Move to Wisconsin

Well, dear readers, it's been over two months since I last posted, but with good reason. I was spending my time wrapping up my research and writing a >200-page dissertation for my Ph.D. And Leann was busy packing and making arrangements to move to Madison, Wisconsin, where I had arranged a position as a postdoctoral fellow. My timeline was contracted [1] so I ended up renting a moving truck the morning of my defense, packing for a few hours, and then getting ready for my oral presentation and closed-doors meeting with my committee. After that I finished cleaning up my bench in Dr. Griffitts' lab, went home for the last bit of packing, and then drove the truck to my parents' house where we stayed the night.

Map Projection of Blue Jeans

I was sitting in Elder's Quorum [1] last week watching the fellow in front of me playing with his infant. The little baby boy was wearing a tiny pair of jeans. Just for fun, I began sketching in my notebook the pattern of yellow stitching. Since I was drawing in only two dimensions, I flattened everything. Rather than simulate three dimensions through the use of shading, I sought to capture the entire surface. As with rendering a two-dimensional map of a three-dimensional Earth, I was forced to introduce distortions in order to capture the details I wanted and present them in a particular way.[2] So, I present to you my map projection of blue jeans.

Autumn Photos

This post is just a smattering of photos I've taken this last autumn since it's pretty much over. Two nights ago we got so much snow that fallen tree branches (and even a few fallen trees) now litter the streets of Provo. So winter has unequivocally begun. All but the first three of the photographs are from a walk Leann and I went on to scout out a place to take some pictures of Lilli. Our neighbor, who has a nicer camera than we do, was willing to take photos of Lilli with her cousin Lizzie in their Hallowe'en outfits.[1]

Hallowe'en 2012

Last Saturday Leann ran in the Provo Zombie Chase.[1] She was joined by her friend, Jordan, and my sister, Ashley. To do so they had to sign a waiver saying that they understood that they would not be allowed to jump headfirst into any of the mud pits and that the water they would be running through had not been tested for chemicals or pathogens. Based on this I expected them to have to run through the swamp and brush around Utah lake trying to get away from 'zombies' who were chasing them. If the 'zombies' caught them they were either out of the race or they became 'zombies', too. No such luck. They just ran around a dirt track which had a few obstacles like a pile of gravel, a cargo net stretched across two shipping containers, etc. They didn't have to run through swamps or mud pits. Furthermore, the 'zombies' hissed and snarled at them, and sometimes lunged at them, but they didn't actually chase the runners. I was rather let down, but I guess it wasn't really my race anyway. But at one point they did get to shoot at some 'zombies' with paintball guns.

Maeser Hill

This is the last horror story I wrote for the BYU 38th Ward Book Club in its inaugural year.[1] As with the other stories I wrote that year, I drew heavily from other sources. In this case, I based the story on something that happened to my mother when she was an undergraduate at BYU. She had to stay in Provo by herself during Christmas and she was nervous because they had a peeping Tom. They could see his footprints in the snow outside of one of her roommate's windows. Fortunately nothing happened…to my mom, that is. Her fictional counterpart might not be so lucky… Read on if you dare! Happy Hallowe'en!

NOTE: I've annotated this story, but I recommend you read it all the way through before reading the notes.

The Ghost of the AXMB

During my time as a BYU custodian I worked mostly in the Auxiliary Services Maintenance Building (AXMB).[1] One evening the other student custodian for the AXMB had to go home early, so after the 7 pm break I was finishing up by myself. I heard a loud crash out in the automotive repair shop, so I went out there to investigate. The lights were all off except one and it was a little spooky in there.  One of the other custodians, a girl named Janelle, finished the University Press Building early, so our boss sent her over to help me finish. She came into the repair shop behind me without me hearing, so when she started talking to me I was quiet startled. I used that experience to write another horror story for the BYU 38th Ward Book Club.[2] Read on if you dare! Happy Hallowe'en!

NOTE: I've annotated this story, but I recommend you read it all the way through before reading the notes.

Found Treasures VII: Custodial Photographs

For several years as an undergraduate at Brigham Young University (BYU), I worked as a custodian in the evenings. I spend most of my time taking care of the Auxiliary Services Maintenance Building (AXMB), but sometimes I was assigned instead to the Auxiliary Services Laundry Building (AXLB), the University Press Building (UPB), or the Student Auxiliary Services Building (SASB).[1] Now, vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, cleaning toilets, etc., while necessary isn't very mentally stimulating. So I sometimes came up with crazy ideas to occupy my mind. And sometimes I even followed through with some of those crazy ideas. Like…