February

Wow!  It's February already.  Craziness.  I have been looking forward to February all year.  The reason is that I don't have any deadlines looming at the end of the month for the first time.  I mean, in November, I had my BYU application due at the end of the month.  In December, there were Christmas and New Years, which are the ultimate deadlines.  And in January my sterling scholar portfolio and my scholarship applications were both due at the end of the month.

Now I have no end of month deadline.

What will I do with myself?

Relax Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.................

It's really late

I should probably go to bed, but I'm having one of those nights when I really don't feel like it.  Maybe I should be nocturnal.  That would be interesting.

Ahem

No junk food January is not as easy as it sounds, but I still believe in no junk January in every other way.

  

No Junk January

This morning, my seminary class and I decided to try having a no junk January. We agreed not to eat any candy, pop, fast food or anything that we considered junk food for the rest of the month. I'm excited about this because I'd already decided that, after the great but questionable food that comes with the holidays, I need to take a break. I have cookies in my lunch today, but they are the hundred calorie pack kind so they don't count.

I wonder what the world would be like if we all tried out a no junk January. Okay, I know there would probably be some economic crisis because noone would be spending money on all that food, but after the initial shock, people would probably enjoy being a little bit healthier.

Maybe, after finding out how nice it is to go without junk in one area, people would decide to try a no junk January of a different kind. Maybe people would review some of the music they listen to and some of the tv shows they watch. Maybe people would check what kind of junk they say about one another and edit the language they use. Maybe people would be more honest.

My seminary teacher says that junk food is like an addiction and that going without it for a month clears the system and will help you want to eat less of it. Maybe that's the way it is with all junk. Maybe if people decided to go without junk for January, they might find that they don't want to go back. Maybe a no junk January could clear an entire life or a whole world of lives.

I want to go back!

I know this seems really lame, but I am ready for the winter break to be over.  I want to go back to school.  I like school because I get to get up and work at something and dress up and see all my friends.  I've been doing some of that over the break, but I need to get back.  I'm becoming sooo lazy.  I've been procrastinating and sleeping until noon.

I'm going to do something about that now though.  I'm going to get dressed and do my make-up and everything.  I may not have any big plans to go anywhere, but it will make me feel better.  I want to be the kind of person who has the confidence to look nice and feel good for herself and not just for the people around her.

New Year

Wow!  I can't believe that the year 2008 is in its final hours.  Weird.  I remember when it was just a little baby year.  Well, I guess I have to say goodbye to it.  The funny thing about old years is that there are some parts of them that you can't wait to leave behind like really embarrassing moments and regrets, but there are parts of them that you wish you could hold onto forever.  Maybe the best way to begin with a new year is not with a plan to make everything different but to assess what you did right and what you did wrong and plan which parts you are going to hold on to and which parts you are going to change.  

I had some milestones in 2008.

• I went on my first date.  Ahhhh!  That's right.  On Feb. 7, 2008, I went on a date for the first time.
• I passed the AP Calc. test.  That was a relief.
• I flew on a plane by myself for the first time.
• I got my gal bladder out.  Yuck!
• I went to Girls State 2008, which was the longest I had ever stayed away from home without anyone I had previously known.
• I applied for college.
• I won a poetry contest.
• I left my number for a waiter.  Long story
• I played the piano at the funerals of my great-grandma and my grandpa.  It was sad but important.
• I learned to play guitar hero.
• I ran a two minute mile (just kidding-maybe next year)
• I met my goal of being english sterling scholar.
• I got lost on a bike in California.  Another long story
• I went on my first date with a guy who asked me instead of me asking him.  It was immensely exciting.
• I left my cell phone in the guy's cousin's car and had to call him to get it back.  I didn't do it on purpose.  Really
• I made a blog.

Well, those are my milestones 2008.

Why I despise being "Accountable"

Imagine.  You log onto the computer.  You decide to check your email because you haven't checked it for over a month.  You click the email icon.  The window pops up that asks for your "username" and "password."  You type in what you think they are. Wrong!  You take a deep breath and try again, carefully watching you fingertips hit one key at a time.  Wrong!  Okay, it must be that other combination of your last name, first name, address, favorite color and/or phone number you use sometimes.  Wrong!  You click the "forgot you username" link.  It asks for your password.  You click the "forgot your password" link.  It asks for your username.  You give up.

       You decide to put your email woes out of your mind and move on to another computerized business that is keeping you inside on Saturday morning.  The next item on the list is to check your grades.  Oh look another little window!  You smile smuggly as you defeat this "username" and "password" because you remember exactly what they are.  Well you're wrong!  You click this "forgot you password" link.  It asks for your father's middle name.  Wrong!  Apparently he has recently had it changed.

        You give up and head over to something that is sure to relax you and calm the vein that is now twitching under your left eye.  How about some music.  You'll splurge and spend a dollar for that new favorite song you've had stuck in your head all month.  You find the song.  You click "buy."  A window.  You wrack your brain to remember this "username" and "password."  Wrong!  Again.  Wrong!  Again.  Wrong!  You click this "forgot your password" link.  No problem here.  Your account information has now been sent to you via email.  Sigh!

You go back to the email.  You try again and again and again.  The monitor politely tells you that your account has been locked for twenty-four hours because anyone who forgets this obvious information must be an evil email looker-atter.  You politely hit the monitor against the wall.

I hate "usernames" and "passwords."  My mind is just not good at sorting them and retaining them for more than three seconds.  I mean, whose brain was created with a nonsensical combination of personal information section?  Even if I were smart enough to find a place for that stuff in my brain, how am I supposed to tell which "username" or "password" goes with which account?  Why not write them down?  I did, but like the majority of people in this world would, I lost the paper.

There is something morally wrong with creating a multitude of identities and spreading them all over the internet.  Why can't I just be me?  I'm pretty sure that if my ancestors knew that their great, great, great, great grand niece has ten different names, they would burn me at the stake for being a witch or something.

It is so pathetic that we can't just trust each other.  I'm me.  I promise, but the monitor doesn't care.  Honestly, the only people who would want to get into my accounts would know a lot more about dishonesty and be able to get in anyway.  This "username" and "password" stuff just keeps me out.

I despise being "accountable."  Someday, in the ideal society, no one will have "usernames" or "passwords."  Or maybe everyone will just have really amazing memories, and then I won't be there.