Number of the Beast

I was looking at the textbooks I will need next semester. I only need four books, but unfortunately each of them has a pretty hefty price tag. I added up all the listed prices, and the total came to $666.
I think there are a few different ways I can interpret this.
1. The textbook industry is of the devil.
2. The BYU Bookstore is of the devil.
3. My textbooks are of the devil.
This would be more distressing if I hadn't recently learned that Satan is a good role model.

Fun with Fluids

In my fluid mechanics class, we've started watching videos at the start of each class. This was today's clip.

New goal: Find a cheap speaker. Find a loud song. Mix cornstarch and water. Enjoy.

Public Service Announcement

This is a video I think you all should watch.
Really. Go watch it now.
http://bobrodkin.posterous.com/public-health-agency-of-canada-coughing-sneez
Did you watch it? Good.

Seriously?

The following is a letter to the editor published in BYU's campus newspaper yesterday. It is so outrageous, I can't tell whether it's sarcastic or serious. Either way, I think the author is crazy.

Capable woman
BYU culture struggles to maintain the outdated and patriarchal views that disguise feminine repression through seemingly selfless acts of self-proclaimed “gentlemen.” While walking through campus, I do not see any damsels in distress. I see competent, intelligent, professional
women that do not need a man to hold the door, pay for a date or even present a shiny ring in the traditional manner.
I have hands, thank you. I do not feel flattered when you awkwardly hold the door open for helpless little me. I also have money. Women who allow men to pay for them on a date are prostituting their worth not only in the relationship, but also in a capitalistic society that strives to provide equal opportunities. Our income is worth just as much as any man’s labor could produce. Finally, I am equally capable of finding my own mate. My agency need not be stifled by the whim of a male who finally decides that I am worthy to be by his side. I, too, can take a knee; I too can afford a ring. Do you want a princess cut or a solid band?
My fellow sisters in Zion, do not be fooled into thinking that men wear the pants in the relationship. You can, too. Not only are skirts a safety hazard, preventing you from running away from danger, but they are also a symbol of your submissiveness. So, zip up the pants and assume your position next to the man — not behind him.

Narcolepsy

I have been cursed with the ability to fall asleep almost instantly almost anywhere.
Last night I was a passenger in a car driving from Salt Lake to Provo. There was a meteor flash that apparently lit up the entire sky, and I missed it because, despite the fact that I had been participating in a conversation seconds earlier, I was asleep.
I was at a friend's house one night, and we were talking. She asked me a question, and I said, "I just," and fell asleep. In the middle of the sentence.
I have to put my alarm clock (OK, cell phone) across the room so I have to jump down from my bunk bed when it goes off. This is because otherwise I turn the alarm off without ever fully regaining consciousness. Unfortunately, recently I've been waking up, jumping down, walking across the room, turning off the alarm, walking back across the room, climbing back into bed, and going back to sleep. Not good.
The other side to this is that somehow my unconscious self wants everyone around me to believe I'm not asleep. When I do wake up, I usually say something completely ridiculous that makes complete sense to me. So if we're ever talking and I get quiet, and then suddenly ask where everybody is, you'll know what happened.

Curses! Foiled again!

I'm currently working on a project, and I didn't understand one of the questions. So I turned to google scholar. The first paper that came up looked like it would be perfect, so I clicked the link. The abstract looked good, and I started to scroll down, celebrating my good luck. So why, you may ask, did I say I was foiled? Because the abstract is in English, but the paper is in Russian.

Overrated

It turns out that I am overrated.
In one of my classes, we've been having people come talk to us about our various options after we graduate. This week we had someone come talk to us about graduate school. He told us that as engineers, we are perfectly capable of getting a good job without anything beyond a bachelor's degree. Moreover, we will be overrated. We will get more respect than we deserve and be paid more than we're worth. If we go to grad school, we can still be overrated, but feel like we've earned it. Personally, I'm OK with being overpaid and treated too deferentially.

Gimme a P! Gimme an R! Gimme an O! Gimme a C!...Oh, we'll finish later

Yesterday I had to turn in a draft of a paper. I have known about it since the semester started, and I picked a topic over a month ago. I have also been thinking about writing it for the past two weeks. Unfortunately, the operative word in that sentence was "thinking" instead of "writing". I also have been thinking about doing the research I needed to do. Again, I wish "thinking" were less important and "research" were more important. I ended up researching and writing the entire thing in one hour. On the one hand, I finished, and it was just a draft. On the other hand, I think it is the lowest quality work I've ever turned in. On the third hand (we're rapidly running out of hands here), think of all the research and writing time I saved!

Surprise!

I had my first surprise party last night to celebrate my half-birthday. All my friends convinced me they were not going to be able to make it, and then showed up at my door. We went out to dinner and I got to open a bunch of flasks. Yes, flasks. It was a tiny bit embarrassing, but so much fun!