Hmmm....

So I dropped off the face of the planet for a little bit. No seriously I dropped off and am now just barely coming back for air. I have many thoughts which have been going through my mind and well I am not sure what all is best to talk about.

For now I will content myself with a story that I found while reading some old letters of my mothers. (With total permission to do so I might add.) You most likely have heard this one before but it was my first time hearing it and I want to remember this story forever.

The following took place in a ward in Salt Lake City in 1974. It occurred during Sacrament meeting.


A young man, just before leaving on his mission stood in Sacrament meeting and bore, in essence, the following testimony.


Brothers and Sisters, as you know during the past few weeks I have been awaiting my mission call. During the time I was waiting I had a dream. I know it was not an ordinary dream. I dreamed I was in the pre-existence and was awaiting my call to come to earth. 
I saw that I was filled with the same excitement and anticipation that I had before I received my mission call. In my dream, I was talking to a friend. He was a dear friend, and I felt a special closeness to him, even though I've never met him in this life.
As we talked, a messenger came and gave me a letter. I knew it was my call to go to earth. In great excitement, my friend and I opened the letter. I gave it to him and asked him to read it out loud. the letter said:
   "You have been called to earth in a special time and to a special land. You will be born into the true church, and you will have the priesthood of God in your home. You will be raised with many blessings and many advantages. You will be born in the land of plenty, a land of freedom. You will go to earth in the United States of America."
My friend and I rejoiced as we read my call, and as we rejoiced the messenger returned. This time he had a letter for my friend. We knew it was his call to earth. My friend gave me the letter to read out loud. the letter said:
   "You have been called to go to earth in circumstances of poverty and strife. You will not be raised in the true church. Many hardships will attend your life. Your land will be fraught with political and social difficulties which will hinder the work of the Lord. You will be born in Costa Rica."
We wept, my friend and I as we read his call. and my friend looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "When we are down on earth, you in your chosen land and me in Costa Rica, my friend, please come and find me."
Then this young missionary, with tears in his own eyes, said, "Brothers and Sisters, I have received my call. I am going to Costa Rica." 


There is a sequel to this story. About a year after this Sacrament meeting, the Bishop of this ward received a letter from the missionary in Costa Rica. the letter had one shit of paper in it, and on that one sheet of paper, written in one-inch-high letters were the words...

I FOUND MY FRIEND

(From the journal of Floyd Hill)

"I hope they call me on a mission, when I have grown a year or two, by then I think I will be ready, to teach and preach and work as missionaries do."

I can't wait for my call to come. 

A Bill Of Rights

As I was not wanting to do homework yet, and browsing the web I found a very interesting thing. Did you know readers have a bill of rights? It's true. A man named Daniel Pennec came up with  ten unalienable rights which no one can refute.
They are:
The Right to NOT Read.
     As an avid Reader there are times when I just need a break and spend two weeks  so just goofing off and watching tv shows that I need to catch up on and simply not picking up a book. And that's fine. You are allowed to take time off from your favorite hobby.
The Right to Skip Pages.
     I try not to do this but there are just times when an author just doesn't know when to stop describing or when something just seems to be taking too long as a Reader you have a right to skip ahead until you get back to the story.
The Right to Not Finish.
     There are books you just have to put down early. With so much material out there you need the right to stop reading a mediocre novel when you want to move on to a great one.
The Right to Reread.
     This might be the most important one for me. I have books that I go back to at least once a year, sometimes even more. The story is just something which I need to get back to. I don't need to feel guilty about it because it is a good book.
The Right to Read Anything.
     No one should judge you for the genre you are reading. I read sci-fi and I am proud of it. I read christian romance and I don't hide it. (well maybe that one a little bit) But it is my right to read whatever I want.
The Right to Escapism.
     Everyone has those days..or weeks..or months...or semesters...when they need to get away for a little bit, escape into a thrilling story of adventure, or a novel of people with problems bigger than yours. It is your right as a Reader! Exercise it.
The Right to Read Anywhere.
     Now granted some places are better than others, (sorry for reading in class professor...it was just a REALLY good part) but generally I haven't found a place yet where you are in no way allowed to sit down and read. I would also like to add this means that you can read anywhere WITHOUT DISTURBANCE. That's the hardest part of reading in public, people will always come up and ask what you are reading.
The Right to Browse.
     Browsing just might be my favorite thing to do in a library. This is why my trips there take so long. I go in for just one book but then other titles and covers just talk to me and before I know it I am leaving with 10 or more books in my arms. Take the time to browse, you will meet friends that belong in your life. 
The Right to Read Out Loud.
     This may just been me but I have come across a few books that are just meant to be read out loud. They have to be, there is just something about the language which is begging to be heard. Feel free to read it. Others will understand and other Readers will look at you and smile.
The Right Not to Defend Your Tastes.
     Reading is a very personal matter. And just because my tastes clash with yours doesn't mean that you have to defend what you want to read to me. Read what you want and don't apologize about it. It is what makes you happy and no one should attack that in the first place.


Well there you have it. The 10 basic rights of a Reader. I capitalize "Reader" because there are readers - those who read occasionally, and then there are Readers. Readers are those who are always on the search for the next thing, who know their local library or bookstore like the back of their hand and most likely have their library card number memorized. They have a feeling for the words which others miss out on. So which are you? 

Um...Time...I Used to Have That...Once

So for some reason this year I am being crazy and deciding to be incredibly busy - this may have something to do with my lack of funds for a Netflix account but that's beside the point. Anyway because 21 credits wasn't apparently cutting it, I added a part-time job (it gives me free meals and free food is a most marvelous thing is it not?).

Well actually I think I added 3 part time jobs. I work at the school cafe, on the real paper news paper and on the electronic school newspaper.

Then I am babysitting the most adorable little girl 2-3 nights a week, I claim this as service because thus far the parents haven't paid me.

So between work and babysitting I have one free night a week. Or at least I did. Because I decided that Wednesdays would simply be too quiet without something to do I have run for the school's Senate. Now it may sound arrogant that I have already claimed the position before the votes are in but because only two students are "running" and as we need two senators from our district I'm in anyway. I didn't even have to do the little debate thingys. I just told the guy in charge that I want to be involved and he said sure and now I am on the ballot. Yay me!

And with all that I am still finding time to let you know what's going on over here on the East Coast.  You know what that means though right? It means that I have homework which I don't want to work on. Though I really should so I will talk to all of you later.

Hey There, I'm Back!

So I am realizing that this little blog has been seriously neglected. Readers should see that as a good thing because it means poor Beka has a life!

This week I...
Started up classes, more on that to follow
GOT A JOB!!!! yay! I can eat now!
Tried out for Fading Point (results will follow as soon as I have them)
Babysat the cutest girl alive


Wow, that's a short list, especially for a weeks worth of stuff. Maybe I am just getting lazy...we shall continue this debate another time because I must go off to my first shift so I will cut this short. More details to follow I promise!

Summer Break...

It seems to mean more things than one.

It's a break from the friends who are now scattered all over the country.
It's a break from researching and making sure that you are citing things correctly.
It's a break from shopping for food and worrying about how to get to the store without a car.
It's a break from quiet alone time.
It's a break from bugs, humidity and heat.
It's a break from all of the habits you got into during the school year.

That's why I haven't been writing I suppose. That and I just barely unpacked my laptop and got a new battery for it. Never fear I shall be better now...at least if I have anything of use to report.

Summer time

This year will be officially over tomorrow night when my family comes to pick me up. I am of course excited to see them and to have a break from tests and papers and such. (Still a final and a paper to go though)

But I am going to miss this place. Even though I will only be gone for 8 weeks or so...and there won't be bugs, or humidity and I don't have to buy my food anymore, and I'll have a car, and can sleep in, and can read what I want, and will have access to a real library and gym and pool...

Why do I want to stay here again? Utah here I come!!!

A Year Has Passed

So, it has been a year since I have graduated. I am trying to figure out what I have learned...
1. Don't write a journal that you have supposed to have kept all semester in one night, you can do it, but it's just miserable and it takes days to catch back up on the sleep.

2. Do the dishes right after you've eaten. It makes life easier all around.

3. Same goes for clothes, just put them away right after laundry.

4. I know who exactly Hector and Achilles and Aeneas are and why the it took so long for Odysseus to get home.

5. Different types of narrative voice and all the complexity behind that nonsense.

6. Catch the ball, or hit the ball before it hits your knee. The bruise is extremely cool and almost worth the pain but you can't really show it off.

7. French...no matter how hard you try you will never be good enough for their standards.

8. I can tell you which British authors wrote what when and why they wrote what they did. I can also tell you how most of the big ones died.

9. Lizzie, Jim, Chuck, Chuck, Jim with a little bit of Ollie in the mix. AP Euro students should be glad to know that. It's always been impossible to remember which James goes where and was Charles the one killed?

10. I can now research with the best of them and generally get academic articles on almost every subject known to man.

These are the top ten things I have been able to think of today. At least some of them have life long applications. Other I just remember because I worked hard to learn them. I wonder what next year's top ten will be don't you?