Today's Happy Sunday post is brought to you by my conscience.
I sat here on my comfy windowsill bench and watched this and immediately felt guilty and lame for not being up in NY/NJ helping those who were hit the hardest by Sandy.
I'm so proud of my fellow Mo's up north for canceling church meetings every Sunday in order to help out with all the clean up.
Hurricane Sandy Helping Hands from Joshua Brown on Vimeo.
"And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things hopeth all things, endureth all things. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have no charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things but fail.
But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure." (The Book of Mormon, Moroni 7:45-48)
18 November 2012
08 November 2012
Election Shmelection
In the spirit of political elections and writing about Halloween a week after it's passed...
So I was Leslie Knope for Halloween. It's the perfect costume for the workplace. More importantly, it requires little to no effort, which is my main goal when it comes to creating a Halloween costume. The problem with going as a TV sitcom figure is that not everyone watches the particular show. The problem with going as Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation is that every woman in Washington, DC looks like her every single day. So naturally I was questioned by a suspicious and skeptical Chipotle employee when I showed up to claim my $2 burrito for all patrons in Halloween costumes.
If only Leslie Knope won the presidency on Tuesday night instead of Barack Obama...Any further political commentary from me will be found on Twitter and nowhere else.
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| My co-workers and I attempting election stress relief as the results come in... |
Never heard of Parks and Rec? I'd like to think that I've converted thousands of wayward TV watchers to the show using this clip. Gateway drug, if you will.
04 November 2012
Happy Sunday: Adopt a child. Or 154 of them.
READ THIS. It's the perfect use of your day.
This woman is living my dream.
"...and [Jesus] too their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them....And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones. And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them." (3 Nephi 17:21, 23-24; The Book of Mormon)
Happy Sunday,
Sarah
This woman is living my dream.
"...and [Jesus] too their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them....And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones. And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them." (3 Nephi 17:21, 23-24; The Book of Mormon)
Happy Sunday,
Sarah
29 October 2012
Frankenstorm
I figure I'll write this while I still have juice in my laptop and a functioning light with which to see it.
Though I admit I'm skeptical about Sandy.
I grew up in earthquake territory, where if disaster is going to strike, it will do so with no warning. No news bits every 20 seconds sensationalizing and politicizing the approaching catastrophe. No lines pouring out the doors and winding around the corners of hardware stores. No hiding your kids. No hiding your wives.
Not to mention the constant weather graphs tracing the path of the storm. Are we really supposed to make sense of those? They look like a kindergartner's fingerpaintings. Perhaps they were created in Paint.
No but for real, I'd so much rather not know about impending disaster. I prefer to live my life in blissful ignorance, if you will. That is the West Coast mentality in a nutshell. Roll with it. Oh it snowed a billion feet? Ain't no thing. Forest fires? S'mores for dinner! If my memory doesn't fail me, school was canceled ONCE in my life and that was because it was 40 below and too cold for the buses to start.
Here, all it takes is the POSSIBILITY of a hellish storm to shut down functioning society. I write from the comfort of my bedroom window sill because the entire federal government canceled work today. And without them, my office really serves no purpose.
It's raining outside. That's it. Am I missing something? Rain like this would never shut down businesses in Southern California. And if it did, it would be because people are out swimming in it because it rains maybe twice a year (in the Inland Empire, at least, where my parents live).
Anyway, should Hurricane Sandy worsen drastically and you don't hear from me for a few days, I'll be in the basement, surviving off the industrial-size crate of VitaWater and triple-ply toilet paper. All set!
Though I admit I'm skeptical about Sandy.
I grew up in earthquake territory, where if disaster is going to strike, it will do so with no warning. No news bits every 20 seconds sensationalizing and politicizing the approaching catastrophe. No lines pouring out the doors and winding around the corners of hardware stores. No hiding your kids. No hiding your wives.
Not to mention the constant weather graphs tracing the path of the storm. Are we really supposed to make sense of those? They look like a kindergartner's fingerpaintings. Perhaps they were created in Paint.
Looks like I just landed myself a job with Good Morning, America. I didn't realize what a natural meteorologist I was until now.
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| Oh no! We're being attacked by fake spider web Halloween decorations! |
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| Oh no! We're being attacked by a rogue black light dance party! |
Here, all it takes is the POSSIBILITY of a hellish storm to shut down functioning society. I write from the comfort of my bedroom window sill because the entire federal government canceled work today. And without them, my office really serves no purpose.
It's raining outside. That's it. Am I missing something? Rain like this would never shut down businesses in Southern California. And if it did, it would be because people are out swimming in it because it rains maybe twice a year (in the Inland Empire, at least, where my parents live).
Anyway, should Hurricane Sandy worsen drastically and you don't hear from me for a few days, I'll be in the basement, surviving off the industrial-size crate of VitaWater and triple-ply toilet paper. All set!
27 October 2012
The Public Education System: A Vacuum of Creativity
I always said I would never be a teacher. Ever. It was the furthest possible career path from my radar.
And then I went on a mission and ironically my favorite moments were when I was teaching. I was in my element.
But I still had no desire to be a teacher. In a classroom. With students whose minds I could mold. Wearing a vest with felt cut-outs of snowmen in winter and Easter eggs in spring. Assignments to give and assignments to grade and rules to enforce and corny mnemonic devices to invent to help the little brats learn the order of American presidents.
One day, whilst still in Romania, I happened into a conversation with a 16-year-old boy who had no idea who Adolf Hitler was [if you ask me what Adolf Hitler had to do with this conversation, I honestly can't tell you. I was probably using him as some horribly extreme, tasteless metaphor for something]. I could hardly wrap my mind around the fact that this boy knew absolutely nothing of Europe's greatest genocide and the man who perpetrated it. After all, it practically took place in his backyard.
Suddenly I was interested in the public education system of Romania. And after much research and reflection, that interest is not only still burning, but it has expanded to the system in my own country.
Oh and let's not forget that somehow, randomly, I end up teaching Romanian at BYU my last year of undergrad.
There seems to be some sort of invisible force, pushing me towards education. No matter where or how hard I try to venture in other directions, I find myself continually pulled back.
I am not a natural learner. Good grades happened in my life, but they didn't come easily. Unbeknownst to many [including myself], I struggled quite a lot through secondary and post-secondary education, seemingly running triple the paces to keep up with my peers who appeared to produce extraordinary work so much more easily than I could. I wasn't always aware I was working harder--I thought it was equally difficult for everyone. Turns out that wasn't always the case. In no way did this realization cause me to doubt my intelligence--I knew I was bright, smart, creative. But test scores rarely reflected either of those things. Instead of questioning my intelligence, I questioned the system. It works for many, but not all. This system of teaching to examinations and grading students based on the scores they receive is a creativity killer. It is easy and logical, but it marginalizes a massive portion of learners whose learning styles simply just don't match up.
I love the way Sir Ken Robinson sees it. Creativity falls by the wayside in our current, exam-driven, bureaucratic public education system. Before we know it, the brilliant, inventive young minds who enter kindergarten at age 5 are sucked dry of innovation by the time they graduate high school at age 18. This isn't to say that our nation's school are filled with a bunch of brainless walking corpses, but just think how different the atmosphere would be under a system that fostered creativity!
Suddenly I'm interested in education reform.
Funny where life leads you.
And then I went on a mission and ironically my favorite moments were when I was teaching. I was in my element.
But I still had no desire to be a teacher. In a classroom. With students whose minds I could mold. Wearing a vest with felt cut-outs of snowmen in winter and Easter eggs in spring. Assignments to give and assignments to grade and rules to enforce and corny mnemonic devices to invent to help the little brats learn the order of American presidents.
One day, whilst still in Romania, I happened into a conversation with a 16-year-old boy who had no idea who Adolf Hitler was [if you ask me what Adolf Hitler had to do with this conversation, I honestly can't tell you. I was probably using him as some horribly extreme, tasteless metaphor for something]. I could hardly wrap my mind around the fact that this boy knew absolutely nothing of Europe's greatest genocide and the man who perpetrated it. After all, it practically took place in his backyard.
Suddenly I was interested in the public education system of Romania. And after much research and reflection, that interest is not only still burning, but it has expanded to the system in my own country.
Oh and let's not forget that somehow, randomly, I end up teaching Romanian at BYU my last year of undergrad.
There seems to be some sort of invisible force, pushing me towards education. No matter where or how hard I try to venture in other directions, I find myself continually pulled back.
I am not a natural learner. Good grades happened in my life, but they didn't come easily. Unbeknownst to many [including myself], I struggled quite a lot through secondary and post-secondary education, seemingly running triple the paces to keep up with my peers who appeared to produce extraordinary work so much more easily than I could. I wasn't always aware I was working harder--I thought it was equally difficult for everyone. Turns out that wasn't always the case. In no way did this realization cause me to doubt my intelligence--I knew I was bright, smart, creative. But test scores rarely reflected either of those things. Instead of questioning my intelligence, I questioned the system. It works for many, but not all. This system of teaching to examinations and grading students based on the scores they receive is a creativity killer. It is easy and logical, but it marginalizes a massive portion of learners whose learning styles simply just don't match up.
I love the way Sir Ken Robinson sees it. Creativity falls by the wayside in our current, exam-driven, bureaucratic public education system. Before we know it, the brilliant, inventive young minds who enter kindergarten at age 5 are sucked dry of innovation by the time they graduate high school at age 18. This isn't to say that our nation's school are filled with a bunch of brainless walking corpses, but just think how different the atmosphere would be under a system that fostered creativity!
Suddenly I'm interested in education reform.
Funny where life leads you.
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| My lovely students of Romanian 100, Winter Semester 2012 |
21 October 2012
Happy Sunday: Eyes to See
If you have yet to be inspired today and/or you complain about having a difficult life and/or you let your inadequacies prevent you from pursuing your passions, watch this:
Uuum, I now feel like I have accomplished zero things in my life.
I take so much for granted. "They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not." (Psalms 115:5) That scripture is basically referring to me.
My mind is blown by this man's incredible attitude. I'm so glad people like him exist on this planet.
Happy Sunday!
Sarah
Uuum, I now feel like I have accomplished zero things in my life.
I take so much for granted. "They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not." (Psalms 115:5) That scripture is basically referring to me.
My mind is blown by this man's incredible attitude. I'm so glad people like him exist on this planet.
Happy Sunday!
Sarah
20 October 2012
'Tis the Season!
Nothing says Fall like fiery orange and red-leafed trees, pumpkin patches, a freshly picked bushel of Pink Ladies, apple crisp with spice ice cream, and watching BYU predictably lose another football game.
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