The No-Mess Grilled Cheese

So, as a fan of Tillamook Cheese, I wanted to share my quick and easy recipe with the Loaf-Lovers out there.

The other night, I was having some left-over soup for dinner and thought that a grilled cheese sandwich would be just perfect to go with it, but I didn't want to take the time or effort to get out the frying pan, fight with the spatula, and then clean up the pan afterward - what can I say? I am a hungry college student. Anyway, I thought fast about my options and decided on something super easy. (The great thing about this is that you have virtually no mess, you can just put your plate in the dishwasher when you are done.)

This requires the following:

• Two slices of your favorite grilled cheese bread (I used classic white bread)
• 2-3 slices of one or more of your favorite Tillamook Cheese ( I used Medium Cheddar and Colby Jack)
• a toaster
• a microwave
• your favorite butter (I used whipped butter) - this is optional

It's pretty simple, you just toast your bread to your preferred darkness, place the toasted slices side by side on a ceramic or micro-wave-safe plate, spread a thin layer of butter on each slice and then add a slice or two of cheese on each slice and put it in the microwave for about 20-40 seconds (time depends upon your microwave's power, so stay and watch it to ensure optimal cheese-meltage). When it's done, take the plate out and put the slices together, cheese-to-cheese! (careful, it's HOT!) and let it stand for a few moments until cool enough to handle - this also allows the top and bottom slices to, shall we say, "fuse" together in cheesy goodness. The last and best step is this, consume and enjoy!


Picture Credit to TillamookCheese.com

Hot Topics

I seem to be one of those bloggers who says she'll blog in a consistent manner and then... never really does. Lame, yes, I know. I also seem to be one of those bloggers who feels obligated to blog only when there is something really worth writing about. Something that rouses various emotions inside me and makes me want to share what I know and feel with the world (or those of you who choose to read this).

So, what is on my mind tonight? There's plagiarism, remixes, various forms of oppression, the LGBT community and the various forms of epilepsy and associated medications. I will probably only cover one or two topics tonight, as I don't have the time, nor the brain capacity to write about all of them in a related fashion and still make it somewhat enjoyable to read.

I feel like plagiarism is a hot academic topic for me. On October 19, 2010, my band director, Dr. James Colonna, posted his thoughts about plagiarism vs. homage in the world of composing, directing and performances. I really loved reading what he had to say in his post. So in addition to his thoughts about plagiarism, the topic was brought up in my Library Research class, since it is such a real problem with how available information is through the internet and how students use others work in their academic papers and do not cite sources correctly, or they do not cite sources at all.

So, in my Library Research class, our teacher posted a couple of videos about plagiarism and copyright infringement so that we could learn a bit more about it. We were to post a comment on our discussion board about it, I explain and link the videos here.



This one is basically about how to correctly cite the sources, it's funny and cheesy to watch too.

My reply to this video is as follows...

I found the clips humorous and informative. I am a person who can appreciate some cheese in an educational video.

The videos were a good reminder of what good teachers would stress in high school. I think the majority of us are aware of what plagiarism is and what it means to plagiarize someone's work. I also think that we overlook the consequences of plagiarism; sometimes allowing ourselves to justify the use of someone's well thought out ideas and words to just get the job done fast.

I thought it was great to explain in more detail, the different ways that we tend to plagiarize things, and how we can prevent ourselves from doing so.

What I wish was included in the clips was more of an explanation about how detrimental plagiarism can be to your academic life.

This next video, however, is rather long. It is a documentary about copyright infringement. The first little bit is a little weird, but you just have to give it time. I actually found it really interesting and informative. Really opened my mind to how we create things and how we are influenced by others work.


My reply to this video was as follows...

In reference to the first question, "Do you think the penalties for copyright infringement make sense? Do you think these penalties were originally meant for your average citizen, sharing a few songs?" I do not think the copyright infringement makes sense. I also do not think the penalties were originally meant for the average citizen. Let me explain what I mean.

I found it almost infuriating that the Disney Corporation seems to have created a monopoly for what some may say is freedom of speech. The corporation created a hypocrisy of what Walt Disney did to bring the company, his empire, to it's greatest renowned height (at least in American culture).

While I do understand the importance of an "original idea," writing, music, video, etc. What some may not be able to grasp is the fact that EVERYTHING which is created has some sort of influence and reference to a previous creation. To look at music alone, and the evolution of sound, there are and will always be influence and references in the creation of music because it will always tie in references from the past and modernize it, tying generations together by doing so.

So, when copyright became so limiting that creators began to feel less creative it makes it more difficult to legally share thoughts and ideas that virtually express who we are, how we live, and what our culture is.

On the other hand, I can also see the importance of copyright, because a creator deserves credit for their work. I think such copyright laws were meant for people who may want to use very large "chunks" of work and call it their own without any due credit to the creator.

I will say that it is not ethical for people to pirate music and videos off the internet. I will say that it is not ethical to blatantly use any form of media in a creation and call it all yours. Again, on the other hand, if we buy the media (crediting the creator) and use the media and include proper referencing (which is like free advertising for that creator), I don't see why we can not use media that has been obtained legally. We can quote Shakespeare in our writing and use a play as a reference in a collegiate paper, but we cannot use a part of music or video in another from of expression of self via auditory or visual media? That sort of logic, I do not understand.

So, now that I've shared that with you, I would like to know what you think. Thanks guys!

~Holly Elizabeth

Life, As It Stands - part II

The Blame Game:
Who are you pointing your finger at for your problems?
Who am I pointing my finger at for my problems?

So, approximately 10 months ago, I wrote a post that started with a statement on the fact that I hadn't blogged in over six months. I posted at least once a month for five months after that, and then... I didn't. Ok, so I didn't break the record and not post for more than six months, but we are almost there. I am on the five month mark. Why return before half a year has passed? I owe it to Sabin's Corner.

Daniel Sabin is an awesome, amazing, musical, poetic, and spontaneous man. I am blessed to have him as a friend. Daniel seemingly starting blogging, sort of on a whim, after making scrumptious brownies. It was refreshing to read his post(s). It inspired me to get back to my own blogging. I could blame school, I could blame, boredom, I could blame Facebook, as I did before. Good heavens, I could even go so far as to blame the side effects of my epilepsy, or my medication for it, or the fact that my family celebrated my father's 61st birthday without him being there in his physical form. But, why? Why the heck should I lay out all of my excuses for anything? Why should I search for a reason to be lame? I am Holly Elizabeth and I am amazing. I have power over my own choices and I know I am beautiful. Period. Oh yeah, I know it's dumb to blame my mood swings on that and I shan't anymore... OK, then!

Anyway, as for the rest of this post... I could go through my mixed-up-memory and try to sort it out into a list of things I hope to cover sometime soon. But for now- My post is briefer than usual. (Does that mean my other posts are boxers?)

My thought for today, don't play the blame game. Accept responsibility for your own choices and the consequences they have. Accept the fact that no matter what life has to throw at you and your face, you are still in control of one thing - YOU!

A Philosophical Question: How Can God Allow Evil to Exist?

So, for a class paper in my Philosophy 1000 class, we had the choice to write about one of four things. I chose to write about solving the problem of evil through theodicy. My essay is as follows:

__________________________

Does God Consider Our Souls with the Existence of Evil?

Does He Even Exist?

Does the existence of Evil (suffering) in the world give us good reason to think that God does not exist? Any answer you give to this question must consider both Soul Making and Free Will theodicies.

Many make take the position that God does not exist because of one thing, the existence of Evil (suffering). Many wonder how an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good being could allow the humans to experience such pain and sorrow due to Evil being present in their lives, when He has the capability to prevent Evil from being present, or at least decrease the amount of Evil one must experience through their life. This is a justifiably understandable viewpoint and if it weren’t for the certain Christian religious beliefs, this viewpoint would not even be questioned and it would be deemed true – God cannot exist because of the existence of Evil. Religious beliefs aside however, it is a point to be proven through the theodicies of Soul Making and Free Will, that God does exist. The first theodicy to be addressed in regards to proving God’s existence is Soul Making.

What is the theodicy of Soul Making? The idea of Soul Making as a theodicy is the thought that the reason why humans must endure the pains and sorrows of Evil is because such a trial builds us up, makes us stronger, better people characteristically, spiritually, mentally and sometimes physically as well. So it could be said that without the existence of Evil, our persona, our soul, our entire being, wouldn’t be as strong as it could be without the trials and hardships that Evil presents us with. The idea of Soul Making proving that God exists is similar (on a smaller scale) to that of good parenting.

Sober notes that any good parent allows their child to experience some hard times because it allows them to build their character and to learn a lesson which may not be fully understood if the parent shielded their child from every adverse thing they may encounter. This is analogical to prove that God exists. God allows Evil to exist, he allows us to endure painful trials so that we can develop more fully than if everything we ever needed was essentially “handed to us on a platter.” God, like a good parent, wants to see his creations, his children, grow and develop in more than just physically but a morally, and characteristically as well. Soul Making is just a part of proving why God exists and allows Evil to exist. The second and greater part of this proof is the theodicy of Free Will.

The theodicy of Free Will is basically the idea that Evil exists because God allows his children to make the choice to do good or to do evil. Relating back to Christian religious beliefs, most believe that humans are created in God’s image, therefore, we, like God have the ability to choose what we do in life. It so happens however, that everything that God did was good. The problem with Evil occurs when more humans choose to do Evil than good and it is supposedly from a majority of people choosing to do Evil. What needs to be changed is the realization that choosing to do good does not inhibit what one is able to do, it allows one to be happy and it allows more good to exist in the world than Evil. Another thing about God allowing his children to make the choice between good and evil allows us to understand what “good” and “evil” really is, because really, we wouldn’t know what good is without knowing evil; we wouldn’t know what evil is without knowing good.

In review, it is arguable in spite of the existence of Evil that God does exist because of the thodicies of Soul Making and Free Will. Soul Building as the idea of building one’s character through the trials and tribulations of the evils we encounter, and Free Will as the idea of being able to choose good from evil and more people seem to choose evil over good. These are the theodicies as to why Evil exists and as to why God exists still as an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good being.

__________________________

So, that's all I have for you, it's my view without really incorporating my religious beliefs. It was difficult to write without the bias of my belief. But, I think that the firmness of my belief and because of my testimony, this was easier to write with a persuasive, authoritative sense.

Viva Las Vegas Baby, Part II - ish...

Some of the other things that Chrissi and I did were, going to the Coca Cola and M&M stores, doing some serious exploration of the Strip, and shopping for good little trickets and such. We made sure to stop at the Bellagio's beautiful fountain where Danny and the boys (Ocean's 11) stood and marveled at how beautiful the spring of sychronized spouting water was.

Places like the Coca Cola and M&M stores, were amazing, with so much stuff, T-shirts, socks, PJ pants, watches, jewelry, pins, shoes, flip-flops, you name it! I bought a necklace from the Coca Cola store that was made out of the old glass bottles. Chrissy and I saw a 3D show at the M&M store (which has like umpteen levels of M&M stuff, I might add) and it was a'mmmmazing!

Coca Cola Store -

Awesome!

Chrissy, her Coca Cola goods and the classic Coca Cola Bottle!!!

Red and I

Me and the M&M Nascar

Another show that we saw while in Vegs was "Race to Witch Mountain," which was perfect for the trip since the storyline was set in Las Vegas (among other parts of Nevada). We decided to see that since we didn't want to blow all of our money on a Vegas show, however, it just amazes me how just going a few miles south and all of a sudden movie and popcorn prices are through the roof! "Race to Witch Mountain," was a lot better than Chrissi and I ever thought it would be and I would highly reccomend it.

Something else I would reccomend is getting the "Duce" Pass, for only a small reasonable fee, you can ride the Duce up and down the strip, get on at Caesars Palace and get off at the MGM Grand, or not, the choice is yours!

Supposedly a Hard Rock Cafe is being built on the Strip of Vegas, which would be really cool! The one that me and my family used to go to went out of business... from lack of business I suppose. I plan on eating there the next time I am in Vegas! Rock on!

I think that about sums it up as far as the final part of Las Vegas goes, if you would like to see more, or at least on a different perspective, check out my sister's blog about Vegas.

Letter to Santa

November 1, is the first day that Christmas songs play on play on FM 100, with all of that Christmas swirling around I've begun to think about things I'd like Santa to bring me this year as well as things for my birthday, since it is in the same month. I am posting this letter here, because at this point I am sure that Santa is online, and I'd bet that it makes the whole list-thing go a lot faster.

Dear Santa,

This is Holly, remember me? I've been trying my very best to be a good girl this year and I just want to let you know that anyone who tells you any different is lying! Just be aware Santa, that I am using this same list for my birthday so I suppose you might have to watch to see which presents I get. There are a few that may be hard to come by, I suppose that as the world's children get older, the things that they ask for get harder for the little elves to make. Well, with that being said, Santa, here is the list.

Movies I'd like:

• “Kung Fu Panda”
• “Made of Honor”
• “No Reservations”

Movies I'd like to See:

• see “The Prince of Egypt”
• “Pirates of the Great Salt Lake” (?)
• see “Eagle Eye” – Dollar Theatre or Redbox is good
• see “Twilight” in Theatres ☺

Music I'd Like:

• “Made of Honor” Soundtrack or select songs
• “Pirates of the Caribbean” 3 soundtrack
• “Don’t Forget” Demi Lovato
• “The Open Door” Evanescence
• “Spirit” Leona Lewis
• “Fearless” Taylor Swift
• Select David Cook tracks (if available?)
• Select Brooke White tracks (if available?)
• Select Sara Barilles tracks
• Select Maroon 5 tracks
• Select Linkin Park tracks

Gift Cards I Like:

• iTunes Gift Card
• Megaplex gift card/package
• Old Navy Gift Card
• Target Gift Card
• ShopKo Gift Card
• Fabric Center Gift Certificate

Music Stuff:

• Clarinet Cleaning from Riverton Music
• New Synthetic Ligere Reed size 2.0-2.5
• New Vandoren Cane Reed size 2.5-3.0
• D-String for Guitar

Makeover… one or more of the following:

• Manicure
• Pedicure
• Massage
• Make-up that works for me and my face!
• Herbal Essences Curly(or body…whatever special type…) Shampoo & Conditioner
• Anything from Bath and Body Works

Various-ness:

• The Slice (scrap-booking thing)
• Orville Buttered Microwave Popcorn
• A Brick of Tillamook Cheddar Cheese
• A Bar of Hershey’s Chocolate
• Anything from Claires or Icing
• Twilight T-Shirt from twilightguy.com
• New Heavy Duty Walking Sketchers
• Jewelry Cleaning for my rings
• ASL CTR Ring
• A Date
• A Boyfriend
• Lunch with a friend
• Money

Well, I think that about covers it, Santa. Thanks so much for taking the time to read it!


**NOTE: This letter is just for fun, but the wishes are true.


Anyway, this was just to get back into the Christmas Spirit and revert back to the thought process of a child. Make comments, ask questions, and please make your own list and letter for Santa!

You're The Voice

We have the chance
to turn the pages over
We can write what we want to write
We gotta make ends meet
before we get much older

We're all someone's daughter
We're all someone's son
How long can we look at each other
Down the barrel of a gun?

You're the voice
try to understand it
Make a noise and make it clear
Oh whoa oh whoa oh-oh
Oh whoa oh whoa oh-oh

We're not gonna sit in silence
We're gonna live with fear
Oh whoa oh whoa oh-oh
Oh whoa oh whoa oh-oh

This time, we know we all can stand together
with the power to be powerful
Believing, we can make it better

We're all someone's daughter
We're all someone's son
How long can we look at each other
Down the barrel of a gun?

You're the voice
try to understand it
Make a noise and make it clear
Oh whoa oh whoa oh-oh
Oh whoa oh whoa oh-oh

(Repeat 2x)
We're not gonna sit in silence
We're gonna live with fear
Oh whoa oh whoa oh-oh
Oh whoa oh whoa oh-oh

The above was a song as performed by an Australian, John Farnham from his 16th album of 1986, Whispering Jack, I really like the song and the message it gives.  I can't be sure what his and his writers intentions were upon interpretations of the song but it is a song that seems to promote independence and the opportunity to stand up for yourself as well as trying to work things out with others and not letting the good times pass us by.  I italicized lines and words that stood out to me more than others.  I hope you can find meaning within it for yourself as much as I did. 

I will admit that finding an Australian song from the late eighties is a tad strange, but it was the song that David Archuleta sung last Tuesday for American Idol.  I didn't quite understand all of the words nor the origin of the song so I did a bit of web-browsing and I found out the lyrics and the videos.  Again, with the video that is on YouTube and being able to read the lyrics along with it gives the song definite meaning. 

Links/Sources:
John Farnham: Wikipedia
You're The Voice: Wikipedia
John Farnham - You're The Voice: YouTube
David Archuletta - You're The Voice: YouTube
You're The Voice Lyrics: TSRocks.com

Mixed Emotions

Which of my emotions dominate? It seems like negative feelings will always dominate over anything else and that negative feelings will continue to cause unsettling and painful sensations in my body. But I cannot focus on these feelings anymore, I must cherish the good times that I have. Such feelings are of today.

When I woke up this morning, and I took the advice of an old friend - I was determined to feel good and confident, no matter what any of the other feelings I have felt this week and honestly, it did me a lot of good to do so.

I picked out my favorite pair of jeans, black v-neck tee and burgundy "mod" tank, I wore my favorite purple topaz rings and earrings and again, took the advice of an old friend and tried my hand at natural eye-shadowing colors with brown mascara, eye-liner and shadow. I put my ever-growing hair up with a one of the classy up-dos in the front that you typically see on girls and used a claw to make the back of my hair spout up with style.

I was finally ready to go to school and my sister dropped me off in AF to wait for the bus and even though it was just after seven, cold, and I couldn't see the sun yet, I was still in a good mood and practically skipped around the bus shelter to keep warm and wait for the bus.

I arrived at school without mishap or problem and as I rounded a corner while headed towards the science building I literally ran into the man who left me in the dust last Tuesday, we barely glanced at each other, and murmured our greetings and continued our separate ways. I let him and any surfaced feelings bounce off of me and I headed to physics.

Physics was good and I was happy, we watched a few videos and worked in our workbooks. ASL was good too, we watched the video from our workbook and I understood most of it. I then headed to lunch with my friend Emma and we chatted for a bit about random topics. After lunch I headed to English and we talked about King Lear and how either he was crazy at the beginning or how he went crazy at the end. After that, I headed to the ASL lab. It was at that point that my emotions had a serious downfall.

I reached into my backpack to get my wallet out, then I opened my wallet to get out my student ID and it was like one of those scenes where everything is in slow motion and strobed and you hear the theme song from Jaws. My ID was missing! I wouldn't have been so worried except for my bus pass is useless without my school ID and I can't get into the ASL Lab without it.

I felt the worry begin to burgeon inside me and my memory began flashing to figure out where the little piece of plastic, that held the key to my transportation home could be. My mind raced and finally I realized where it might be. I remembered playing pool the other day and giving my ID in order to borrow the pool ques and balls. I called my best friend, Emma, because she had been with me at the time and I couldn't get a hold of her so I did the next thing I could, and that was to head to the Institute building where I could hopefully find her.

Upon finding her she saw my pained expression and asked me what was wrong. I told her what had happened and a look of understanding brightened upon her face. She had it from the other day because I had forgotten it that day. My spirits were immediately lifted and continued to do so when one of the guys who was in the gym with us came over and asked what the sign was for "today." He asked for the sign because Emma and I typically sign to one another since we are in the same ASL class and we need the practice - but we told him what it was and he signed "you look beautiful today" to me!!! I tell you, it's one thing for someone to say it, but to have someone sign it, makes all the difference in the world to me. I didn't over-analyze it at all because I know Brady well enough to know that he didn't like me that way, but I appreciated his compliment just the same.

I was hoping to see Mark at the Institute building too and so I headed to the game room. To say the least we played pool for an hour and a half and continued to talk for about another hour and a half more after that. Let's just say I am learning how to play pool really fast and I am learning a lot about technology very fast as well. 

Later on this evening I went to see "Robin Hood" at my sister's elementary school where she teaches, that play, in and of itself deserves a post for itself, but to say the least it was witty and cute and well worth my time.

Upon arrival at home, I felt at a loss for what to do when I saw that no one was online, but I didn't let myself get too down about it.

So today has been good and bad - but today, I focus on the good.

Always
~Holls

Too Much Time on Your Hands?

OK, so what is the deal here? Either these people do not have a life, or they are depriving themselves of a job or they are getting paid to make these videos. But who am I to complain? I like watching them and, um, do I want to really DO anything right now? No, why else do you think I am here? Anyway, besides me talking about how these people have too much time on their hands let me make my next point.

Enlighten me on something - when did the first original Numa Numa song come out? How many versions have been made of it? How many YouTube videos have been made to the tune of that song? These are my questions for you and if you have any inkling as to the answer that I am searching for please share it. (I should probably just hit up Wikipedia and see, but I am currently writing this so... yeah)

Well, the latest on Dan Balan is that he is the new Crazy Loop and I am loving that new song just as much as I love Numa Numa - and what do these songs mean? Well, even Putty admits to them being far past her normal randomness and she is random! Does it really matter what they mean, so long as we get a kick out of them? I dunno.

Well I have a few videos to share with you but I would embed them here, I will post the links though.

These are a few examples of people who have too much time on their hands to make videos to the tune of Numa Numa.


Numa Numa Contest
$5,000 Winner
$10,000 Winner
$25, 000 Winner

These were the ones that I could immediately find on YouTube - if you want you can go to NewNuma.com to see more of these funny vids.

Holly's Needs

So I was reading my sister's blog and she did this neat thing with 'needs' and you should try it too. What you do is put your name into the Google search bar and then add the word 'needs' to it. Then you get you list of needs via the Google search engine. Woot!

Holly needs...

• ...help in her Olympic efforts (it's true)
• ...to go back to neighbors (because they are next door? Why?)
• ... a home (well I do have one, but not of my own, so I guess it works)
• ...to start courting (does flirting count?)
• ...to go to obedience and learn how to walk nicely on a leash because she does a lot of "drifting" from side to side investigating things... (ok then, I didn't know that drifting was a problem)
• ...a new home (again, I do have one, but who wouldn't mind something new?)
• ...help, not to be left to rot away in that awful place (well who would want to rot - I can use the help!)
• ...something (so true, I always need something)
• ...a work permit (well I am getting a job soon - so yeah!)
• ...identification (does a drivers license count?)
• ...a job (wow, this thing it psychic!)
• ...a pollinator (really? really? are we having this conversation?)
• ...a hero (well duh! I am so holding out for a hero!)
• ...both male and female plants for maximum berry production (again, are we really having this conversation? really?)
• ...to vent (well who doesn't?)

Well, those are only a few of my needs, apparently, according to Google, I have approximately 663,000 needs... Wow!

What do you think of my needs, and what are your needs?

Marriage Proposal

Yes, it is true - I was proposed to!

OK, OK, I suppose it isn't as cool as it could be. When I first told a lot of my friends what had happened they were surprised because I haven't been dating anyone seriously (or at all for that matter).

It wasn't the way I thought it would happen, I was hoping for something a bit more romantic...

I was I was getting off of the TRAX train at my usual stop and as I started heading for the parking lot I literally ran into a guy. I mumbled, "sorry" to him and was ready to just head off, I heard him say something to me and I didn't quite understand him, so I turned around and asked him what he had said and he said, "you have nothing to be sorry about." I was thinking, "ok..." and then before I could say anything to him he looked me over and said, "wow, you're pretty." So, I replied a polite "thank you" and he proceeded to ask me my name and said that my name was pretty too. He talked about a few things and then he asked me my age and at this point I was thinking, "erm, I think I had just better start running here," I admitted that I was 19 and he seemed stunned that I was that young. He said, "Dang, I am twice your age!" He just kept talking to me and I found him intriguing. By the time the next train came he had gone down on one knee and asked to marry me. I laughed and I said, "but I don't even know you!" and I was thinking, "and you are drunk and twice my age!" So yeah, I can now say that I have been proposed to. LOL I don't think I will ever see that guy again and I don't think that he will remember me since he was drunk.

What do you think of my experience?
How would you propose (or want to be proposed to)?

Bob's House

So, today in my ASL 2010 class, Flavia (my professor) showed us the sneak peak to the Superbowl commercial that will be aired this Sunday. To my knowledge, this is one of the first times that there has been a commercial that has been done totally in sign language. I am so excited to see it!

Unfortunately, some of the people who responded to the commercial are ignorant of what wonderful culture Deaf people have and how beautiful their language is. I suppose they have not had the opportunity to learn more about Deaf culture, that can be the nice way of saying it.

Flavia encouraged us to read the comments that were made about the commercial so that we could see how Deaf people are opposed and discriminated against even today - 19 years after the reformation. I will post the video here, but I urge you to make your comment on YouTube as well. This is history in the making and we cannot let it fall to those ignorant enough to make such biased comments.



I absolutely loved this commercial and found it hilarious. The commercial is based off of a Deaf Culture joke about "Bob's House."

If you want to see the behind the scenes of making this commercial as well as some explanation about the history of the joke, check out this link.

Please make your comments here, YouTube, or wherever. Pass this video along to your friends.

If you have any questions regarding this video or Deaf Culture, don't hesitate to ask.

~A 'terp-in-training~
~~Holls~~

Music & Lyrics

Have you ever wondered why it is that we choose the music we do? Have you ever wondered how it is that we can find songs that relate to whatever is going on in our lives? I find, in my own experience that I will listen to music that goes along with my mood, and whatever is on my mind. I find the way that artists combine their words with notes to be so amazing... the way that they sing and articulate certain syllables, the way that for one part there is a sudden crescendo and for another there is a slow decrescendo until the sound is so soft it is barely a whisper.

What song is on your mind right now?
If there were a song that you wanted me to hear what would it be?
Are their lyrics that you can relate to?
Does your choice of music change with your mood?
What are your thoughts on music and their lyrics?

I am just really curious about this today, because I either choose my music based on my mood or my music influences my mood. If you want to answer the questions that would be great, if not just say whatever.

I hope you all are enjoying good music and lyrics.
Lots of Love to Ya!

~Holly

Girl's Night Out!!!

Well, it is the end of my first official week of my second semester as a freshman at UVSC!!!
My schedule is pretty packed this semester, I am taking 15 credit hours, which is 3 more than the full-time requirement. Here is my schedule...

Mon Tue Wed Thurs Fri
9:00 Physics BoM II Physiscs BoM II Physics
10:00 ASL III ASL III ASL III ASL III ASL III
11:00 Health break Health ASL #s break
12:00 English II Band English II Band English

Until today, I had two English classes because Dr. Fullmer (my English professor for my previous semester) wanted me to continue English 2010 in his class and it was full when I went to go register, so I had to go to the English class I was actually registered for, as well as Dr. Fullmer's class. It was quite the fight to get into Dr. Fullmer's class, I would check nightly and sometimes randomly during the day to see if an opening occured, just as Dr. Fullmer and Gibson suggeested that I do, so I did that for probably about nine days until... well, let me back up, and not get ahead of myself.

Thursday night I checked during every chance I got and the message came up that "No class changes can be made for this semester." I felt like I was gonna have to succumb to the class I didn't want to be in and that I would have to just grin and bear it. So, I presented my problem to Dr. Fullmer and he suggested that I go and try using an "Add Card" which is like a place-holder to be in line to be the next student in the class, he didn't seem to think that it would be any easier though, because it would require departmental adjustments and approvements, which would be hard to come by, seeing as all of Dr. Fullmer's classes are full.

It was a miracle!

The lady at the English Department, didn't bat an eye at my request and approved it without problem, then the people at "One Stop" happily took my five bucks and changed my schedule for me! Hallelujah!
I can't contain my joy at not having to be in Dr. Gibson's class, I mean, he seamed nice enough and everything, but ah! Thank Heavens! I thought I was gonna die!

OK, OK, I am making a bit of a hyperbole out of this, but guys... I was so excited!

So on to G.N.O.!!!

Well I had been hoping that I could have a Girl's Night Out sometime soon, and so I chatted with Jaynee for a bit and we decided that we could have our own chick-flick fun!!!

Ok, I admit, it wasn't exactly a chick-flick, but there was nail-painting, movie watching, the consuming of yummy food and the listening of good music. Jaynee taught me how to french-tip my nails and she has the coolest nail accessories (is that what you call them?). Anyway, I tipped my nails with a chrome-like purple and put white butterflies on the ring-finger nails. I couldn't stop there, don't you know!? I had to paint my toe-nails too and I painted them a darker purple and put stars and butterflies on the big toes. It was nice to kick back and relax and just be girly.

After the nail-painting, Jill (Jaynee's older sister) came over and then we headed to IHOP to have dinner. Jill and Jaynee had strawberry pancakes and I had eggs benedict - which reminded me of the yummy breakfasts at Hobart college in Rochester, New York.

Our waitress was sort of a spaz, she took our orders, brought us our food and a jug of water and we didn't see her again for a long while - we didn't care so much until we had finished everything we ordered and we had downed the whole jug of water and were ready for our checks, it was only when Jill put her purse on her arm that she came over and gave us our checks... Ah well, I didn't much care, it was so much fun just to spend time doing chick stuff.

Once we got home again, Jaynee and I watched Pirates of the Carribean 3 and it just gets better everytime - I think part of that is that I understand it better everytime. We talked about Orlando, Kiera and some other actors who I can't remember their names, (sorry blesh!) but it is very insightful to watch a movie with Jaynee, she knows a lot about what she watches and she clears things up that are hard to understand. Yayness for Jaynee! I still gasped and oohed and ahhed in all ther right places in the movie and I still could barely bear to see Orlando get stabbed and then see Kiera freak out about it. It always gets me right here *puts hand over heart.*

Well, I suppose there was some chick-flick-ish-ness involved, but overall, it was a good time had by all!

PTYL

~Holls

A Bit About Me

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Holly!

1. Ancient Chinese artists would never paint pictures of Holly.
2. Reindeer like to eat Holly.
3. Holly was originally green, and actually contained cocaine.
4. Holly is only six percent water.
5. The National Heart Foundation recommends eating Holly at least three times a week!
6. Most bottles and jars contain at least twenty-five percent recycled Holly.
7. Only fifty-five percent of men wash their hands after using Holly!
8. Half a cup of Holly contains only seventeen calories.
9. The International Space Station weighs about 500 tons and is the same size as Holly!
10. It takes 17 muscles to smile, and 43 to frown at Holly.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

My friend Jaynee had this on her MySpace page and I put in my name and found out the trivia about myself! You can type almost anything in and find out more about it! Put in your name, or your favorite color - whatever floats your cookie!

Staplers, Cell Phones, Movies and Hugs

Thanksgiving was good, my family went on the 22nd to see the movie, Enchanted, at the local Megaplex Theatre. After that we came home and watched Hairspray, since my dad hadn't seen it yet and it was released on the 21st. And after that we watched Ocean's 13, which I absolutely love!!! "The nose played."

On the 23rd we went to my Aunt Charolette's house for dinner, where of course the BYU - Utah rivalry was brought up... as usual... *sighs* I personally don't care, but I think it funny how they think I do. *giggles* After a long time at my aunt's house we came home and started off preparing for the Christmas Holiday by watching our traditional Christmas favorite - Christmas Vacation starring Chevy Chase. After the hilarious lines that my whole family knows from that movie we watched Shrek the Third.

Finally on the 24th we had our own Thanksgiving Dinner which was prepared by me for the most part, I am proud to say.

On the 25th, me and my mom and sister went shopping for Christmas gifts. We ended up stopping at the T-Mobile Store and the whole family got brand new cell phones practically for free too! They are the Motorola Razor phones and they cost $50 during the Thanksgiving Holiday and then we sent a $50 rebate - so they were free!

The 26th was full of homework - not much to report there...

On the 27th my accident-prone-ness got the better of me when I was trying to re-load a mini-stapler. Yup, it is true, I stapled my right index finger. It is still a little sore but it is healing up nicely. What can I say? It's me! I'm Holly! Miss Accident-Prone-Holly

Yesterday I played at the Children's night that is traditional for UVSC. Even though the pep band was small, I still had a good time playing my clarinet. I can't get over my love for "Land of a 1000 Dances" it brings back such vivid memories from high school when the flutes and clarinets would all shimmy during the 6 measure rests.
I can't go on until I mention that while on the phone with Andy and JC, I was attacked with a hug by Brad. Wow, I could say so much more, but I will leave it at that...

Today was a pretty good day, nothing too exciting... I came down to school early because it snowed during the night and my sister wanted to leave early for work, therefore I was early too! I headed to the dinning room to have a bite to eat for breakfast, yummy bacon and eggs! After that I did a bit of studying and then headed to class, where I saw Brad again - sorry to report - no hugs (lol) I did get a rock and a high five though.

Well, I just thought I would update today so comment on whatever. PTYL!
~Holls

Institute Boys

*Disclaimer: This post is very "chick-flickish"*

It is interesting, the way that boys at the LDS Institute on campus, particularly the Return Missionaries are so very different from any other boys around.

The picture there is of a young man I met at the Hill Cumorah Pageant, he was in my cast team. He is one of the many examples of sweet guys that I know. This picture was taken in the Sacred Grove, which is very near to the Hill Cumorah.

There are two particular boys in my Book of Mormon class that really now how to make a girl feel good. They notice when something is wrong without it being obvious, they do little things that just make you feel warm and fuzzy all over. They show how well-read they are without being boastful. They are willing to contribute at any time during the class and are chivalrous in how they treat a lady.

One of these RM's is named Tom. He just had his 24th birthday on Monday and I really like the way he treats me. Yesterday, I was having a tough day and I was sitting there as the devontional was going on and he looks at me, (I can see this through my periferal vision) and he leans over and asks "Are you OK?" Well, there is no lying to him, he knows how to read feelings so I shook my head, "no." He asked me to tell him about it and I whispered back to him that now wasn't the time to talk about it because we were in class - "later" I said. Then I asked him how he knew I wasn't feeling good today and he said, "it was in your eyes."

I thought that was so sweet, that he can look into my eyes and tell what I am feeling.

The next thing I knew I found a piece of paper with nicely lettered handwriting on it declaring that I should, "spill." I had to be careful about what I told him, because as much as I like him, I don't know him all that well - yet.

I explained, very briefly and somewhat vaguely what the problem was that I was having. His concern was genuine and his words were kind. As I read what he had to say in reply to me it was if he was giving me a hug.

The things that were talked about in class were also very helpful - he just expounded upon it in a personal sense.

Class ended and I took an extra few seconds to pack up, but he waited for me by the door. We walked down the stairs and to the main entrance hall and I expected that he would leave to go to his next class and I would stay and take a nap on one of the Institute's comfy couches. He insisted that he talk to me more, because his talking to a beautiful young woman right now was more important than getting to class.

I said, "no, you need to get to class, you can't be late." But he insisted that his teacher, who is a bishop, would understand that he was late because he was consoling a beautiful young woman. I am not jazzing this up by saying beautiful. He really said that! I didn't want to believe him, but I let him stay.

As I spoke to him, I couldn't bear to look into his deep blue eyes because they were so full of concern that it made me ache to see . I, instead, looked at my feet. We talked for a few minutes. But there came a point when I didn't really want to talk anymore, and he seemed to pick up on my hint so he said that he would see me on Wednesday and that he was heading to class.

I watched him leave, just because, and to my amazement he didn't hurry off to class. He saw that a young man was having car trouble and he stopped, without hesitation and helped him. I couldn't believe how full of service he was that day. How humble and kind he was.

My questions for you are these:
What do you think of what he did?
What qualities do you think are mandatory for your ideal husband/wife?
What do you think I should do about what he has done for me - if anything?

Feel free to add any other comments. Thanks for reading.

~Holly

In Between Classes

Well, it is the time in between classes here at UVU and I don't really have anything to do so I thought I would post this. I just came from ASL 2 and I am waiting for Band to start. Actually my ASL project group was supposed to meet at 11 but only one other person, besides me, decided to stay after... Oh well.. I am really tired today. It seems like there wasn't a weekend at all. All I did, sadly enough, was watch movies, surf the internet, and maybe eat and sometimes sleep. This is so crazy. I need to get a life away from the internet - I have homework to do people!

Well, among internet news, Hogwarts College is being really weird right now. Many people are having a hard time posting and sending personal messages and I as a staff member can't submit points. (Sorry Viper) According to Professor Putt, everything will be sorted out soon.

Oooh, I also wanted to tell you guys that I downloaded Yahoo! Messenger to my laptop, so when I bring it to school I can be online. Just for your 411, my username is hollywx07 - quite ironic that that is my username for this too ;)

So today, I need to go to the ASL lab, Campus Connection and the Library. We are required in ASL to be in the lab at least 1 hour a week; so because I have Institute today at 5:15 I think I will have enough time to go to the lab. I have to go to Campus Connection to put more money on my card. "Yeah!!!" and then I have to go to the Library to research for my Persuasive Essay in English 1010 - an introduction to writing.

Well, seeing as how I won't get out of band until 1:45 I think I should eat a snack or two. Here's to Cheese and Crackers!!!

Lots of Love

~Halls