Q

Sarah

still can't solve a Rubix Cube

drive a manual car

or whistle.

And, sometimes, she still can't win at her own game of Life.

She is lucky to have her bestie Quincey.

Q sticks by her.

Sarah hopes she does the same for her, too.

And even though Sarah can't accomplish her math test in under 3 hours,
or stop talking all morning or during lunch,

Q is there.

THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

February. 

Yep, I said it.

I know everyone loves the summer/Christmas season, but I like February.  I know people loathe the second month of the year because it is in the dead of winter, etc. BUT they just don't get it.

One of my most favorite scenes is the valentine candy isle of the grocery store. Everything is awash in pink, red, and white.  Which is a very lovely color combination, if I do say so myself.

There is Valentines Day.... a No School Holiday (aka President's Day)...and my birthday.  Which I am very excited for, if you didn't know already.

I guess February is a month celebrating love.  Love for one another, love for life, love for no school...

And did I already mention that my favorite color combination is red, pink, and white??

STRIVE FOR MEDIOCRITY

Test scores are not a good indicator of what I have learned,

I believe.

I argue that the 25-question-multiple-choice-test is not a good sample size of the complete knowledge that is stored in my brain.

So

I settle for mediocrity.  C's and D's baby. C's and D's.... Because apparently, I will never win against my professors

Knowing that only myself can fully comprehend how much wisdom I have gained in the course.

Hmph.

TIPS FOR OPTIMIZING DATING

All I need to know about 

maximizing my dating 

can be explained 

by simple

principles of economics.

Consider a situation where someone is trying to decide whether or not to continue dating their significant other...  There are a few questions one might want to ponder before executing an action.

1. Is there anything more to be gained from the relationship? (Is there more you can learn about the other person? Is there more you can learn from the other person? )

2. Would you still find it worth your time to continue dating said person?

If you say yes, continue dating.  You haven't maxed out in benefit. If you say no, then you should either break up with the person or marry them because the cost of dating said person has outweighed the benefits. 

So simple. I heart economics.

But then the individual always says:

"But I have invested so much in (insert name here)!"

or in more common
 young adult language:

"But we are such good friends
and have spent so much time together!"

To that, economics has yet another simple answer:

Sunk costs are irrelevant.

Translation: that which was spent in the past is nonrecoverable and can never affect marginal cost benefit analysis.  Or, in three words: History is bunk.

And that is the cold-hearted, hard-nosed, 

economical truth.

Author's note:  I don't wholeheartedly believe this.  Simply put, this principle is monumental in helping girls understand how their business-minded ex could justify dumping them like that [snap fingers]...

Girl, I've only got one thing to say to ya: an economist's analytical skills are WHACK. 

BAD OMENS

You know it is a bad day 

when 

77.77% 

(or 7/9 = 0.7777) 

of your fruit snacks 

for breakfast 

are grape. 

Blech.

{I want to get in touch with the people responsible for the quality control statistics in the production line at General Mills©} 

MY LIFE IN GRAPHICAL FORM

One day I was having a hard day in my calculus class last semester.  My good friend Scott drew a nice pick-me-up picture for me in my notes that went somewhat of the following:



This is your life:

NOT THIS:

Or this....

AND NOT THIS....

But THIS:

And you happen to be at the point (0,1).

{It only gets better from here....}

Q: WHY DOES MEXICAN COKE TASTE SO MUCH BETTER?

A: Because it is made with real cane sugar. (cheer!)  

We use corn syrup. (boo!)

(doesn't that just sound so...American? 
I think they are going to make rockets out of corn pretty soon...)

Well that begs the question: 

 Why don't we make Coke with real cane sugar, too?  

Are Americans just slow on the draw?

Three words: 

No Free Trade.

You see, we don't have the resources to grow sugar cane here.  (Except for a few farms in Louisiana...)  So we have to trade for it.  BUT our brilliant government puts down restrictions*. Like tariffs. (Boo!)

We could get sugar for 14 cents a pound, but the tariff increases it to 24 cents a pound.  That is too expensive for our Coca Cola Corporation.  See why we revert to good ol' corn syrup?  We are suffering here!

Get this: Those Louisiana sugar cane farmers? Think they live the life of a modest farmer? Think again.  Try a yearly income of  $1 MILLION. I am switching from engineering to farming.

So, uh, what dwindling sugar cane farming industry are we trying to "preserve" here?  

That's what I thought.

You should really be booing now.
[ Boo squared! ( = boo!^2   = BOOOO!) ]

Ok, so if we took the tariff off, the overwhelming supply of sugar probably would wipe out the Louisiana farmers.  But that's ok.  Our economy would actually be better off as a whole. And they wouldn't be out of a job, they would just relocate...to....ya know....corn farming....

I hear that the industry is absolutely booming. 

(cheer!)

*Economists are still baffled as to why our government does this.  It doesn't make economical sense.  

I AM A SYNESTHETE.

Yep. That's right.  Only 1 in a 1000 can claim that title. I barely discovered that my thought processes are not normal--and there is a name for it.

Synesthesia: A condition in which normally separate senses are not separate. Sight may mingle with sound, taste with touch, etc. The senses are cross-wired. For example, when a digit-color synesthete sees or just thinks of a number, the number appears with a color film over it. A given number's color never changes; it appears every time with the number. 

{P.S. It rhymes with "anesthesia" if you were wondering}

There are different kinds{some people see colors with musical tones, taste a certain food when they say a word, or experience pain when they view and injury}, but I associate colors with text.  When someone tells me a phone number, or a day of the week, I see that particular set of characters in certain colors.  Here are some examples....

1    2   3    4   5    6    7    8    9   

Wednesday

                 Tuesday

                            Thursday

A   B   C

Call me crazy...but I didn't pick the colors.  Notice that 6,9, and 8 are very similar.  I often confuse these numbers in my head.  

I use this often to memorize things efficiently.

I hope this makes me a genius--all that has been discovered is that these people often display autism, left/right confusion, and tend to be directionally challenged. { Oh, and it tends to run in the family. }

Google it. you know you want to.

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.

"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"

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...