BACK UP THA TRUCK!

I can't believe some of you still check this wretched website, but I figure I'll reward you with at least a semi-post. It's only a quiz, but a somewhat informative one anyway! This is my year in review...

2005 Year In Review....

1. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
I got myself chastised by Canadian Border Patrol for forgetting my passport! I wasn't that adventurous in 2005; I mostly did the same old things in new ways. Oh, and I lied on my CFE report for the first time (next quarter I will reform! I think...)

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't believe in improving myself.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
I do know one new mother and know of one more, but no one close to me dabbled in procreation this year.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My dear great-aunt Phyllis. :-( She is greatly missed.

5. What countries did you visit?
I was in Canada on official business, er...the Wind Ensemble spring tour. Other than that, no exotic locales, but I did travel to southern Idaho for a conference (and another one in Atlanta coming up!)

6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
Discipline, maturity, love for everyone I meet, and a Steinway grand!

7. What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
There were no momentous events, just several extended, dramatic storylines that unfolded over many moons.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
No achievements this year haha. Just lots of learning experiences.

9. What was your biggest failure?
There were so many! But I grew from every single one. Just to stop being vague, one example would be the way my experiments finished up at the lab this summer. That was pretty discouraging in the end.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
A few colds is all! The second half of the year especially I have felt great!

11. What was the best thing you bought?
I don't know if I can give a fair shake to all the things I bought in early 2005...that's a long time ago to remember. I wasn't terribly lavish with my purchases this year. I'll just say Rage Against the Machine's debut album. I LOVE it.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
The percussionists this year! Not only are they competent, but they don't have attitudes and they're willing to actually try. We are all so grateful.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
I imagine the entire quiz was written to lull people into giving up dirt on this question. I will not indulge you in slander.

14. Where did most of your money go?
To my bank account. And from there to SPU...

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Infinite sets! Everyone should read the book Infinity and the Mind by Rudy Rucker. It talks about infinite cardinality and infinite ordinals and uncountability and it is just the coolest stuff in the world. Mathematics is beautiful.

16. What song will always remind you of 2005?
Probably Mars, the Bringer of Wars from Gustav Holst's The Planets. It was our signature piece on spring tour and I definitely grew as a musician playing that so often and under such good direction from Mr. Marsh.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Quite a bit sadder. But wiser.
ii. thinner or fatter? After sleeping so late sometimes only eating one meal a day this break, probably a little thinner. But that really makes little difference with me.
iii. richer or poorer? "Rich" would be a bit generous, but I do have a little more financial flexibility after this summer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Being myself.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Being a brat.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Stockings, church, and presents with my family and the newest addition, my sister's husband. Then dinner with my family and my favorite unrelated family, the Stevensons! We even listened to PDQ Bach after dinner, so you know it was a good time.

21. Did you fall in love in 2005?
What a loaded question!

23. How many one-night stands?
None that I remember. JUST KIDDING. None.

24. What was your favourite TV program?
I don't watch much tv anymore, and I love that. But I will always love episodes of Family Guy. And the movie is wonderful too. Go. Away. Fat man.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I can't hate anyone for more than about 20 minutes.

26. What was the best book you read?
I love Charles Dickens, so I wish I had finished Nicholas Nickleby and I could say that. But I will restrict it to books I actually finished Light in August by William Faulkner, which was awesome, and The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky is also a top contender. But I think I'm going to have to be a little unconventional here and say White Nights, a short story by Dostoevsky. It is adorable. Today was a rainy and doleful day, with never a glimmer of light, a day like my lonely old age will be.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
FRANZ SCHUBERT!!! His early symphonies and his piano trios. I am currently working on expanding it beyond that. Also his compositions for one piano four hands.

28. What did you want and get?
For Christmas I assume? I got my set of complete Schubert symphonies on CD. I also got some much-needed dress shirts and tux shirt, so now I can go to nice things without wearing the same outfit four times in one week (as I did in November).

29. What did you want and not get?
Great books and great sheet music! I don't know what went wrong ;). I'll just have to go buy those myself now.

30. What was your favourite film of this year?
I don't really see many movies. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was good, but it doesn't and can't mean as much to me as the books do, so it doesn't quite cut it. Willy Wonka was somewhat disappointing and The Phantom of the Opera did pretty well until there was a drumset and electric guitar in the main theme. That about wraps up the theatergoing.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 20 and I went to dinner at Gwinn Commons like I always do. I was walking there with Brian and someone wished me a happy birthday and he said "It's your birthday? Why didn't you tell anyone!" So then I felt about this small...and went to dinner anyway. I probably did homework after that, then got a wonderful German Chocolate Cake from my wonderful friend Brandi, then got a "wonderful" phone call from my "wonderful" parents who wished me a happy birthday while I was doing homework and they were sitting on the beach in Hawaii watching the sun set. Thanks guys.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably satisfying?
A heart more aligned with God.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
I started wearing button-up shirts! This is big for me. I bought more clothes than I usually do, and I think I'm starting to be more *stylish* as they call it. But that's partly wishful thinking. I don't really know what my look is called. I'm not cool enough to be preppy, but I'll go with "respectable." It's fun to look nice.

34. What kept you sane?
Whatever was supposed to didn't do its job!

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Probably Hilary Duff. So wholesome! And catchy tunes too...let the rain fall down...

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
I don't get "stirred" much anymore because I'm so numb to hating everything that this country is doing to itself. Pushes to renew the Bush tax cuts and the recent execution in California were certainly frustrating, however.

37. Who did you miss?
My parents now that I started to realize how glad I am to have them around. I miss the living arrangements of third Hill last year.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
I met several cool new people. There weren't many new though that I met that were then a regular piece of my day. I had the same summer job, many of the same subjects, etc. My number theory group of Josh, Joe, and Craig though was pretty great. They were fun to work with.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005:
Be who you are, regardless of what others might think about that. Stand up for what you believe in!

That is Kate's answer (I stole this quiz from her) and I think it is just perfect. That exactly is one of the biggest lessons I learned (and am still trying to internalize).

Best memory: Waking up January 1 and still being alive. It was a long, hard year, with all kinds of brand new trials. But there were successes and fun times too (making futuristic costumes for decade skate--ask for pics ;)--was a close second for best memory). I am just glad to have made it and learned so much, and 2006 lies ahead of me! May I live every day of it for the glory of the Lord and love everyone I see!

Weird how I'm posting! But I feel that it is significant news that yesterday I bought THREE pairs of shoes. I am very very excited about all of this, especially my high-society Florsheim dress shoes, with genuine wood-grain leather soles and smooth finish. I get to polish my shoes! I wore them out onto the stage of Benaroya Hall today and wowed the crowd with their sheen. Now I can look respectable when I dress up, instead of wearing my $10 Payless-direct Rugged Outback (semi-dress) casual losers. I'm pretty much the cream of the crop now. Ladies, take a number at the door! I also realized that I think the Adidas tennis shoes I got are the same style (different color) that my freaking sweet math professor/advisor wears. How delightfully nerdy and awesome. So watch out for some sweet kicks on campus!

I feel kind of lame jumping on a touchy-feely bandwagon like this, especially because my previous post has only managed to accumulate one comment so far, but here goes:

If you read this, even if we don't speak often, please post a comment with a memory of you and me. It can be anything you want, either good or bad.

When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people remember about you. hey. be cool and do this.

It would be nice to hear from some people I haven't heard from in a long time...or from people who remain silent on this blog...be bold...I want some good stuff too....fill up the comments box.

I'm flying to Nampa, ID tomorrow! I get to go present a poster summarizing my summer research at the Murdock Undergraduate Research Conference at Northwest Nazarene University. Plus I get to keep my poster when it's all said and done, so I get to be a supernerd and have it displayed on my wall next to my Smashing Pumpkins poster. I'm excited just for the adventure of a trip--I haven't flown in over two years! And this one's on the school's tab. So I feel like blogging (not even joking) but I need to get all this ready and get to bed. But maybe a post when I come back? Be good everybody.

This song will always captivate me.

Hootie and the Blowfish--"Not Even the Trees"

Alone

As I sit and watch the trees
Won't you tell me if I scream will they bend down and listen to me
And it makes me wonder if I'll know the words when you come
Or will you laugh at me
Or will I run

Little boy says to me,
"Where you goin' now, son?"
I said, "I don't know where I'm goin', boy,
I only know where I'm from"
And it makes me wonder
If the stars shine when my eyes close
Or does my brother's heart cry
I don't know

I'm a stranger in my home
Now that everybody's gone
Someone please talk to me
Cause I feel you cry
And you're sitting with him
And I know I'll never see you again

Lying down in Charleston under the Carolina skies
You see I'm tired of feeling this pain
I'm tired of living my own little lie
And it makes me wonder
When I see you in my dreams
Does it mean anything,
Are you trying to talk to me?

I'm a stranger in my home
Tell me, are you feeling alone?
Someone tell me what to do
'Cause I'm feeling strong
And I wonder how you feel
Does he realize my pain is for real?
I see you in my dreams
And I wonder if you're looking down at me
And smiling right now
I wanna know if it's true
When he looks at me
Won't you tell me
Does he realize he came down here
He took you too soon

And now my days are short and my nights are long
I lay down with memories of you that keep me going on, going on
It makes me wonder as I sit and stare
Will I see your face again?
Tell me, do you care?
I'm a stranger in my home
Living life on my own
Right now I just can't see
'Cause I'm feeling weak
And my soul begins to bleed
And no one is listening to me

Not even the trees

I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and post the books I've read this summer too. Not that I have much room to brag over everyone else, but I'm just so shocked I read anything at all I have to get the word out.

Books I read:

Infinity and the Mind (Rudy Rucker)
The Beauty of Fractals (Peitgen and Richter)
Light in August (William Faulkner)
Chaos and Fractals: New Frontiers of Science (Peitgen, Jurgens, and Saupe)
Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis)
The Screwtape Letters and Screwtape Proposes a Toast(C.S. Lewis)
The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway)
The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
Mind Tools: the Five Levels of Mathematical Reality (Rudy Rucker)
Thinking Machines (Adler)
A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
White Nights (Dostoevsky)

Books I began but did not finish:
Nicholas Nickleby (Charles Dickens)--will work on this one next week!
An Introduction to Number Theory (Daniel Flath)
The Fractal Geometry of Nature (Benoit Mandelbrot)
When Heaven Weeps (Ted Dekker)
The Road to Reality: a Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe (Roger Penrose)
The Four Loves (C.S. Lewis)
The Quantum Universe (Anthony Hey)
Numbers: Their History and Meaning (Flegg)

Books I checked out but never actually opened:
Jane Eyre (Bronte)
The Principles of Mathematics (Bertrand Russell)
The Edge of Infinity: Where the Universe Came From and How it Will End (Davies)

I know I'm forgetting a few, but I can't investigate much right now. I'll put them in when I find them.

I'm home!