Weekend! I prefer the weekend! Oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh!

So, here I am, all by my lonesome self. Stef and Kelsey have been in California since Tuesday, and I’ve been left to fend for myself. Stef left me a list of dinner ideas so that I wouldn’t starve, but I haven’t really had an appetite. That and I caught the oven on fire when I did try cooking. No, I’m really not that bad of a cook. There was some turkey juice (or something) on the bottom of the oven, and when I tried cooking the goop caught on fire and I had to scramble to put it out with some flour. Cereal for dinner + basketball a few times a week = lots of weight loss while Stef is gone.

It really sucks being away from Stef and Kelsey. I've been able to keep myself moderately busy, though. Up until yesterday, I worked, studied for finals (somewhat), and worked on a DVD for Rory. Finals went pretty well. We had to use an annotated bibliography that we had created a week earlier to write a 20 paragraph essay. Luckily, I overachieved during the annotated bibliography assignment and already had the paper ready, just not organized. I put the information into logical groups and had 21 paragraphs. From there, all I had to do was hand write my already completed final in class. I was the first to finish (by what seemed like a lot), and I'm pretty confident that I got 100% on it (giving me an A in the class).

After finishing, I had a two hour break before work, so I decided to take a crack at the math exemption exam. My major doesn't require anything other than pre-college math, and I had some study materials at home that I was going to use to prepare. Since I was already at school and it would only cost my 10 bucks to try the test (which I could take again next semester if I bombed), I headed over to the testing center and sat down with the test. It was an eye-opening experience, for sure. I only remember half of the material at first. As I completed more and more, certain principles slowly came back to me. I needed a 70% to pass the test and avoid having to take math: I got a 70%. So, now I've just got my tech writing class and my American Heritage independent study course to finish next semester. Then I'm done. Done with school. At least until grad school. Maybe.

Rory went around with a camera and had people share their testimonies, and I extracted the video and brought it back home with the hopes of making a DVD out of it. I used Photoshop to create menus, with Van Gogh's Starry Night as the background (which I felt was unobtrusive to the theme). I fiddled with Adobe Audition to make a 30-second looping clip of Baptism by Michael Dowdle on acoustic guitar, which plays in the menus. I used Premier Pro to edit the video and add lighting, since most of the recordings were done at night. I imported the DVD menu and the finished video into Adobe Encore and created chapter points at the beginning of each speaker's clip. I arranged the workflow so that it all worked together and with the buttons on a standard DVD player remote. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I feel pretty confident about making my own DVDs with the Adobe Production Studio. The one area I'd like to explore is mastering. I'd like to be able to get rid of background noise and amplify the volume of the voices. If I ever get a digital video camera, I'll make it a point to use microphones for any video projects I have. It'd also be nice to learn how to get the best lighting. Maybe I'll get a DV Camera before we go to Japan so that I can have projects there. I'm sure the fam would love to see some good footage from wherever it is that we live.

I often wonder what kinds of things I could have studied. Graphic design, computer programming... Honestly, I think there are a ton of things that I could have done. I don't know if I'd want to do those full-time, though. There's something nice about just being able to do all sorts of cool things, whether I get paid for them or not. I don't regret studying linguistics at all; I know that things will work out. I've got a lot of opportunities for growth, and that's all I can ask for. As long as there are things to learn and job opportunities on the horizon, I can't complain. I've had a lot of success at the bank, so I know that with my Japanese (once we get back) and Spanish experience, I could get a really good job.

When I turned in my paper, my teacher asked me if I was interested in studying Mayan languages. She suggested that I go to grad school if I was interested in Guatemalan langauges. If I do, I know where to go for a letter of recommendation.

Guys' night

Jeremy and Tom Roderick came over Tuesday night and we had a guys’ night until about 1:30. We kicked the night off with some Halo 2, with Tom and Jeremy pretty much abusing me at will. The problem with that game is that everybody else has played it more. Even though I’m pretty good at controlling my guy and aiming, everybody else knows how to navigate through the maps and find the overshields. When we turned overshields off and allowed rocket launchers, I held my own.

After Halo, we popped in FIFA 2007 and played some soccer. As fun as that game is, it might just be the most difficult sports game I’ve ever played. The control is easy enough, but the computer is so amazingly hard to defeat. They scored in the 90th minute to beat us three or four games in a row. It didn’t help that Tom kept forgetting that you couldn’t slide tackle at will. By the end of each game, I think we were two or three players down from all the yellow and red cards we got.

Frustrated at the impossibility of FIFA, popped in NHL 2K7 and turned off penalties, icing, and fatigue. Then we proceeded to open-ice check anyone and anything that got in our way. We had a jolly good time thrashing the computer.

Back!

We're back from California, and it's cold! They mentioned on the plane that it was 28 degrees, and when we stepped outside, it really hit us. There was a bit of snow on the ground in some parts, but for the most part it was just cold. We went to bed on Friday, and when we woke up, the whole town was covered in snow. It's freezing!

This is Kelsey's first real experience with the snow. It was cold and snowy when she was born, but she didn't go outside for a couple of months. She seems to react fine to the cold, but she hasn't yet gotten snow in her hands.

Finals are coming up soon, so I'm going to disappear for a couple of weeks. I'm so excited for the semester to end and for Christmas to come. We had a blast spending time with family in California and look forward to seeing everybody again soon. While we were out there, Dad gave us the laptop that I'm typing this on. It has some issues with an intermittent display, but I've made a temporary fix.

Time to watch the Christmas devotional!

I'm a normal person again

After crazy weeks of project-preparing, I'm finally normal again. I gave my senior paper presentation yesterday, which went pretty well. My midterms are done and I made it out alive. Now I just need to do as much schoolwork as possible to get it all out of the way. Then I can focus on my independent study.

Next week we leave for California. We're excited!

I'm a little lad who loves berries and cream

We prepared the JET Application and sent it electronically, and now just have to submit the signed hard copies of it. We won't know if I'm accepted until April. If we don't, we'll find another way to get over there.

Spiderman 3

Why can't movies be good anymore? Do we need dancing emo spidey? Since when did Venom make people jazz pianists? Too many villains. We don't care. Melodrama. Blah. Venom sucked.

Lame-o.

Transformers

Stef and I watched Michael Bay's Transformers last night for the first time. We wanted so badly to like this movie, but no matter what kind of positive spin we put on it, we couldn't. One-liners, while entertaining, are not a substitute for dialogue. The special effects were good, but that was about it.

With some time to reflect on the movie, I've softened my stance on the movie. We didn't hate it by any means. Everyone we know talked about how great it was, so we had gone in with high expectations. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see it on a big screen, so we didn't get to appreciate the visuals as much as we could have. It was kind of cool that the same voice actor that voiced Optimus Prime in the cartoon was hired for the movie. However, since we were just using our home theater system, the audio didn't have the same effect that theater sound would have had. The transformers' voices seemed oddly detached from the bodies.

I was able to predict some scenes quite easily, such as who would be the first to die on Air Force One (a black secret service agent). Each race was pretty stereotypically represented. Even the black transformer (Jazz, who is a Porsche, not a Pontiac) was the only one to die. Perhaps I am being too critical. After all, this is Michael Bay we're talking about here. Maybe I shouldn't have waited until the DVD release to watch it. I mean, I expected robots to blow up other robots--and got that--but for some reason allowed myself to dislike the script and dialogue. Is it too much to ask to have believable characters in an Summer action movie? Probably.

JET Statement of Purpose

For the JET Program, I have to write a 2-page statement of purpose detailing my motivation for attending the program, my qualifications, and how the program will help me. I spent a good chunk of time writing this, but my make slight revisions.
--
Arriving in Guatemala on a two-year church mission, I immediately noticed how different everything was. My first breath after stepping off the plane filled my lungs with warm, humid air. Upon exiting the airport, voices came from everywhere, obviously directed at me but not completely understood. Guatemalans love to peddle their wares to tourists, and apparently they wanted me to buy something. Kindly declining, I took my luggage and hoisted it onto the roof of an old van, which I then boarded. The ride to our home was an adventure, complete with near-death experiences, broken conversation with the driver, and torrential rain. The experience was an eye-opening introduction to a culture that was completely different than the one I was used to. The next two years were full of similarly enlightening moments.

I set a number of personal goals upon entering the mission, one of which was to remove cultural barriers in communication. To accomplish this, I studied social interactions between friends, family, and business professionals, and did everything I could to make my own interactions as natural as possible. In the process, I learned that each person had different experiences and interests, and that communication strategies that worked with one person might not work with another. I received a great sense of accomplishment as I built lasting relationships and communicated effectively with people from a foreign nation. That satisfaction has given me the desire to help others do the same, through teaching.

The desire to communicate effectively with speakers of a foreign language is a passion that has led me to study linguistics, as well as other languages. Growing up, I had a neighbor who often spoke highly of his time spent in Japan. As a result, I hoped to serve my church mission there. Unlike the JET Program, the church did not allow us to make requests as to where we would be placed, and I was sent to Guatemala. My time in Guatemala was life-changing and highly enjoyable, but the desire to experience Japan never ceased.

One of the requirements of the linguistics program at Brigham Young University is the study of a non-Indo-European language. Of all those available, Japanese was by far my top choice. As I learned more about the language and culture of Japan in my classes, the more I wanted to experience it. The JET Program is a wonderful way for me to work towards my ultimate career goal of teaching Spanish and Japanese to speakers of English. Teaching English to speakers of Japanese will help me understand many of the challenges of teaching a foreign language, while helping Japanese children to become familiar with traditional American life and speech. Living in Japan will give me the chance to learn the nuances of culture and language in Japan.

I have had many experiences that will help with my position as an Assistant Language Teacher. As a missionary, my main task was to find people to whom my companions and I could teach a series of religious lessons. Each morning, we allotted time to discuss the specific needs of the people we were teaching, including ways that we could tailor the lessons based on their age and level of education. We constantly studied ways to improve our teaching, and were required to be flexible. Occasionally, we would offer English classes at night, where we taught people of all ages basic sentence structure and pronunciation. I have also spent over two years teaching religious Sunday school lessons to young adults, always encouraging class participation. Furthermore, I have experience training and coaching. A few years ago, I coached a basketball team of young teenagers, helping them along with encouragement and instruction. I have worked exceptionally hard as a banker, consistently achieving top honors for sales and service, and training many others in my branch to be able to do the same.

As an ALT, I will work equally hard to help the people I teach break through cultural barriers by designing lessons to meet the students' needs, giving praise and encouragement, and constantly striving to improve my teaching methods.

Does this work?

I updated my computer with service pack 2, and got a little carried away with Firefox add-ons. This one supposedly will publish to this blog.

Fall

The leaves are falling and the air is cool and crisp outside, so it was a perfect day to go on a walk with Stef and Kelsey. I had a feeling that we should take our camera with us on the walk. We're glad we did, as we got a bunch of great pictures of Kelsey. The first few pictures of the slideshow are from last week.

JET Application

I am applying for the JET Programme, a government program that sends people to Japan to teach English for a year. In the application, they ask for all of my transcripts, including community college. I'm left with a dilemma: do I fail to include my horrible grades at ARC, or do I turn them in like an honest person and have it hurt my application? My BYU grades are good enough, and hopefully they'll realize that I had a life changing experience in Guatemala and learned how to stay motivated. I do fear, however, that they'll see how horribly I did at AR and reject my application. People don't always give you a chance to prove that you're better than the data might show. I've requested my grades from ARC, but I am very afraid of what they will be.

La frita casita

We had our last softball game tonight. It wasn't supposed to be the last one, but naturally, we lost. I've been playing for the Hogi Yogi softball team in the Orem recreational league of the American Softball Association. I've had some good moments this year, including tagging quite a few guys out at home, getting a lot of good hits and crushing a bomb of a homer to center field. Tonight was not exactly a showcase of my abilities. I went 0-3 with two ground outs to third and a popout. Our team lost 8-6 to our most bitter rivals, La Casita, therefore ending our season and giving us third place in the league. We had a good team, but the fielders tonight just couldn't hang on to any of the fly balls hit their way. We got screwed by the ump, who admittedly made a bad call on a play at first that should've ended the inning. Instead, the next batter hit a 3-run home run. That's more than the difference in the score. We didn't get along well with La Casita, mainly because they wanted to fight over just about anything that happened, claiming that we were trying to mess with them. If only they knew that we really didn't care about them enough to try to mess with them.

We had a work meeting tonight, too. They got Arby's. Bleh.

Je voudrais un croissant

Stef and I got to drop Kelsey off with the neighbors to go watch a movie. Out of all the great movies that were playing at the dollar theater, we chose Ratatouille. We got to the theater expecting a huge line, but were pleasantly surprised to see two or three people waiting outside. After buying our tickets, we went inside to buy some snacks. A bunch of people, mostly young parents with their kids, were waiting for the theater door to open. When we got in, we realized how many kids there were, including babies. We definitely could've brought Kelsey with us. At one point, a girl rolled down the aisle next to us as though she was rolling down a grassy hill. The movie itself was great. Pixar movies have the ability to entertain kids while still keeping things interesting for adults. The soft, ambient colors perfectly set the tone of the movie, which was mostly subtle. It was really nice to get out with Stef.

Oh yeah, these guys rock.

I blog

Actually, I don't blog. Maybe I should; it'd give me something to do during downtime at work. We have a space up for pictures of Kelsey at http://jessenstef.spaces.live.com/.

I have nothing to do now that the real baseball season is over. Yeah, the playoffs are going on, but the A's didn't make it. Nothing else matters. There's always next year. And at least the the Angels Angels of Anaheim got swept.

Scott's a movie star now. He went over to Korea to find acting work and make a name for himself. Apparently, he starred in an independent suspense/horror movie called The Ceremony. I hope that when he gets famous he still remembers that Axel is better than Skate.

Happy Feet?

False. I was really looking forward to a peppy, upbeat movie about a penguin that was "different" from the rest, somehow winning the affection of the other penguins. Well, I did get that movie. Unfortunately, I also got three other movies, all rolled into one incoherent package.

Not only do we get a movie about fitting in, but also a musical, an episode of the Twilight Zone, and a heartwarming nature conservation flick. George Miller, the director, must have put different plots into a hat, thrown the hat into a wood chipper, then collected the pieces and rearranged them arbitrarily.

If they wanted to make an environmental film, they should have done so from the beginning. Instead, they trick you into thinking that you'll care about this lovably different penguin, only to change course two thirds of the way through and start preaching about how we're killing off all the penguins by fishing in their waters and leaving soda pop rings on their heads. What does that have to do with a kids' movie?

Perhaps I'm too critical. Perhaps you are a fool.

In all honesty, it wasn't a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. The animation was very good, and most of the characters were well developed. It just tried to do too much. I wasn't a fan of the sexual undertones throughout, nor was I pulled in by singing and dancing penguins. The baby penguins were pretty cute, but there was just too much singing.

The movie's premise of the penguin trying to fit in regardless of how poorly he was being treated was its biggest flaw. Life is not about fitting in with the jerks; it's about accepting yourself for who you are. If you like different things, you don't need to prove to others that your interests are legitimate. To heck with the penguin's love interest. If he needs to save the penguin race to gain her love, then she's not worth his time.

53 minutes into "Happy Feet", after a seemingly important event in the movie, I turned to Stef and said, "I don't know how they're going to squeeze 55 more minutes into this movie." Stef agreed. If they had ended the movie right there, you'd be reading a positive review. No such luck.

R8R H8Rs

Is it just me, or are A's fans and Raiders fans two completely different breeds? It's very common to see someone rooting for the A's between April and October, but then switching sides of the bay come football season. I know that I certainly like the 49ers more than the Raiders. Maybe we're trying to distance ourselves from the "bad boy" image associated with the Raiders.

Strangely, I don't know if I've ever met a Giants/Raiders fan. When I was growing up, my Dad was a diehard Giants/Niners fan, so I have always liked both San Francisco teams. However, I always went to A's games with my best friend, and I ended up gravitating towards the A's. I've stuck with the A's, Niners, and Kings through the good years and the bad, yet I only really care about the Giants if they've made the playoffs.

As for the Raiders, I despise what they've done to my beautiful baseball stadium. I remember looking out at the Oakland hills, watching people walk behind the scoreboard. Now, all I see is a huge mountain of glass and concrete.

I'm sick of Rex Hudler

The TV broadcast team for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Los Angeles is really getting on my nerves. With MLB.TV being my only window to the A's, I have to settle for the Angels' broadcast. The A's have traditionally played some very close series with the Angels, and this one has certainly been no exception. Tonight, with the A's down 2-1 late in the game, Nick Swisher was up to bat with Eric Chavez on second base and nobody out. John Lackey was ahead in the count, 0-2, after Swisher took a couple of herculean hacks. Rex Hudler, the color commentator for the Angels, spouted out this nonsense:

Rather than taking a big swing, he could always shorten it up and do something to help the team.

I'm not disputing the fact that Swisher didn't necessarily need to hit the ball deep in order to help the team. There are many ways that he could help out: a ground ball to the right, a bloop single, a walk, a bunt (obviously not going to happen).

Somehow, in Rex Hudler's mind, moving a runner over is the only way to help the team. Shame on you, selfish Nick Swisher, for wanting to drive in the tying run. Be glad that you got beaned, because any kind of true offensive production, such as a home run or double, would have killed the rally.

Hudler also had this gem during Thursday night's game, referring to Jose Molina's bloop-single into right field:

He's not going to try to kill you, I'm just going to try to doink you.

Run.