance up and see the sun shining through the rain. Oh hey, say I (not out loud of course), a monkey's uncle! and then I continue on (I don't care what other people say, but a monkey's uncle is when it's raining and the sun is shining). But then, a couple of minutes later, I happen to glance up again, and see a double rainbow. Full over the sky too! I may or may not have burst out into song about then...

So. Much. Physics. I love it.
(Just want to clarify and say that that's not the rainbow I saw.
Random picture off the web. You know.)

I don't know if you've ever seen a double rainbow, but they are about the best thing ever. If you have, you may have noticed that it's darker in between the two bows, and lighter underneath, and that the second bow is opposite, as in red on the inside band, and blue/violet is on the outside. Walter Lewin gives a whole lecture on it! He's my hero. You might enjoy rainbows right now, but I guarantee that you'll appreciate them that much more if you watch this lecture. 

run from the rapist

Saturday I decided to start running, and since I found a beautiful path along the Provo River, I decided to go running yesterday morning... at 5:30 am. Somehow I managed to will myself out of bed and go running, even though it was only for about 15 minutes. Despite day light savings time it was pitch black outside, and I can understand why there were no cars on the road. I was grateful for the lights on the path, because otherwise I would be seriously concerned for my safety (and have to go back to my apartment to get my rape whistle... thanks BYU). I was pretty impressed with myself since I not only got up but also ran the whole time, even if I did pass out (not literally this time) on the couch afterwards.

But I guess I was inwardly revolting against my ideas to be active, to reach my step count before 11:59 PM (for the step study I'm participating in). Because this morning I didn't go. When my alarm went off, this time at 6:30, my subconscious turned it off for a "really good reason." Drifting out of sleep again at 7:06, I couldn't remember what the reason was, but it was enough to convince me to reset my alarm for 7:50 and go back to sleep.

The reason? I dreamed last night that it had snowed and my subconscious self reasoned that snow was a good enough reason to keep me from running.

There is no snow. Today is gorgeous.

My subconscious is so lazy.

oh Sandy

Lately it seems like I haven't been able to concentrate long enough to get a coherent post out. But this will work out... says me for the fifth time. Sigh.

I missed my good friend Sandy on her visit to the east coast. Looks like she had a good time with my family... 

Almost forgot how much greener New Jersey is.

Whoops.

Part of me is sad that I missed out on such an exciting event, but at the same time, I have found some extremely crunchy leaves here the past couple of days, and I don't know that I'd want to give that up. Then again, no school for a couple of days would be nice, and it probably would be good for me to not have power because then I'd be forced to go to bed earlier. Also, I wouldn't mind having Halloween postponed because I still don't have a costume. I think I'm going to go to DI (it's similar to salvation army) this afternoon and find something there. Man, in some ways I'm completely unmotivated. 

Day before last I was able to register for classes for next semester... Can't say that it worked out quite as well as I expected it to. I'm on a waitlist of 33 people for a class of 25, so that looks promising... And then some of the classes that I was planning on taking aren't even offered this semester, so my schedule looks a little bit different than I was planning for it to look. On the bright side though, I managed to avoid afternoon classes (other than my o chem lab, for which I'm on a waitlist of 55 people for). So now all I have to do is sit back and hope that everybody -- and then some -- drops the class sessions I want to take.

I haven't made any origami lately, or read, or practiced organ... and somehow I still need to go to bed earlier than I am. I mentioned the step study that I'm in before. Last week I went in so that they could update my pedometer, and found out that I was not actually reaching the 15000 steps I was supposed to, so now I have to figure out how to wander around more to reach that. It feels so pointless, trying to take the most ineffective paths to where I want to go, just so that I can take more steps. Maybe I wills start running so I don't have to feel obligated to take the longest path to wherever I want to go. 

wonderful weekend

This weekend has been really short. But wonderful, all the same.

First, let me explain my research position. I work in a wildlands fire research lab, and up to this point I have mainly been analyzing IR data which certainly has given me new experience with spreadsheets and so forth, but not terribly exciting. This Friday, I finally did something. The main purpose of the lab is to burn stuff to create models to hopefully be able to better model fire movement for firefighters. So, on Friday we were doing a burn, and I got to help. First, we had to do all the grunt work: massing the samples, measuring length, width and thickness of leaves, counting how many leaves each sample had, taking pictures, obtaining a moisture content figure, and so forth. And then we got to burn them! It was really fun being able to to help out with the burn, and watching all of the clumps (small branches of leaves) burn was really, really enjoyable. If you're interested, you can find a video with a brief overview of the lab here. 

For those of you who have not been involved in scientific research before, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. There are a lot of aspects of research which are really tedious and less enjoyable, and only moments, such as during the burn, when the air is literally crackling with excitement. Walter Lewin talked about in his book how his team would prepare for a year or so before a balloon launch just so that they could get everything right (looking at x-ray astronomy where data can only be obtained from high in the atmosphere). But it's worth it, because when everything clicks, it's that much more rewarding. 

Not to change the subject, but I have an exciting announcement. I bought new shoes! 

Quality shoes here: no arch support, no treads left,
and places that will be holes soon enough...

Quality shoes here (not sarcastic now...)

Ever since I got to college I have been walking a lot. Since I don't have a bike or a bus pass, I've been walking too and from campus everyday, and from class to class. And, I kinda like it too. It gives me plenty of time to think everything over (and then over think things...) and allows me to (somewhat) plan my day out in my head. Also, I'm participating in a women's step study, so I have to reach a certain number of steps everyday (1500), and I get reimbursed about $100 at the end of it. I don't know how accurate the pedometer is, but it says that I walk 7-9 miles a day, and that's just how much I walk in the normal course of things. So that means that in the five or so weeks I've worn my old shoes here, they've gone at least 175 miles with me, not accounting for weekends, etc. That's kinda crazy. I guess I don't have to be too worried about a freshman fifteen...

Also, general conference was this weekend! As you may or may not know, I'm a Mormon, and our church holds a general meeting (which you can watch via broadcast. You can also access sessions or specific talks here) every six months. They announced this meeting that they changed the minimum age for which young women and young men can serve a mission: now guys can go at 18 while girls can go at 19. I've never really seriously thought about going on a mission, but now since it would be right in between my freshman and sophomore years of college (so much more convenient than after graduating), I'm considering going. So we'll see, perhaps that's what I need to do at this point in my life.

I made all of the origami things you see below during conference... As you can see, some of them didn't work out (aka all the ones to the left). And I was going to make some kind of analogy about how you have to try things even though everything doesn't always end up the way you want it (or sometimes you're not ready to handle certain situations yet), but I think... I'll save that spiel for another day. If you want links to learn how to make anything pictured below, let me know. 

I wish I had pretty origami paper... although perhaps
that would be bad, because then I would
definitely make origami stuff ALL. THE. TIME. 

cutting corners

I have a really bad habit of cutting corners all the time. Since I live decently far off campus, every time I go onto campus I envision the point from where I am to campus as a straight line, and then I adjust for cars, roads, buildings, and sometimes people. But I don't just strive the most direct path, I adjust to create the most efficient path, taking into account the energy that each path will require to expend, and time.

I guess the rest of campus concurs with me... My apologies, BYU grass

Good for you, you might say. Except for maybe not so much, because sometimes my tendency to cut corners extends beyond trampling the grass, or partially jay walking from crossing the street at a slant. For example, in my Book of Mormon class we have to read the first half of the book in two weeks, and our professor said the chapter headings weren't technically part of the text... so I haven't read any of them. And then in all my classes I can never seem to do any of the homework before the night it's due, or sometimes even the day of, if it's something that doesn't have to be handed in during the class period. And my food? Yeah, definitely not up to snuff. I really do need to do better to stay on top of things... and to do them the right way, not just half-way or part way. 

Also, my habit of calculating the possible benefits and detriments to each path has led me to the realization that to every situation there are way more factors than you can see at the initial glance. Sticking with the example of getting to point A to point B in the most efficient manner, one might decide to cut through the grass, because the distance that way is shortest. But is it the most effective path? Because after all, the grass offers much more resistance than the sidewalk does, so it probably takes longer and requires more energy. And there's always the risk that the sprinklers were just on so you might slip or at the very least your new shoes will get soaked. So really, is it worth it? I don't know. Honestly, I'd probably be better off walking to campus like a regular person. 

On a somewhat unrelated note, my organic chemistry class (so far) is awesome. My professor is absolutely obsessed with explosions and I love it. Every class period we usually get at least two explosions, although this time it was something cooler... the reaction of sulfuric acid and sugar. Watch the last minute or so of this video. The smoke you see coming off is carbon dioxide. Chemistry is so neat!

sweatshirt weather please!

Now that school has started and Labor day has passed, I'm anxious for fall to come. Maybe I'm crazy, but I've been walking to and from campus everyday, which usually takes me about twenty minutes each way. With the heat and my backpack, my back is generally turned into a sweaty mess, which is... undesirable, to say the least. Even without my back out of the question, I'm really looking forward to is the sidewalks full of crunchy, colorful leaves, snow-covered mountains, comfy sweatshirts, and of course cuddling up under my t-shirt quilt (on my poorly made bed, because I'm on the top bunk).

But, on the other hand, summer weather can be really fun. Yesterday I went boating with my sister, her fiance and some others, and it was super intense getting whipped around until you can't hold on any longer and fall off the tube (or banana boat, as it may be). I also tried wake boarding, and I got up... mostly, but I never got to standing position. All-in-all it was the best labor day I've had in years, but... I'm kinda burnt now and I'm sore; it hurts just to turn my neck and I have a pretty decent bruise on my right arm. Let's have some sweatshirt weather, please!