So... yeah...

So I've decided that i should actually do the blog thing for real instead of just for my stupid English 150 class which was the reason for starting this blog in the first place. I think it would be nice to just vent a little about life and worries and stupid people and frustrations in general... First, I am a little frustrated with school, particularly chemistry. i did 2 years of chem in high school so i don't understand why i'm not doing well... and the homework is easy and i understand it but apparently that has nothing to do with the tests... stupid! I think that's lame... i thought the point of homework was to help you prepare for tests... arg!!! Another thing, I hate when people expect me to read their minds! I wish people would just tell me where i need to be or what i need to be doing! I hate this stupid guessing game! I also rather dislike this feeling i've been having lately that all the things that i had planned to do with my life (like a mission and law school and living all over the country and world) are no longer likely to happen... I hate not knowing where my life is going or what i'm going to do... Also, I wish i had a manual for people. I just don't understand people and their actions or reasons or reactions most of the time and i wish i did because it would make life a heck-of-a-lot easier... So basically i'm just a little frustrated with everything... So will somebody please just tell me the answers!!!!

Research...

Wikepedia... need I say more. Obviously not a reliable source for information... All my teachers i've ever had have hated it...

www.state.gov I'm currently working on a policy paper for my poli sci class and this website is great because it comes straight from the Department of State. There are a lot of quotable items and a lot of great reliable information.

www.chinadaily.com.cn This is a news website that is controlled by the Chinese government. Some of the information could be very good but there is the obvious lack be as it is a very strictly censored website.

Dukakis on Crime...

This add starts out by briefly mentioning that Bush was all for the death penalty. Simple and straight to the point. We then hear about Dukakis. The narrator says "not only does he oppose the death penalty, but" leaving the audience thinking, what other horrible things could this Dukakis character be doing? When the narrator talks about Willie Horton he does a very good job of tying Dukakis to him making it sound like it is Dukakis' fault that Horton did the horrible things he did. The sarcasm at the end where he says "Dukakis on Crime" is a great rhetorical punch. With this statement the audience is going to feel it really is his fault that a murderer got out of jail long enough to hurt more people. The voters would never want to vote for a murderer so why would they vote for a friend of a murderer?

Spiritual Persuation

To me all the talks for conference were persuasive in one way or another. They all invoked the spirit and what better way to persuade people then by the Spirit? Despite this I have chosen one talk in particular that was persuasive and it is the talk by Elaine S. Dalton.
The topic that Sister Dalton wrote on was basically a return to virtue. She put a lot of emphasis on being temple worthy, raising the ensign to the nations for higher standards, and putting our focus on faith and not the flesh. She was very firm, almost chastising, on the need for us to be better now then ever before. She talked about the ensign that President Young raised on Ensign Peak and how the new general Young Woman's Presidency raised their own ensign to symbolize their goal to get more young women to return to virtue. She spoke very vehemently on the need for us to be strong and be prepared. Satan is very strong but we can't let him get to us, if we do we must return to Christ better then ever.
The rhetoric Sister Dalton used felt to me like a guilt trip. I think she was trying to guilt as many people into being better as she could. She compared the YM presidency with Brigham Young to give them more credibility.

SLC

Of all the home towns, in all the home states, in all the home countries that we come from, Salt Lake City Utah is one of the best.
I grew up in one of the most perfect places in Utah, Holladay, on the east side of Salt Lake City. My neighborhood is filled with wonderful people, people that I love and that love me. I live 20 minutes away from 6 different canyons and downtown Salt Lake. It is a remarkable thing to be able to watch the sun rise over Mount Olympus and set over the Oqukers and still love that site after 18 years. There is an abundance of green all around. There are trees from newly planted to a hundred years old. I feel safe and at home there.
In the summer time there are always kids running around and having a good time. The neighbor's grandchildren are always over playing in our back yard. In the winter, before the snowplows come around we sled and play in the street.
It is beautiful and safe at home and perfect in every way.

I Want to get Married...

There is one and only one reason to come to BYU and that is to get married. That's why I'm here and you all know that's why you're here.
Brigham Young said "Any young man who is unmarried at the age of twenty one is a menace to the community." This is why missionaries come here, they have less then a year to get married before they become menaces to society and where else to do that then at the marriage capital of the world.
Girls on the other hand are here to get married and further their progress to Eternal Life in the Celestial Kingdom. We also have this problem of a biological clock that just keeps ticking. We only have so much time to give birth to as many children in Zion as we can and the sooner you start the more children you can have.
I know that marriage is a vital part in our quest for Eternal Life and that is why I am here, to find a great returned missionary to marry and start my family as soon as possible.

The Worst Thing About BYU

Well, BYU is amazing and could be a dream for anybody to have the opportunity to attend but there are a few to many wise-cracks that must be put up with...
Ok, so ever since I found out (and even before) that I was coming to BYU the most overwhelmingly abundunt comment I have gotten has been "so will I get a wedding announcement in 6 months?" or "you are so going to get married..." both and all of which are very annoying. It is very frustrating to hear this from friends, neighbors and even family especially since it is so not true. I'm absolutely terrified of getting married. It's not that I don't want to get married and have a family someday but that day is very far in the future. I'm way to young to be taking care of a house and a husband and I have a lot of growing up to do...
The thing I find most ironic about the supposedly high marriage rates at BYU is that the rates of marriage at USU and the U of U are higher...