And let me tell you...

When it's so early in the morning, blogger is a strange comfort. I know I will be greeted with blogs filled classy outfit posts, cheerful words and nerdy indulgences. I empty all my thoughts into this pensive.

Today I was full of Spanish. It filled me up and I was brimming with all the vowels and soft syllables, the trilled r's and the galloping rhythm of the sentences. I had things to say in class and I said them fearlessly. I felt so wonderful.

Not all Spanish days are like this. Many days I don't understand anything and I can't articulate. I hate not being able to say what I mean.

This weekend is so welcome. Another week at the Chronicle has ended, and we had far fewer difficulties than we had a week ago, when the server had the flu and we had to do some voodoo with wires to make everything come out all right. All good and faithful techies of the world deserve a hug, but ours earned a gold medal of awesomeness.

Today's picture is a darling comic from the archives of the Chronicle--circa 1982. Enjoy.

-Meg

12:59 a.m.

I know it's super late, but that is what I am famous for: late night posts.
Today I practiced one of my new goals. I try to be involved in some way at least once in every class, every day. I just make it happen.

I'll answer a question (or try, even if I'm not sure I'm right.) I read aloud in Spanish. I ask a question. Just something.

This is a secret I wish I had learned earlier! It keeps me awake and I think it will make my professors like me! My classes have suddenly become meaningful because I have invested myself in them.

One of my over-arching, almost-a-motto tag-line is to be fearless. (Yes, like T. Swift.)  If I'm afraid, I just stop being afraid. I shut up that fear inside of me and force myself to embrace whatever comes.

I'm tired and I have no energy, but courage grants me strength, even when I'm just pretending I'm brave. (Yes, like "Just Whistle a Happy Tune" from The King and I. ) I do need to figure out a way to sleep more, though. Maybe closing this post and actually doing my homework would be a good start.

Now that I've made a few embarrassing music references, I will cease prattling on. There is work to be done. Good night, all.

-Meg

Black and Blue Beach Curl

Today I woke up and did my hair while I practiced for my oral exam. So I'm getting the beach wave down and working on my Spanish... I'm so ready for Mexico!

Every time it gets better. Thanks to {this} and {this} tutorials.

What is my deal with plaid? I put on this shirt today, and I really didn't realize how awful a decision that was. I look like a bruise. True, I do feel like a bruise... but that doesn't mean I have to look like one. And this reminds me why I am not a fashion blogger.

But the shirt is comfortable, and that's bueno. I don't know why I've been so obssesed with clothes and makeup and hair lately. Usually I don't care, or at least pretend not too. Right now I don't hide my vanity. Right now, people, I am so vain. I'm just going to come out and say it. I will get over it eventually.

I hope your nights are lovely!

-Meg

Best assignment ever

I love my professors.

My Novel has a title, and I am soaking wet.

Despues este escribiendo, tengo un exam del Espanol.

Estoy lluviosa. Muy lluvios, y no tengo un paragua. Soy triste.

--------------------

You're probably wondering how NaNoWriMo is going. Well I'm at 9536 and I have a title.

"The Morning Comes Early."

I don't know exactly what it means, or why it fits my novel, but it somehow does.

I'm in desperate need for character names. Like seriously, anything. Leave your suggestions below.

Now I'm going to battle the sea that's falling down all around us. Wish me luck. My umbrella broke. :(

-Megan

Count Your Blessings!

Hola! I have the urge to write in Spanish, but I'm not even close to being competent enough.

Today is a happy Tuesday! My classes were alright. Choir was fantastic, as usual. That always ends too quickly.

Right now I'm working at The Chronicle. So ya, that's a hint to check it out. We're pretty much the best student paper out there. But I'm not bragging or anything.

I ran on the indoor track today at the field house. It was so refreshing to just run and run and run until I could hardly go any longer! I didn't keep track of time or distance. I was simply running because I can. I am lucky to have a body that can be mobile and working. That is a blessing I don't want to take for granted.

Another blessing: I will be able to pay my tuition bill all by myself. No student loans, and only a little scholarship. I'm proud of myself. All that hard work really paid off!

Another blessing: Institute is so uplifting. I'm taking two classes, and I don't regret that for a second. My LDS history class is so inspiration and informative I just might retake it! And Book of Mormon is just a classic feel-good class.

Anyway, today I feel especially blessed, and I just had to share with the world! Life is good! The good Lord loves me! And He loves you too!

-Meg

Imagine that You're Me

You know you’ve been up too late because you start freaking out because not all your pictures are the same shade of sepia.

You realize that you’ve been staring at a computer screen for more than 12 hours today.

You realize, with some horror and dismay, that this is a typical day for you.

You try writing your essay by hand, because that’s how you like to write your first drafts.

You start wondering what the story would be like if told from the monster’s perspective, not Frankenstein’s.

You sit for a few minutes trying to remember if you’ve ever seen Young Frankenstein. Maybe once, at a party, or something.

You remember that Young Frankenstein is a Mel Brook’s movie. So is the Producers. You’ve never seen The Producers, but you’ve heard it. Once you listened in the bathroom while the boys were watching it in your room. You went in the bathroom to study grammar so you could focus, but you really ended up listening to the whole movie. From the bathroom floor.

You remember who those boys were, and decide to Facebook stalk them.

You try to switch your Facebook back to normal, US English; a language that you haven’t used for several months on that website. (UK English, then Spanish, then Pirate.) As you’re trying to find English (Why are they not in alphabetical order?) You come across Esperanto. You cannot help but wonder WHO IN THIS WORLD READS FACEBOOK IN ESPERANTO? So you do the logical thing and change your Facebook to Esperanto.

You notice that Esperanto’s a lot like Spanish. Which reminds you that you have to buy a Spanish textbook that costs $200 and is sold only brand new at the bookstore, AND NOWHERE ELSE!

You then fondly turn your thoughts to the new planner you bought at the bookstore, and the beautiful crimson 5 subject notebook with the U’s logo on it. You can’t wait for fall, because then you’ll be too busy to breathe. But you have your planner! And with a planner, all things are possible.

You rejoice because all things are possible. Like passing your English class. It can happen. You just have to write your essays! You’re half-way done with one of them, which is nice, but you remind yourself that you still really need to buckle down and get going.

You know that the only way to get going is to have a beautiful new pair of shoes on your feet to take you where you want to go! So you search the World Wide Web for the perfect pair of Mary Jane pumps. You find them.

You have to tell your sister and mom about them, and ask for advice on whether it is taking the risk to buy shoes online. You also have to ask if I should get the shoes in mustard or gray. (Two of your favorite colors.)

You decide you are almost ready to conclude this blog post, and thus begin thinking of a decent title. You struggle at this, and sarcastically remind yourself that this is why none of your headline suggestions will ever make it in print.

You have read the newspaper for years, and even now you study it with more fervor than ever before so that you can become acquainted with the subtle nuances of the art. So that you can be a good copy editor and page designer.

You suddenly realize how many incomplete sentences fill your blog post! Your soul is suddenly drenched in horror, repulsion, and trepidation. But you try to stay true to your word and not delete major things! So you leave them. Because that is what you said, even if it is wrong. Because sometimes you write things that are wrong, but you write them anyway, because they must come out of inside of you, so they don't boil and rot and corrupt you.

-Meg

p.s. Do you know what's ironic? I'm horrible at writing headlines because they aren't complete sentences, yet this post is riddled with half-formed, crippled sentences. WHAT IS THIS?

Just for kicks and giggles or Sólo por diversión y risas

Okay, scratch that last post. I thought of something good to say now! I don't delete things, so that wretched post will remain, but now I have a few specklings of brilliance to throw out onto the canvas of the world wide web.

I love language. I love it, even when I don't understand it. So I have this new friend, Marsha, who is in the Linguistics program with me, and Spanish is her L1, but she speaks English wonderfully too. Today I started a new institute class, and she is in it with me! I'm so thrilled! Anyway, she said the closing prayer, and she asked the teacher if she could give it in Spanish. Of course he said yes.

It was so beautiful! I just love listening to the sounds, even though I really don't understand it. I focused on the spirit of the prayer, not the words.

And of course, there was a Spanish-speaking returned missionary rushing up to her after class trying to show off his knowledge of Spanish to impress her. I giggled at that.

Anyway, I'm going to switch my facebook to Spanish because I just love Spanish, and I can't WAIT to take it in the fall! I've taken a little bit before, but I want to really embrace it now. Yay! I can't wait to be non monolingual! Wait... that would be bilingual! (Duh)

Just for kicks and giggles... here is the post in Espanol, thanks to Google Translate (my bff).

Bueno, a los arañazos que la última entrada. Pensé en algo bueno que decir ahora! Yo no lo borrado, por lo que después seguirá siendo miserable, pero ahora tengo un specklings algunos de brillo a tirar en el lienzo de la World Wide Web.


Me encanta el idioma. Me encanta, aunque yo no lo entiendo. Así que tengo este nuevo amigo, Marsha, que está en el programa de Lingüística conmigo, y el español es su L1, pero ella habla Inglés maravillosamente también. Hoy he comenzado un nuevo instituto de clase, y es en ella conmigo! Estoy tan emocionada! De todos modos, dijo que la oración final, y le preguntó al profesor si podía darle en español. Por supuesto, él dijo que sí.

Era tan hermoso! Me encanta escuchar los sonidos, aunque realmente no lo entiendo. Me concentré en el espíritu de la oración, no las palabras.

Y, por supuesto, estaba tratando de una de habla española volvió corriendo misionero hasta su clase después de hacer alarde de su conocimiento del español para impresionarla. Me reí en eso.

De todos modos, voy a cambiar mi facebook a español porque me encanta el español, y no puedo esperar para tomar en el otoño! Me he tomado un poco antes, pero quiero realmente abrazar ahora. Yay! No puedo esperar a ser monolingües no! Espera ... que ser bilingüe! (Duh)

-Megan

12:25 a.m.

I am done! But I don't feel like it. I don't even have time to adjust to any changes. I don't like change. I started a new job, and I am taking summer classes. I'm not having a summer; that's alright though, at least I'll graduate sooner.

What's in store for the summer?

Nutrition (this will probably make me go crazy about my eating habits), Cross-culture communication (this should be thrilling, especially since the Tim James affair), English 2600 online (this will be interesting... I just want to get it out of the way though) and International Children's literature.

I can't wait for the fall, though.

Syntax, phonology, creative writing, Spanish and probably choir! I think I need to take a math class or something... so much language! (I never thought I'd say that).

I would usually write a post about how I've learned so much this year, and all that jazz, but I don't feel like it. Now I'm just rambling on about life instead of going to bed. My schedule is getting way out of whack... I am no longer a freshman, which is nice, but I never really was one to begin with.

Mr. Hill turned 19. Whooo hoo! He can go on his mission to Fiji now. 48 days. Not like I'm counting. He has to go to Israel first though. He is singing there with the University of Utah singers.

Alright, enough rambling. Good night folks.

-Meg

P.S. my buddy missi started a blog. If you feel like laughing, click here. If you want to remain in a somber mood, then don't bother. :D

Online Spanish

An exciting event occurred on Friday- I finished my online Spanish class.

I'd been laboring through that torture for two long years and it was about time it finished. Now don't get me wrong, a foreign language is great, but enough is enough. I spent over 180 hours on it to earn 4 semester credits. Actually, it really does equal out to be saving me time in the long run, but it didn't really feel like it.

I went through Rosetta Stone, (cleverly named after the Egyptian artifact that featured the same text in three languages, two different versions of Egyptian and Greek. This was a breakthrough because now archeologists could decode Egyptian). The program is unique, but not really. You learn the same way you learned English. Your mom pointed to her nose and says, "Nose!" in a very high pitched voice and eventually you get what a nose is. Rosetta Stone does the same thing. There are a few variations on the same lesson, but basically a word or phrase comes up along with four pictures. One of the pictures matches and you click on it. If you're right, then an encouraging bell sound ensues along with a smiley face. If you're guess is incorrect, there is a blaring horn.

I would also do speech comparisons. Somehow, the all omniscient computer could tell if my feeble attempts to speak Spanish could be decoded by a native speaker. It all sounded the same to me, but the helpful meter was kind enough to show me how close I was to getting the pronunciation right.

The biggest trial with the whole online thing was the sheer stupidity of computers. Sometimes my lesson wouldn’t show up after I completed it, and let me tell you how frustrating that is. I could spend up to an hour on a single one and to have it not count is infuriating. When a teacher doesn’t put something in the computer, you can reason with her, but a computer listens to no one but itself in such matters. At other times the internet would randomly loose connection and I would be left stranded.

There were pros, too. I could work on it at two in the morning, (although I don’t recommend it), and anywhere with internet access.

Overall, I am grateful it is over. I couldn’t have done it alone, my parents helped me a ton. If you’re considering enrolling in such a class, I hope this article helped you in your decision. And if you need any tips, hints, or suggestions, give me a ring. Just say, “¡Me puede ayudar!”