Post-Potter Depression

The following is a joke:

Post-Potter Depression: With the final Harry Potter movie coming out on Friday, the medical community is bracing itself for the onset of PPD (Post-Potter Depression). PPD is expected to hit especially hard in young adults ages 18 to 27. For the last 10 years we have anxiously awaited a new Harry Potter movie each year (roughly). This will end on Friday. I will consequently begin holding a support group for the next few weeks that deals with PPD and Weasley-Withdrawals. Don't miss our first meeting where we will discuss where you were when you first met Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Episode 17: The College Graduate

Captain's log: Stardate: 2011.112. The primary directive of the crew of the USS Peter Barrow for the last 7 years has been to explore BYU campus, to seek out new knowledge and Bachelor's degree, to boldly go where numerous others have gone before. Having accomplished the primary directive, the crew has been put forward as a candidate worthy of promotion to rank of Bachelor of Science in the area of Mathematics. Following is a summary (incomplete) of the crew's accomplishments and secondary achievements procured during the mission:

I actually graduated in April, but am now just getting around to blogging about it. Actually, it isn't the actual graduation I want to blog about. More or less its some of the things that defined my BYU experience.

1) International Folk Dance Ensemble. Picture this. It's late summer, 2004. A lowly freshman finishes his dinner in the Cannon Center, heads back to Stover Hall to spend the remainder of the evening. He notices on the cork-board of announcements an invitation to audition for the BYU Folk Dance team, "No prior dance experience necessary." I've done a little dancing here and there in high school musicals, so I figure I'll probably have a leg, at least an ankle up on the competition.

I go to the designated try out spot at the designated time. Some of the guys from the team teach some of us newbies a few simple steps. We repeat them. I act cool and collected. I'm pulled aside and told I've made the team. (Later I find out that they are always in need of guys. I didn't so much MAKE the team as I DIDN'T NOT make the team. The try outs were more to see who wasn't fit for the team than to see who was).

I'm placed on team 10 WSC. This means I meet at 10 o'clock in the Wilkinson Student Center on Mon, Wed, Fri. We had a marvelous time together as a team. We were so close knit. I had an awesome freshman ward, but most of my really good friends came from the folk dance team. I met some good RMs that I really looked up to. My self-confidence was boosted from dancing with the really pretty and really cool girls. Some nights I'd be in my room studying, my phone would ring, and my peers from the team would invite me to hang with them. I remember one specific night we went to a local park, climbed up on an awning, lay down, and watched the stars for a while.

10 WSC, Fall 2004 (freshman).

10 WSC, Winter 2005

One of my more embarrassing moments also stemmed from this very class. I was dancing with a very pretty girl. We were doing a polka. I was wearing shoes, she wasn't. My foot came down on hers rather hard. She suddenly fell limp in my arms with a shriek of pain, "Aaaghh!"
"Are you all right?!" I exclaim, nervously praying she's okay.
"No!" She cries with tears welling up in her eyes.  This is the first time anyone has responded in the negative to my question. "I think my toe broke."
Indeed, I broke that poor girl's toe.

We learned some fun dances. My first semester we learned and performed a dance from Israel. My second semester we learned a really fun dance from Africa that African coal miners would perform in the mines to communicate called Gum Boots as I recall.

In Fall 2009, after a hiatus from folk dancing, I decided I really missed it. I came back to the team. The team I came back to, although different, was just as close knit as the one I left. We danced a plethora of dances together. It was a good year to come back. It was the 50th anniversary of the program. The Christmas Around the World performance that year was one to never forget. I was part of a special short Russian number, Troika (spelling?). The next semester we danced an intense Ukrainian number. There's this move at the end that involves the boys going down in a crouched position. The upper body remains very nearly still, while the legs move like sixty. My calves killed! It was all I could do to remain smiling during the applause rather than cry out "Charlie Horse!"

Troika, Fall 2009. I'm third man in from left.

Hutzel, Winter 2010. I'm sixth man from left.

Men's Chorus 08-09. I'm in there somewhere.

2) When I was in high school, I vowed that I would sing in the BYU Men's Chorus. I knew it would take some work, but I wanted to  prove to myself that I was able to sing in such a top rated, world famous choir. I hadn't been in any sort of choir since high school. The summer of 2008 I sang in the Spring Chorale with a friend and roommate to prepare for the daunting task of trying out for an audition-only choir. I took private voice lessons from my aunt as well. I give most (if not all) the credit to her for her help. I already have an entry on Men's Chorus, so I'll let you read that: http://augustflux.blogspot.com/2010/11/pilgrims-journey-home.html

The Christmas Around the World (Folk Dance) Celebration in 2009, I wasn't in Folk Dance, but I was in Men's Chorus. Folk Dance invited us to perform at their celebration. We were doing our Christmas performance the same exact nights, but while we were in the De Jong Concert Hall in the HFAC, the Folk Dance folks were in the Marriott Center. This meant singing our numbers on stage, leaving the HFAC, crossing the street as a choir in the frigid December night air, and sneaking on stage in the Marriott Center.

Part of the number with folk dance involved a few select members of Men's Chorus leaving our stands to dance with the Folk Dancers. I was one of these few. This actually inspired me to go back to dancing the following school year rather than sing in the Chorus again.

Me on graduation day. I'm first one from left and right.

3) When I came home from my mission, I initially wanted to be a business major ($$$). This meant taking Math 119, Calculus. I was admittedly nervous, seeing as how the last math class I took was 3+ years earlier when I was a junior in high school. It was 4 credit hours and was supposed to be my hardest class. Instead, it was my easiest. Allow me to brag momentarily. Everyone around me in lecture kept talking about how hard a time they were having with the material and the tests. Meanwhile, I was essentially napping (by "essentially" I mean "actually") through most lectures and still acing the tests. The material just came very naturally to me. Plus, I ENJOYED the material. I thought it was fascinating. It all made perfect sense to me. It was like science meets philosophy meets logic. I had an "Ah-ha" moment. Here was something I enjoyed and in which I got good grades! I did a little research and found that job opportunities are through the roof for people with good math backgrounds. I switched my major. I finally felt like I was where I belonged major-wise.

Me and my mathematically inclined peers. Can you find me?

That was probably the best decision I made at BYU. I loved the classes and the people. Math majors are, for the most part, really normal people. I made some really good friends in the math lab and accompanying "Nerd Aquarium," (a glass walled room in the math building in which math majors study).

So there you have it. I am a college graduate. So there.

Daily Universe "Newsie" Letter to the Editor

The other day someone submitted the following letter to the Daily Universe: http://universe.byu.edu/node/15393. I actually really liked it. In it they briefly site one of my favorite musicals, Newsies. However, just to be funny, I responded with the following letter (keep in mind that I actually LOVE Newsies):

"I totally agree with the author of "We could Be Happier." I love to read the letters to the editor but am amazed at how many petty items we students fret about. However, Newsies is hardly the movie by which we should measure our attitudes. If viewed closely, a deep and enlightened thinker (such as myself) will see that Newsies is against families. Consider Jack Kelly's solo, Santa Fe: "So that's what they call a family. Ain't you glad you ain't that way." Here we see the hero placing individualism above familial duties.

Also, the movie glorifies poor orphans and run-aways, encouraging young boys to leave behind their family to seek a transient life "selling the news for a penny a pape." The movie sends the message, "Wanna sing and dance? Run away and become a newsie. The pay is lowsy, but there are more important things in life such as carrying the banner!"

Also, have you noticed that the boys become friends with a lady that performs in and owns a burlesque? Not to mention the subtle communistic/bolshevik revolution undertones in the film (remember "Seize the Day" and "The World Will Know"?)

Next time pick a better film by which to set your moral compass. Like the pro-family Homeward Bound."

Quotes From Elms C209, 2008-2009

Darin (to Greg): “Well Greg, maybe you should ‘speed things up a bit’…”

Darin: “Greg! She’s the one!”

“Who the fractal ate my Cheerios?”
- Jared

“You guys didn’t get it. It’s okay – I didn’t get it either.”
-Darin

Greg: “Where’s my cranium?”
Darin: *points to Greg’s head*

“I’m gonna cut all of them out in little hearts…” -Darin

Peter B: “Is it ‘e’ or ‘i’? I already put ‘e.’
Darin: “IT’S ‘I’”

“A girl, staring at you , in the Clyde Building, and she’s an engineer? Run!”
- Darin

“I would crawl inside of my freezer.”
-Greg

“Do you have kids?...I mean keys…”
-Darin

“That would be a good way to murder someone!”
-Darin

“Gasp! I know EXACTLY what I’m going to have for breakfast tomorrow!”
-Peter N.

“Don’t you DARE be invisible to me!”
-Tiffany

Greg: “You were probably being spiritual.”
Adam: “No. I was killing things.”

Peter B: “MAN!”
Peter N: “Woman! …I love this game.”

“My lips hurt real bad!”
-Darin

“Girls ARE the gospel…”
-Greg

Greg: “SHE is a dancer.”
Darin: “Uh…thank you.”

“I’d date her for her basket of corn.”
-Geoff (about the lady on the bag of chips)

Darin: “We can go to our hickie parade.”
Alisha, Greg: “Hickie?”
Darin: “Hickish.”

“What day is the fourth of July?”
-Amy

“How do you capitalize ‘Fourth’?”
-Amy

Kaitlyn: “Is someone harboring a personal grudge against Adam?”
Alisha: “Kaitlyn”
Kaitlyn: “It’s true.”

“I want to know what a half date is . . . cuz I feel bad for that guy.”
-Darin

“Not the way I play kickball…”
-Darin

“Aren’t you dead, Greg?”
-Jared (while playing mafia)

“Where, what, what, what, when?”
-Darin

“I want to stand at a 45˚ angle with you. Don’t be intimidated. I’ll break eye contact first.”
-Liz

“I’m gonna read the quote board and then go to bed.”
-Peter B.

“Oooh! Nazis!”
-Adam

“I can hold my breath ‘til I go to the restroom.”
-Peter B.

“I can’t believe I just said that! My maturity level just went down three points…on a scale of one to four…”
-Peter B.

“I wonder what it would be like to have a baby in zero gravity.”
-Peter B.

“You should grow sideburns. It will solve all your problems.”
-Peter B.

“Blackboard needs to be…*hits chest*…Pumped up.”
-Peter B.

“You’d be good at swearing.”
-Peter B.

“Your Valentine’s Day is Birthday?”
-Darin

“I should probably put pants on.”
-Greg

Peter N: “You know, I’d like to think they were talking about chocolate, but…”
Greg & Darin: “They were.”

Peter B: “I was practicing piano.”
Darin: “Is that what they call it these days?”

“Is that scripture? I think it is.”
-Darin

“First kiss, holding hands, and then you build bird-feeders.”

“Uh-uh. 4x5=0”
-Peter B.

“It’s been a blessing. I don’t know how, but…”
-Jared

Peter B: “How did the pioneers make it?”
Adam: “Pioneers like you didn’t.”

“Do you WANT to wake up without eyebrows?”
-Darin

“I would crawl inside of my freezer “
–Greg

Quotes From Brookview 8, 2009-2010

L to R: Paul, Darin, PeterB, PeterN. Not pictured: Seth.

Paul: “Sealing is like a port-key.”

Peter B: “I can chew and eat. I’m that talented.”

David: “Actually, going through a single pane window wouldn’t hurt that bad.”

Paul: “No, she’s definitely a full woman.”

Darin: “Let’s watch ice cream while we eat the TV!”

Peter N: “Hugging is not one of the 3 P’s.”
Paul: “Paffection!”
Darin: “Uh…NOT one of the 3 P’s.”

Megan: “Yoink! It’s an explicative.”

Peter B: “White people don’t have black hair.”

Peter N: “What’s the name of that whale in Moby Dick?”

Darin (to Peter N. and Peter B.): “It’s just that I don’t want to be twenty-f—nine and single.”

Seth: “I don’t know…I’d much rather have feet on it than butts.”

Darin: “Can you hear? I’m losing my voice….I know you all are excited about it but I’m not!”

Peter B: “We’ve been commanded to multiply and replenish the earth.”
Peter N: “Is that your date activity?”

Darin (to Peter B.): “9:39 to 9:40 is eleven minutes, Mr. Math Major.”

Paul: “I love going on man-dates with Darin!”

Darin: “I’m not telling secrets, I just don’t want you two to know what I’m saying.”

Peter N: “Liz, you’re a stronger woman than I am!”

Peter B: “What are you trying to do?”
Seth: “Rub your belly.”

Darin (to Paul): “How does it feel to have a one syllable name?”
Paul: (awkward silence)…”umm, it’s great! I love it!”

David: “Darin’s more spiritual than you, so I’m going to side with him.”
Paul: “Wait, what did you say?”
Darin: “He said that I’m more attractive than you so he’s siding with me.”
Paul: “Oh ok. I thought he said you were more spiritual.”

Darin & Peter B: “You are my Book of Lehi.”

Paul (about Peter N.): “We’re sealed together for eternity. I pray every day that they’ll leave the church.”

Darin: “We need something harder than beer.”
Paul: “You could try aftershave.”

David: “So Darin, I washed your potatoes last night.”
Darin: (long awkward silence)

Darin: “And I have zero desire to live an alcohol-free life but I still do.”

Peter N: “What?! They have a negative K.D!”
Darin & Paul: (laughter)
Paul: “Don’t you hate negative K.D’s?”
Darin: “Yeah! They’re the worst!”

Peter B: “We need to increase the number of Mary Poppins discussion in our apartment.”

Darin: “I think his pecs are listed in the credits.”

Peter N (to Paul on the phone): “Are you asking me if you’re morally justified to take the gallon of milk in the parking lot?”

Darin: “I don’t want any of that food if it’s going to be made with that Satan-milk!”

Seth (to Darin): “You’re not a butt…at the very most you’re a lower back.”

Paul: “What’s up with that dude in the vest and hat?”
Darin: “Uh, that’s a brace.”

David: “Darin’s in most of these quotes. Why is that?”
Peter B: “When you talk 90% of the time, you’re in 90% of the quotes.”

Darin (to Sierra): “With your good looks and my priesthood….”

Peter B: “So what were you telling each other? Sweet something-nothings?”

Peter N: “Everyone, Darin? Like all 80,000 of us?”

Paul (to David): “I could probably bench two of you…well, maybe one.”

Peter B: The only thing better than chocolate milk is drinking chocolate milk.”

Darin & Paul: “I grade girls on the curve!”

Peter B: “Something’s in the air.”
Darin: (singing) “Love is in the air!”
Peter B: “It’s NOT love.”

Paul: “I don’t know….if Elder Oaks were MY husband…”

Darin: “Hey Steph! If we got married, you could have this (points to self) for eternity!”
Steph: “Gimme a ring and I’m in.”
Darin: “So what are you doing this weekend?”
Steph: “I’m going to Vegas, wanna come?”

Peter B: “Sometimes a friend is someone who puts you back on the right path.”
Paul: “So what you’re saying is, ‘Friends tell friends they’re going to Hell.”

Darin (to Peter N): “Do you have engineering dreams?”
Peter N: “No.”
Darin: “Yeah…I don’t either.”

You Remind Me of My Mission President's Wife

Just a short one today.

The other day I overheard the last half of a what must have been a funny conversation. One of the girls in my class came walking into the classroom, speaking loudly to her friend, saying in one long, run-on sentence,  "...and he said I remind him of his mission president's wife and I said, 'But she's, like, 50 years OLD' and he said, 'but she's cool.'"

Book Recommendation: Go Toward the Light

I first read Go Toward the Light by Chris Oyler in late 2004. Sitting on my dorm-room bed with my back against the wall. It was late at night but I was driven to finish the book. When I finished, I cried myself to sleep that night. I recently read it again.

Go Toward the Light tells the true story about 9 year-old Ben Oyler's fight against AIDS. It's written by his mother, a newly wed and young mother of a young LDS family. Ben is a hemophiliac. Back in the 80s, hemophilia was treated with blood transfusions. Consequently, Ben has approximately two dozen transfusions a year, being exposed to blood of more than 48,000 people each year. Tragically, he contracts AIDS.

 The book is about how the family faces Ben's "death sentence." Ben, the oldest boy of four boys, is surprisingly mature, but also very childlike and innocent about the whole ordeal. He makes preparations, such as giving away his possessions. He also asks very innocent questions about death ("Are there tacos in heaven?"). At one point he asks if his parents are going to mad at him if he dies. His parents reassure him that dying is like going home. At one point in the book, Ben experiences a series of seizures. After one of the worst attacks is over, Chris (the mother) repeatedly kisses Ben's forehead through her tears. She hears Ben whispering something in his faint voice. She puts her ear closer. "I...want...to...go...home." He has to say it twice before the mother realizes that he wasn't talking about their house. "Mom, I want to go home. Will you come visit me there?" His mother replies, "Yes, Ben. I will. Someday."

This story introduced a concept to my family that I still often think about. Chris Oyler explains to Ben that his heart can take a picture just like a camera, except these pictures are even better because they last forever and are only taken at the most special moments. My heart has often taken pictures during special moments. At the end of my mission my heart was filling up role after role of film taking pictures.

One reason I'm drawn to this story is that it's about a family of four boys. I'm from a family of four boys. Beau, Ben's younger brother, doesn't want Ben to die because that will mean Beau's the oldest. I relate well with Beau. I'm the second oldest, too. The oldest sibling, especially the oldest brother, is an interesting position. He's sort of the leader of the pack. Everyone wants to be a leader of a pack, but the oldest brother can never be replaced. He was literally MADE for the job. Toward the end of the book, when Ben is weakest, he and Beau are fighting over a toy robot. Both boys realize the seriousness of Ben's illness when Beau wins the tug-of-war. Every younger brother wants to be bigger and stronger, but it's against the laws of the universe to be bigger than the oldest brother, especially when he's 8 and you're 6! They freeze for a moment, realizing what just happened. Beau quickly gives the robot back, trying to find a way to take the moment back.

Finally, Ben passes a way. The youngest boy, Aber is staying at his grandmother's house the night before. "Gramma, Gramma! There's a little ghost flying around my room."
"Oh, Aber, honey, it's just a bad dream."
"No, Gramma. It's a REAL ghost. It was Ben. He came in here and told me that he won't have to hurt anymore 'cause he's got only one more day here. He told me that he loved me and he'd miss me a lot."

You should read this book. It's an easy read, too. Well worth your time. Visit your local library or buy a copy online. They are only a penny on amazon right now. But, as Lavar Burton (Reading Rainbow) would say, "You don't have to take MY word for it. I'll see ya next time!"