Dino Comics

I love these things. You can find them, here. Amanda showed me them last year. It is the same comic every day, with the same pictures in the same positions but the words change. And they are pretty much hilarious. Just random stuff, but sometimes they are deep. Sometimes they are inappropriate. But whateves, right? I enjoy it so I thought I'd share.

Lesson of the Day: Sharing is good.

Kiera's Rules

I am putting off homework again.

BUT!

Congratulations to me, I kicked Facebook until the end of school. This time I am going to stick with it. My self-discipline needs a little practice anyways.

Surprisingly, I am getting stuff done. I feel the creative juices flowing. I have energy and direction in my life again!

Who knew Facebook was such a fun-sucker?

Anyways,
I am blogging!

These are my rules of life. They are constantly on my computer where I can see them at all times.

Background story:
My freshman roommates found a book. < pst...this is a link...just so you know...They read it and made me read it. It's kinda silly. But it has some interesting insights. Anyways, I have a set of rules too. They aren't so much about dating and boys but I try to think of them when I am interacting with other people.

1. Don't interrupt.
2. If they call you, call back!
3. Glitter is a good thing.
4. Looking good is the best revenge.
5. To see or be seen, that is the goal.
6. Keep your promises.
7. Never stop learning.
8. Be happy.

That pretty much sums it up. I think I should add to this list from time to time. I realize that a large majority of the rules seem to be about looking good, but it's only about 25% of the list. Trust me, I even did the math on this one. And looking good is a good thing to keep in mind. The other goals are pretty nifty too.

Sincerely yours,
RosyKiera

I'm Not Crazy, Just Mad (still in the crazy sense of the word)

This is what I get myself into.
I have papers up the wazoo to complete.
I went to the library to work on it. And just sat there looking at the stack of books I found. And kept thinking to myself, "I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this."

heh, I still don't want to do it.

The weather is too lovely. My opinions aren't strong enough. My self-control is minimal at best.

The only thing that is keeping me going is the fact that my professor jokingly called me a "bad student" when he found out that I haven't written it yet. I am presenting this one next Saturday.
No one calls me a "bad student"
please
If anything, that is the one thing that gets under my skin.
I can't displease anyone! That goes against my nature! I am a people pleaser, gosh dang it!

Meh.

I will try to do better.
...But don't count on it...

I'm not known for my logical progression of thought.

Want a good read?
Read this.

Simple.
Easy to get through.
Funny.
Like, laugh out loud funny.

Altogether well put together.

Also:
Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs is very well put together, in my opinion.
So I thought I'd share.

Mmmmm. So good.
Have a great day!

The Beddes Girls Strike Again...

Me and Denay always have the strangest stories in fast-food drive thrus. I don't know if you remember, but the last time we braved the Carl's Junior drive thru, we almost left without our food. They were so confused.

Haha, well...

This time we went to the Malt Shoppe. We went inside, but there was no one there! So we went through the drive thru. Again, it didn't seem like anyone was there...Until I ventured a pathetic "Hello?"

"Just a minute, please."

"Oh, ok.."

Meanwhile, my nose decides to start to bleed like a punctured artery. Eventually we make our order place through a wad of napkins against my nose. One handed, I pull up to the window. The poor kid didn't know what to do when he came to the window to get my debit card. Imagine, looking into a car with a bloody faced girl and bloody napkins up the wazoo.

"Uh....do you need more napkins?" As he gingerly takes my card.

"Yah, that would be nice."

Oh how embarassing. But such is life. I tend to get bloody noses when it's warm outside. I mentioned this to Denay, and of course, she points out: "What, in this heat wave?! Kiera, I am wearing a coat. It's freezing outside."

"Whatever."

Fortunately, it stopped somewhere in the half hour or so where we were waiting for our food. At least we know the food was fresh, because there clearly wasn't anything in under the warming lamps.

Next adventure?
We don't know yet, but you can be sure that something is bound to happen.

It always does.

The Story Behind the Story

So again, I have been thinking recently. About a lot of things, but mostly branching off from my last post and Karina's rebuttal (Tale As Old As Time). If you haven't had a chance to read our discussion, you should. It's interesting and makes you think. Why wouldn't you want to do that?

:)

Anyways, going along with the dangers of Romanticism. It's true that it can distort your view of the world, IF you let it. As Karina said, "you can find whatever you are looking for in a good book." Literature is so dependent on what the reader brings to the book. Someone who doesn't read a lot or is exposed to a wide variety of learning won't make all the connections that someone else will. I guess this is what it means to be literate. This does not mean that you can read. Being literate is so much more complex than just knowing what the words on the page mean. It means knowing the backstory, the references and allusions that would take a lifetime to explain. Being literate means that you can carry on a conversation with anyone in any major regardless of your interest or expertise. This means that you know things and are willing to learn more. And literate people are the best people to be friends with and talk to because the breadth and depth of your conversation is so much greater than anything else in the world.

However, even if you feel Romanticism has ruined life as you know it and there are no real happy endings anywhere, then you need to look again. All stories have underlying values and meanings. Regardless of what happens on the surface, if you can get to the center of the story then that is the lesson that needs to be learned. An example of this is folklore. I went to a lecture about Hugh Nibley and folklore. Most people tend to group folktales, myths, legends and fairytales all under the same umbrella of untruthfulness (with varying degrees). The lecturer had a different way of looking at it though.

Every person is unique and every story is the same way. Even though everything is unique and separate, it is held together by a common center. Call it universal truths or what you will. But these stories always tell the truth. "Just because something didn't happen doesn't mean it isn't true." ~Leonard Arrington Stories always provide a faithful representation of what the teller believed happened and these stories are a mirror of the cultural value sphere that the listeners live in.

So in that sense, all the stories are true. And if you were to find the central truth, the thing which each story is trying to convey, than you would find a happy ending of your own creation. I believe that everything that is good, beautiful and true comes from my Heavenly Father. So when I find truth in the little things around me (even in my fairytales) I can take that truth, incorporate it in my life and in the end come out a better person than I was before.

Which, I think, is the general purpose of this life.

:)

Fairytales and Happy Endings?

I've been thinking recently. I am convinced that there are no happy stories that are considered 'literature'. Trust me. Look at all of the classics and pick out a story that ends happily.

Why are there no happy stories?

Or maybe stories don't end happy or sad but rather we are just expected them to end happy.
You can thank Disney for this one. :) Don't get me wrong; I love Disney and fairytales and folklore, but I do think there is some merit in NOT teaching them so explicitly.

Maybe a little background:
In my American Literature class, we started talking about W.D. Howell's, who in the words of my teacher, 'was the MAN' in the late 19th century. He could make or break any writer's career. Since he was a nice guy, he mostly helped people. Still, if you were going to impress anyone, you wanted to impress Howell. Well, Howell believed that romanticism was dangerous because it changes the way we view the world. When we expect happy endings we aren't happy with real life. That is why all of the Disney princess stories end with the marriage. There is no way to portray real life with romantically. It just doesn't work.

I guess that is what has been on my mind recently. Especially in the BYU atmosphere. Mormon boys and girls grow up with an ideal. And they spend all of this time looking for this ideal, but the fact of the matter is, it doesn't exist. Yes, we strive for perfection and the celestial kingdom, and I believe everyone should work towards that but that doesn't mean you are going to find your heaven on earth right now, right here. We are taught to act a certain way and to look for certain attributes we find attractive. Who decided these things? Why are they so embedded in the culture?

I am just as guilty as everyone else. As Nay would describe, I go for the "obviously attractive" men. Tall, dark, handsome. I guess I do. But why? There is no such thing as a perfect man. So why look so hard? What if the guy I end up with is short, blonde, or not-so-razor-commercial-handsome?

The truth is: It will still be OK.

Good things! And even if everything doesn't turn out how you or I plan, I figure we will find our own kinds of happy endings, in the end.