The Spectrum demands RESPECT!

If there is one thing I love about USU, it is the Spectrum. The Spectrum is the arena where my beloved Aggies play b-ball, gymnastics etc. Every year crazed fans anticipate the showdowns that will take place on that very floor. The Huntsman arena and Cougar Stadium have nothing on the Spectrum. That building and thoes who call it home DEMAND RESPECT.
Most friday or saturday nights students jam into terrible yellow and orange plastic seats to watch one more team fall to the mercy of our house. Our fans our loud, RUDE and famous for it. Perhaps we should be ashamed of rude chants such as " You, you you you you you you you SUCK!", "Airball!", "Stupid, Stupid!" "Take his whistle" (for a particularly stupid ref), "You will miss it, You will miss it!" etc.
However, I am going to be honest, thats part of the fun,and I think even if we yelled compliments, the sheer volume and reputation of this court would shake teams to their core.
I love Aggie games and I will well after I leave. It has been an honor to watch the feats of Nate Bendall, Chaz Spicer, Jaycee Carroll and the man Stu Morrill. Anticipation for the havoc we will reek on the b-ball court makes being one of the less awesome football schools, bearable, at least to some degree.

Accepting Change

If there is one thing I do not do well, it is accepting change. I dislike change when it in inevitable and I dislike it even more when someone else controls that change. There is a maturity that comes with adulthood people say, they say that little boys will grow out of the things they do and that little girls will grow out of the whiny drama-queens they so easily become. For most people this is true, for some people, being a little boy in a man's body is their sorry lot in life.
Call me a cock-eyed optimist for wanting to believe that every person has some good in them. This belief, that I have held since I was three, is slowly but surely being dashed and that totally sucks. I am amazed that in adulthood some people are still so selfish that they throw everything away to prove a point that they themselves dont even understand. Amazing. So if anyone tries to tell you that "they" grow out of it, hope you got one that really did, if not, you will just be one more sucker decieved by the little boys of America.

Epiphany

I pretty much lead a lame life, that is what I have decided. If I a life worth talking about, a blog might be a good thing to have. I am also discovering that this thing I have been calling writers block for the past six months is actually called no writing ability. This new information has come as somewhat of a blow to me since the only thing I feel I somewhat enjoy or excel at is indeed writing.
I am starting to think that my story reservoir is drying up, my imagination is wilting and it is time to get a new dream. This is a moment my fiction lecturer would call a moment of "epiphany," where the character (me) has a sudden enlightenment and with it an inevitable and somewhat painful loss of innocence.
The more I dabble in this journalism business, the more I think perhaps it is a road I can and should pursue. I really cant imagine a more fun job then a human interest writer for newspaper of magazine. Perhaps my imagination is ungifted, but my ability to form ascetically pleasing sentences is not. I wouldn't mind spending my time traveling and testing out accommodations from a travel magazine or writing reviews on food, ski resorts, or bed and breakfast joints.
That is the beauty and sometimes torture of college. You come with some idea of what you want to do, like me, to be a writer and then you realize that its way harder than you thought. Or sometimes it is way too boring or nothing like you planned. So you change plans. I guess that's all this college business is, learning to deal with and accept change. Never liked change, but maybe it will help me get a good job. I might change my opinion, who knows.

I'm the Full Beard, you're just peach fuzz

So I was forced into going to a gig over the weekend at The Retro House. The headliner was one "Calvin Smooth." With a name like that, one is asking to be critiqued heavily. It either takes a really confident person, or a total social reject to pull off a name like that. I know Calvin, met a the kid a time or 2 through mutual friends and needless to say, for being a white rapper, the kid has got somthing special.

The Retro house is a literal house on about 800 N. in Logan, just below campus. Apparantly a bunch of guys live there and invite bands to come play free shows. Its a small house that truly is retro, from the sign above the door as you enter, to the red shag carpet througout. Needless to say the house was packed with bodies. Being petit I weaseled my way to the front where Calvin and his band would play.

The band was good. Calvin on keyboard, his younger brother on lead vocal, a guitarist and a sax player. The real deal was Calvin Smooth, himself. Calvin is not some Eminem copying white kid wanna be, hes got witty lyrics and verbal agility to amaze. I did not want to be there, but needless to say, by the end of the night, even I was singing along, chanting call backs and wondering where I could get this kids CD.

Amazing what funny things you can find around this place we call Cache Valley if you just take a minute to explore and perhaps risk being a little uncomfortable.

Check out Calvin Smooth on Myspace or his sweet video for "Peach Fuzz" on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Mr0Y1xsy7k

Not so bad this week...

I am having a good week I think. With the new semester afoot, I am exhausted 24/7 but that is the life of a student/workaholic. Here are the few things that prove that this is indeed a good week.

1. I am taking my first news writing course. In the 8th or 9th grade my journalism teacher told me that news writing was not my thing and to probably find a new thing to do. His lack of faith in me has weighed upon me to this day. Why in heaven's name would you become a journalism major then, you might ask? Answer: It is the only way I can write and guarantee that I get paid. The stories in my head, while amazing to me, may not sell to blind children in Indonesia, let alone in the U.S.
Back to my topic. Intro to news writing: We were asked to write an intro to a news story. Literally the first two sentences of a piece about a friend in the class. My 2 lines took me at least ten minutes. I wanted them to be perfect, to not look stupid. I got that paper back the other day and it said "Good job, Hayley." Instead of the big stamp Pease threatens us with and a million red marks that I feared, I capitalized hip hop and the rest was good. He said so. Good! This small feat has pretty much made my week.

2. Housing has a Returning Resident Campaign every year to re-talk residents into signing up to live on campus. Every year it has a theme such as Uncle Sam's "We want you" to live on campus etc etc. This year the big wigs of housing held a contest. I entered. My idea won. I admit the idea is not super. I bet anyone could have come up with it, but I wont lie, its kind of cool, plus I got $50 for it. Not bad for a moments work.

3. I might get an internship with my favorite radio station 101.5 the Eagle, a country station based out of Salt Lake. I get to talk to some lady on Friday about it. This is my first step to earning my way to free concert tickets for life! There are a few things in life I feel i know something about, writing being one of them, country music being the other..... Sweet!

Ding Dong Ding Dong Christmas Bells are Ringing!

I cannot believe the holiday season is coming to a close yet again. It seemed in elementary school that december seemed to lag forever and the holiday could not come faster. I could not wait for my mother to put up the advent calendar on the side of our fridge, the symbol that meant it was time to start counting down to Christmas.
This year I feel old. The holidays flew by, I did not count one day on a calendar and I am still not sure what day of the week it is. I used to love being shocked by at least a dozen or so gifts under the tree and now.... I buy my own gifts and my mother tells me that I owe a year in car payments thus putting me about 1000 bucks in the hole.
Now I am not complaiing. Holidays in old age 20 have their perks. There is nothing more adoarable than a 3 year old opening her 18th dora the explorer gift.... i swear i saw 3 of the same things but no no... that dora was wearing a pink tutu this one is purple. I also love the smell of this season. Christmas at the Jensen home smells like homemade chicken-noodle soup w/ fresh made noodles, caramel popcorn, also homemade and the smell of snow. Our house looks like somthing out of pottery barn thanks to my fathers obsession with frank lloyd wright and pier one.
Im going through a list phase and until it ends you get anoter one. This one belongs to my 10 favorite things about christmas 2007 and my least favorites as well. Happy Holidays!

Favorites:
1. Making my mom cry from laughter. Just being with my mom who is my very best friend and greatest treasure.
2. Hadley my 3-year old niece. Gods greatest cration thus far. She has a thing for Indian Jones, playing her "atar"(guitar) and is identiy confused weather she is Dora or not.
3. The Nutcracker with my mom and older sister and the really nice place we ate and.... still smelling like garlic 14 days later
4. Chicken Noodle Soup and Caramel corn
5. Having time with my cousin who wont be able to have GNO (Girls Night Out) for much longer
6. Kissing under my first mistletoe
7. Getting nails done,shopping and just being with Whitney, my best friend even though we are on different paths and knowing that things will not change
8. The Kite Runner Movie... my favorite book now an excellent film as deleicious as the book
9. The wonderful people in my life who do so much for me
10. Jesus, because really its kind of His holiday and for that I am greatful to Him. Forever.

Least Favorite
1. Some really tough conversations and choices in 2008 looming
2. Learning that my 2 cousins will both be wed in 2008 leaving me feeling left out
3. Being sick the whole entire time, a record length in an almost absurd way
4. Missing my family on Christmas eve... but things worked out for the better
5. How nasty dirty my car is
6. 1000 in car payments
7. feeling old wondering where to magic went
8. Only working out once.... can you say new years resolution?
9. Hurting many feelings
10. being more confused about life than ever

When I am sick I....

A warning list for anyone who comes in contact with me when I am ill.
I am rarely sick (the first time in about 2 years) so when I am sick, it wipes me out for a good week. anyone willing or crazy enough to encounter me during this time should be warned: it is NOT a pretty sight.

When I am sick I:

1. Get even more mean and selfish than I already am. Known for my one-track mind, my less desireable ME-centered attributes shine forth unrestrained and in all their glory.

2. I to lay very very still with hoodie up over my ears, a down comforter and few fleece blankets for comfort. Yes this practice increases my fever and places in a state of mild comatose, but oh how lovely it is!

3. I love a good book.... normally a good sappy romance or somthing entirely outside of my current life to wisk me away while using the least amount of brain cells possible. (Suggestions: The Time Travelers Wife, Bridget Jones' Diary, A Thousand Splendid Suns).

4. A little trick I picked up from my dear roommate... the age old orange juice served WARM. Might sound sick but it soothes throat and congested chest while provided needed vitamin C.

5. A massage is always nice. When muscles ache from a cold, relaxation can be met with a fully body rub down. It may be hard to find someone willing (consider mom or a boyfriend). Tension from illness or your all-too-heavy backback can really make the wellness process slow down.

6. Need a huge box of PUFFs by Kleenex. I find it morally wrong to use the cheap stuff when I am ill.... in fact anyone that used say toilet paper to wipe their nose.... no friend of mine... unless its Charmin... but... no.

7. I do not want to go to classes that talk about things that are over my head. What constitutes "over my head"? To name a few... buddaim... buddaism as bases for poetry.... anyhting with numbers greater than 5....

In Short..... I am not a good sick person, so until I heal... leave me alone.