THE SITUATION OF MY SOUL

So, approximately 4 years ago I sold my soul--

to my orchestra teacher, Sam:

Let me define....

If you sell your soul to Sam 

you enter in a promise

of participation in 2 renowned orchestras

 6:30 a.m. rehearsals

{never late}

performances every month

and high standards 

of professionalism.

For instance, I didn't sit with my class at graduation.

I sat in the orchestra.

Dedication? Oh it is more that just that.

                                      We are talking about my soul, remember?

Sam always played along with the joke and assured us orchestra members that we would receive our souls back upon graduation from high school.

****************

Fast forward four years.  In college, I have joined folk music groups, the Philharmonic orchestra, and  I have recently taken up membership in the Orchestra at Temple Square.  I play a variety of instruments and am spending all of my free time making music. Last time I checked, I didn't get my soul back.

But I have been thinking...and I understand now.  As a naive high school sophomore, I didn't give my soul to Sam, I gave it to music.

And you know what? 

I don't think I want it back.

Thank you, Sam.

UPDATING MY RELATIONSHIP STATUS:

Mechanical engineering is my boyfriend.

This decision was made rather quickly after seeing the syllabuses (syllabi? What is the correct plural form of "syllabus"?) in my engineering classes today.

I have no time for romances

To get emotionally tied down

Or to even have a social life

For that matter.

I will be trading: 

     dates for derivatives

            men for matrices

                 guys for graphing calculators

                      & flirting for free body diagrams

          

Here, I dedicate my semester to you, my dear Major of Engineering.

My 

time

energy

blood

sweat 

tears

mind

heart

& soul.

My life.

AINT LOVE GRAND?

I am determined that my dating/social life can be explained by science and mathematics.  Today, I take a more natural approach...

...by applying principles of biology.
{after all, this is what I did all summer}

Consider the competition for mates amongst animals--

Males put on a show (think peacock)

or battle (see below)

all for the female.

This can have some interesting parallels to humans.  When it comes down to it, the female chooses. **

This is because the female is the natural guardian of her young, and she would be wise to choose the strongest, most beautiful mate to give her offspring the best chances at survival.

NOW with this understood we might say that the girl has the most power in the situation.  Theoretically, she has a whole line-up of potential mates to choose from.

BUT there is a catch:

The female must painfully watch countless contestants exert their efforts in vain.  

{If I were the girl giraffe, I would be rolling my eyes--
or telling the peacock "please, just stop."}

And so here I sit

waiting 

as patiently as humanly possible

and dismissing the suitors with a sigh.

**You can argue this all you want, but a guy can propose many times until a girl agrees to marry him, where a female may reject as many times as she desires, until she chooses one.

BRAGGING RIGHTS

Sorry, I just have to spill my happy secrets today.

Two of 'em.

Ready?

1. I might get to be a co-author on this biology research paper that I have been assisting my professor on all summer.

Yes, I will attach my name-Me. Sarah- To an actual piece of science. For better or worse (concerning my reputation in academia).

2. I secured a possible engineering internship (I say "possible" because I haven't committed yet) with a company that makes devices for biology research.

 Yes, this was a connection from my summer job.  The vice president was impressed when I wired the data loggers correctly.

Maybe this is why I am not ready to go back to school--my brain has been thinking and reasoning at maximum capacity during the past three months.  I need to...veg out...or something.

Two cheers for Sarah's academic success this summer.
Ooof. "Academic" and "summer" should not be in the same sentence...

"OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING"

So, I have been seeing a lot of sunrises lately.  Yes, this means I have been awake early in the morning. But, I rather enjoy it.  Unlike most people... I am a morning person.

Maybe it is because sunrises are far better than sunsets.  

Maybe it is because I love fresh starts.

But there is nothing more pleasing than seeing the sun pop up from behind the mountains...

So here I dedicate this post to a fresh start.

to a new school year.

to a new apartment.

to new roommates.

to a new ward.

to being single once again.

to a new morning.

These are the opening lines in Chapter 3 of my life.

"Oh what a beautiful morning....everything's going my way"

THE GOODBYE OF GOODBYES

Tomorrow morning I will "send off" my final missionary.

{not that kind of send off...}

But Phil is the last of my guy friends to leave...And he might just be my favorite.

Why might he be my favorite??

Well, maybe because...

1. The first time I saw him he thought I was diggin' him  and got all excited

2. He does this crazy pogo-stick dance and doesn't care that he looks ridiculous 

3. He knows how to be a full-fledged womanizer and act innocent about it

4. He thinks I am one of the few girls in the world who can pull off bangs

5. He gave me an autographed picture to put on my mirror when he is gone

6. and this bad-A vividly colored gangsta t-shirt which he looks goofy in because it is too tight and he is a total white bread boy.

7. as you can see in the picture, he is TOTALLY made of broomsticks--as it is well-said by my good friend Amy

Alas, I am still a bit ticked that he wouldn't give me his MIT shirt that he is wearing.  I, an actual engineering student, could pull that one off so much better than him.

730 days. {and counting.}

MY THOUGHTS AT 12:01:

I would like to draw attention 

to the quote underneath 
the title of my blog...

I cannot agree more
with this statement.

However, 
I believe it is easy
 for one to forget how 
natural 
it is, and end up being

irrational 
about the entire situation.

Grrrr.

If only all of my life problems could be solved by a math equation where the answer is simply 3.14159...

WHAT IS LOOPING ON MY IPOD

Addicted to Regina Spektor's song entitled "Samson"

I just want to share it with the world!! Listen...

"You are my sweetest downfall

I loved you first...

I loved you first.

Beneath the stars came falling on our heads

But they're just old light...

They're just old light."

I AM TURNING INTO MY MOTHER.

I just had this realization today. Quite an interesting one. I was ordering lemon pound cake ice cream.




My mother loves anything with the flavor of lemon. I used to complain about it when I was younger. EVERYTHING she made in the kitchen or bought in the store had some variety of that tangy yellow citrus fruit.







Also, due to my AMAZING job in pushing back the frontiers of knowledge, (my biology research job) I have been practcing my plant I.D. and can name numerous shrubs, forbs, and grasses that appear in central Utah.







I used to HATE it when
my mother
would point out certain species of trees along the road,
make me knock on the front doors of the owners
of the rare shrubbery,
so that I could add specimens
to my leaf collection project
that I was assembling
for my advanced science class.







The worst part is that she would do this IN FRONT OF MY FRIENDS. I was mortified.
{ I was 13. }





Now, here I am pointing out edible plants and rattling off the latin names. What is happening??? My poor future children. I am becoming exactly what I promised I wouldn't.







And my mother's favorite color of blue?? (That china blue color....along with periwinkle...)

It is starting to grow on me.

SO...I GOT GLASSES

Me.

Sarah.

In the lab. 

With my spiffy lab coat.

With my new specs.

I think people will take me a little more seriously now.  I have to admit I have been blown off a few times in the Clyde/Widtsoe building and in my engineering classes.

Probably, it is because of my blonde hair.

And the fact that I wear a skirt every day and high heels every other.

Oh yeah, and I am a woman.  

[A rare species in the Clyde building.]

LIST #5-SUMMER BUCKET LIST

I know we all have 'em, but I feel like posting mine for all cyberspace to see....

1. Climb a mountain to the summit
2. Go tubing in the Provo river
3. Actually use the swimming pool in my apartment complex...I might as well get my money's worth out of my astronomically high rent...
4. Visit the hot springs
5. Go mountain biking... you already heard how disastrous this was.  At least I can say I tried.
6. Float in the Great Salt Lake -- I have heard it is possible because of the high salt content...So me and Jordan are going to have our own little episode of Mythbusters.
7. Fry an egg on a sidewalk
8. Have a picnic with watermelon, potato salad, corn on the cob, and all other foods deemed "summer-y" on a red checkered tablecloth
9. Spend so much time in the sun that my hair bleaches to platinum
10. Before I move out of my apartment this week I want to walk to Jordan's apartment from my front door and time it to see if it really is under two minutes.

I'll keep you updated on what happens next.