"And Then I Looked"

For my art education class, we were assigned to visit the BYU Museum of Art. I love assignments like this because they give me an excuse to do things I like to do but don't make time for otherwise. Currently there's an exhibit of religious art called "Types and Shadows." It was amazing. I liked it because the artwork wasn't your typical Mormon, Greg Olseny kind of work. It was original and symbolic. It really made me think and analyze the way I view the world. It helped remind me of God's hand in our everyday lives. I am a big art geek, so I don't know if everyone will be as moved by this exhibit as I was, but I highly reccomend it. Art has a way of reaching me in ways that few other mediums or even spoken language can. I love being able to interpret what a painting means to me or to feel the emotion the artist is trying to express. To be able to create such a message is, to me, one of the most beautiful manifestations of human identity. Like I said, I'm an art geek. Another thing that really touched me as I was going through the exhibit was a mother and her young daughter. They were looking at the art together and the mother was asking her child questions and explaining the stories behind the pieces. As cheesy as it may sound, it inspired me. I want to do that someday with my daughter. And isn't that how it should be? Parents and their children experiencing the media together, making sure they both understand eachother's point of view? It made me think today in class, when we were talking about how sex sells and is increasing in advertising. This is something I will someday need to address with my family. Becuase if I don't, they just might get the wrong message.

Invasion of the Blog

Blogs are everywhere! I went to a friend's house last night and her mom showed me her blog. Another friend also has to keep a blog for her American Civilization class. One of my coworkers showed me her sister's very detailed, pay-by-play mission blog kept by the mission president's wife. It's pretty crazy how fast they have caught on. But to be honest, they aren't so bad. I kind of like them and think they're interesting. I may even have a real one after this class is over. I'm coming over to the dark side!

So when I'm doing paperwork and data entry at work, I like to listen to music. It makes things a lot more enjoyable. Today, however, Pandora was being really slow and I realized just how much I like having music in the background and how much more monotonous work is without it. I became pretty impatient. I'm also realizing that Pandora plays a lot of the same songs over. Or maybe I just need to create some new stations...

Last night when I came home, my roomates were watching License To Wed. I'd never seen it but it had "Jim" from the Office in it and I like him so I sat down and watched it with them. It was okay, but there were just so many references to sex. In fact the main characters are challenged to abstain from sex until they are married and they are just shocked by the notion. I guess that's just how the world sees it, that's just what you do when you're dating someone. Another thing that bothered me was how vindictive the characters are. It's just painful to watch, I ended up just going to bed after about twenty mintues, it's wasn't worth watching.

I've got to be honest, I always thought blogs were a little weird. I was actually kind of proud of myself for evading the pandemic that seems to have hit everyone from coffee shop poets to Jr. High gossip girls to soccer moms. But alas, it is required for this class and so I will, albeit grudgingly, succumb to this cultural phenomenon. If I really think about it, probably one of my main reservations is the fact that I will actually love blogging and become somewhat of an addict (which will only be reinforced by my grade in this class). Only time will tell...