My sister is driving me crazy...

So, my sweet, adorable little sister has begun driving. Somehow she is old enough for that.
My mom reacts kind of like this:


I take this approach:



My dad follows this time-honored procedure:
Jasmine- "Dad, can I drive?"
Dad -


I asked mom how on earth she remained so calm, and she said that she had plenty of practice. With me.
Whoops.

I used to think that one of the coolest things about Harry Potter would be the moving pictures.
Every time I use a gif, I feel a little bit like a wizard. Perhaps that is why I use them so often.


Happy Friday everyone! The weekend is practically here!

Back home

I'm home now. I have a cute little internship playing with software and wires.
And I'm bored.
Really bored.

So... blog post. :)
On the bright side, I've recently discovered vlogbrothers, two very nerdy brothers. They're pretty awesome.
This guy:


Professional writer of tear-inducing literature such as The Fault in Our Stars. (If you haven't read this, you ought to. It's pretty good.)

And this guy:
    
Biochemist who runs the website http://www.ecogeek.org/. They epitomize nerdiness.

What else is new in my life? Not much...
So, since there's no new news, let's make a list. This is especially for engineers that need help in this area. I love lists!

How to impress a girl: (Please note this has only been tested on nerdy girls. I have no idea what normal people like)
1.  Listen to her. Girls love to have their opinions heard.
2. Tell her she's beautiful. We live in a culture that tells us from the time we are young children that the               perfect woman looks like this:

 

    Seriously, her waist is smaller than her neck. That's not normal.

    As a direct result, I have never met a woman who honestly believed she was beautiful. Never. It's sad.           The culture needs to change, but changing an entire culture takes decades. For now, tell her she                     looks lovely. And mean it. Also, try not to get impatient when we take too long to get ready. We're trying     to impress you, and in this culture, that means looking beautiful. 

  

3. Make eye contact. I understand that this can be tricky, but I believe in you! It's a tricky balance, but             here's a good rule of thumb: Look at her for five seconds, then look away for a moment. 

4. Brush your teeth before the date. And chew minty gum. And apply deodorant. Bad hygiene is the number     one turnoff to most girls. 

5. If you think that the last one didn't apply to you, you are wrong. Like, Anderson wrong. 

    

    Brush your teeth. Take a shower. Apply deodorant. Repeat daily. I beg of you. 

6. Respect her. I know this sounds obvious, but given the way some guys act... it's not. She is not an object.     She is a human being. Don't do anything to her you wouldn't want a boy to do to your future daughter.           Don't hold her hand or cuddle (or engage in any physical conduct, for that matter) if you have no intention     of dating her. 

7. Open doors for her. This is a sign of respect. Ladies like gentlemen.
8. Talk about stuff. If there's anything important you want to know, bring it up. It's a moment of                         awkwardness followed by a much more comfortable relationships.
9. Once a month, we will get pretty cranky. This is due to a surge of hormones and the fact that our entire         body feels a bit like this:

   You think there is a level of sarcasm in this, but I can assure you there is not. Remember puberty? That          gross time when your body was obviously trying to figure out what on earth it was doing, and failing              miserably? It's like that, only more consistent. We don't mean what we say and start crying at dog food          commercials. Ignore any insults we may give. It's the hormones. Just give us chocolate and tell us we're          pretty. Then give us space. Or, if you're brave, bring along a Disney movie and tissues. Massive man            points.
10. Figure out what fandoms she belongs to, and ask her out accordingly. Good luck!

Have a great day!

Typical

I should get something straight. I am writing this for my posterity. When my great-great grandchildren want to learn about me, I want them to come here. I try to make it non-boring, and hopefully I'm doing decently at that.

When I went to visit my grandma, she let me read her book that she was working on about her father. It was very good, but I noticed something at the end. My great-aunt Korinn has had a difficult life. She married this sweet guy, who then died of cancer three weeks after their first child was born. She re-married another man, but he did not live up to expectations. They have several kids, about half of whom are autistic. Her life has been full of difficulty. But grandma's book doesn't mention the last half of her struggles.

I'm not condemning grandma. I understand her desire to have her sister seen in the best possible light. But I am an engineer. I think that truth should and must prevail. In that light, I feel I ought to reveal some weakness. I broke up with Robert (it was mutual). It simply wasn't going anywhere, plus he's leaving in two months.  Now my heart feels like this: 

 

People are extremely difficult and confusing and such. I echo this sentiment: 

 

I know (cognitively, though not emotionally) that I need to keep dating. It is very important to progress in this aspect of my life. But in a major where I'm outnumbered by guys 50:1, isn't it a little odd that I've been on a date with a grand total of 2 of them (1 of whom has asked every girl in the department)? No one else asks me. Even when accounting for the married ones, that says something profound about me. Or maybe them. Yeah... let's go with that. After all, they're probably intimidated by my long hair. Seems legit.

Too honest? Whoops. P.S. Great-grandkid, if you don't know who Benedict Cumberbatch is, stop reading this and go watch BBC's Sherlock made in 2010. SO good. Also, watch Star Trek: Into Darkness. Awesome stuff.

I'm living in a society infused with marriage. I cannot escape it. I want to get married, too. Which just makes it worse. 

There's no marriage on the horizon. Except for my friends, who seem to be getting married by the bushel. 

My friend asked me to come to the lab this morning so she could tell me about her weekend. Her boy met the family. Super exciting. Then she kept going on and on and on and on about how great he was, how she was so tired of waiting for him to propose (since they've been dating three entire months now) and how cute they were together. Also, how sweet he was. And how she hasn't texted him in nearly 12 whole hours. And how she can't come to anything I'm doing this weekend, since she'll be with him. And how amazing he. And isn't this picture of us so adorable? And isn't he wonderful? Look at this picture. Aren't we so cute together. 

And so on. For an hour and a half. 

I really wanted to be a little like: 

But I didn't, because I'm me. I try very, very hard not to be rude or unkind in any way. Plus she's my friend. And because I honestly do try to follow the golden rule. Even if it doesn't get me dates. 

Speaking of which, want to know my plans for the weekend? 

Just kidding. We have a Women's Conference on Saturday with our stake. Should be pretty fun and uplifting. 

This will pass. I know it will. There's a marvelous man out there, wishing for someone like me to come into his life. In the meantime, I just have to be patient and keep progressing. For now, that'll be enough.

Off to class, so that's all for now. 

Oh, Happy Day!

So... I was sick today. Not ok.
I decided, for the greater good, to spend one day getting better and rather than fight it off for a week. And fill myself with western medication and lots of fluids.

So I slept. Until about 1:49. At which point I got ready for devotional. Not typical of me. I'm more of an "early to bed, early to rise" kind of person. I didn't want to share my germs, though. So I didn't go to class.

All people feeling non-mushy, feel free to skip the next paragraph.
There's this guy. He makes my heart feel like this:


He's very sweet. A real live southern gentleman. His name is Robert. Except that we're kind of in a long distance relationship. But not really. He just lives a few blocks down. But we're both engineers. So we see each other when we don't have homework. Quite frankly, we aren't very productive when we're together. He's just really fun. So we only see each other when both of us have free time. Basically, weekends and devotional. Neither of us particularly enjoy how little  time we spend together, but it really is very good for both of us.

Ok, mushiness over.
In other news, I have amazing friends. My roommate texted my visiting teacher Cordelia Wetzker (who happens to be a Computer Engineer and a very good friend) and told her that I was sick. She came with lemon bars and two other of my good friends, Nolan Moore and Erika Frandsen. Nolan brought his Uno cards, and they played with my and chatted for a while. So great. By then I was feeling so much better.

Then Erika and Nolan left to go work, and I started dinner. Homemade rolls and corn potato chowder. We all rotate making dinner in the apartment. It's really nice. Robert came for dinner tonight. He makes me smile. Also, dinner basically tasted like this:
 + 
Pretty tasty, if I do say so myself.


For now, off to bed. Sweet dreams.

Dance-Walking

So... my roommates and I were going to do a workout video tonight, but the lounge was taken and apparently those living below us do not take kindly to people jumping in unison above them. 

I know. I don't understand it either. Also, I wanted an excuse to include David Tennant. No big deal.So my roommate suggested we follow this plan: 

It was actually a decent work out, and fun. Although I may have looked a little like this. 

No big deal. Who needs pride? It was fun, dancing "downtown". 

On a more serious note, we had a Q&A with this guy for Family Home Evening tonight: 

It was wonderful. I love learning from the president of the university, a member of the 70, former dean at Harvard, and such an altogether brilliant man. Here are some cool things I learned: 

Q: Why does the Lord bless some people with different/more gifts than others?

A: The Lord is perfect. Everything he does is just right for that person, and that person's progression and salvation. We can't see the full picture. 

He then talked about a rebellious son he had who once crashed the car at 3AM and then stayed out until 6. He spent a lot of time asking "Why me?". Then he talked about ordaining that same son to be a high priest after he was called to be in the bishopric, and how proud he was and how grateful to have such a son. 

Q: How can we strengthen the university?

A: Don't let the world into your heart, but let the Holy Ghost dwell there. If you have the Spirit with you, not only will the university be great, but your life will be what the Lord wants it to be so that you may be led back to Him. 

Q: How do you tell between your own feelings and the Spirit?
A: Listen. The Holy Ghost is unique. Also, don't worry about it. Just be good. God will guide you. He knows you really well. He knows your strengths and struggles, and He loves you. Study it out. The Lord will give you answers. There are three possible answers: Yes, No, and no answer. If there isn't an answer, and your decision is in accordance with revealed truth and seems good, do it. You'll know if it's good. The Lord won't let you wander astray. 

There were lots more, but it's past my bedtime. I'll try to finish tomorrow. 

The English Paper
I am literate in binary. 1s and 0s. There's a correct answer to achieve. Not so in English. English is about emotions, making something abstract as words combine together. No on/off switch. Just a paper due in the morning.

Anyway, I'm not in the mood to write. So I did what any engineer in this situation would - I procrastinated. Then I went to Google. The first result informed me the best way to get in the mood to write is writing itself. I decided to write. But I don't want to write anything less-than-perfect on my paper, so I decided to start a blog instead. This obviously isn't graded. Thank goodness.
I guess you should know about me. That is the next logical step.



I'm a female, studying Electrical Engineering. This is my third semester, with no intention of quitting anytime soon. I love learning, and I L-O-V-E circuits. They make my heart sing. I am very intelligent in a very specific way. I made a 33 on my ACT, but have difficulty figuring out sarcasm. Being a real-life genius isn't quite like the movies. I have hair so tame my roommates are jealous, and am so lacking in common sense that I am 20 years away from the stereotypical absent-minded professor. This doesn't lead to moments of comedy, just painful embarrassment. I am pretty good at faking socialization skills, but all skills are pretend. I am analyzing, every moment of every interaction. I have complex algorithms build in my mind, created by experience and guiding me to my next statement.

On to my classes. I know what you're thinking: "So many guys! Your dating life must be spectacular!" Not so. Most of the guys that are comfortable enough to speak to girls already wear the left-hand hardware. Most of the single ones are more like this:



If you're looking for this picture, just google "stereotypical engineering student". Huzzah. Are my sisters as smart as me? No. They're smarter. My youngest sister beat me at chess when she was 6 and I was 16. When my next-to-youngest-sister was in 3rd grade, a reading comprehension test came along. After she flew through all the materials, someone opened a college textbook. She still understood perfectly. We are all overachievers, in every sense of the word.

I'm in the mood for writing my paper now. I'll post again... eventually.
Live long and prosper.