Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Classification of Zoobies

One of the most special things about BYU is its diversity. Despite the fact that the majority of people who attend school here are Mormon, Disney-movie-enthusiasts, return missionaries, and nonsmokers, there is still much diversity to be seen here on campus. After much observation, my guest-writer TR and I have identified several classifications of the BYU Student Species, Zoobies, which are listed below.

TR: Captain Can't Shut-Up: Zoobis Longwindacus

You're gonna be hearing from this species at least once a lecture. Indeed, he can provide up to 50-70% of the answers from the class. This particular species appears to reach extreme peaks of pleasure by hearing the sound of his own voice. Answers that could be provided perfectly with a single word or sentence will be embellished to the point where a series of books could be written instead. Beware of this species in the wild, as they may consume nearly all of your class time before you realize it.



EF: Mrs. and Mrs. Can't Live Without You: Zoobis Afectionicus

Members of this species do not thrive alone. They spend about three months after arriving at BYU trying to find another Zoobis Afectionicus to marry. They take whoever they find, and marry them before the second semester is over. While dating, and once married, they are never apart. They will only go out to ice cream with friends if their counterpart can also come along. They exhibit increased amounts of PDA, even after they are married, and very much in the public. No matter who is around, or what the circumstance is, they are always making sure that the other feels physically adored. When separated for more than three minutes, they being to panic, which could lead to a severe panic attack if they are not reunited within another two minutes.



TR: Dr. Deep Doctrine: Zoobis Confusacus

This species will inevitably take any religion class back to the Old Testament. You can be talking about Joseph Smith and he will pipe up about some obscure aspect about the number of tassels on Moses' robe. This species obviously has no interest in what's being taught, but has taken on the personal burden of reaching the class what he feels is important. A master of misdirection, he will take advantage of people's unsurety of dusty old topics to confidently state fallacies which are accepted without question.


EF: The Student Athlete: Zoobis Athleticus

A very tight clique with each other, this species walks around in BYU sporting attire, always. Males adorn a typical flat-rim hat. They do not bring supplies to class. They attend class about half of the time because they are gone out playing football or basketball or soccer or volleyball for BYU. When they do attend class, they spend the entire time talking to their cliquey friends, or asleep.They do not have a job because they are on full and excessive scholarship to play sports for the school. Typically, they live in places like The Village, or another really expensive apartment with single rooms. Sporting a great sense of entitlement, they swindle teachers into giving them extra credit or allowing them to have open book tests, while all the other "normal" students struggle to learn difficult material to earn good grades. Because of the extra perks, they usually end up with top grades in the class, despite the fact that they were not physically or mentally present for most of it.

TR: Mr. Missionary: Zoobis Cantmoveonicus

This species appears to have evolved to only be able to speak if it's about two years spent on a religious excursion. The question will be "What are you going to have for dinner?" And the answer will involve a tale about how his trainer taught him how to cook tuna casserole and then they baptized the whole town. No matter how mundane the conversation, it will end with a testimony.




EF: Sidewalk Hazard: Zoobis Stoppingcus

One would never know how impossibly slow a body can move while still moving forward until they walk behind a member of this species. Impeding campus walking traffic everywhere they go, it is a miracle that they even get to their classes on time. They tend to walk in groups, blocking off the entire sidewalk to other normal-paced walkers. Oblivious to those passing them, they mosey around campus chatting with the members of their walking group.



TR: Sister Silent: Zoobis Stealthicus

A species who would rather suffer the pains of torture than voluntarily speak up in class. When forced to vocalize, their voice will be so quiet that no one will really understand what they say, but will nod in agreement to spare them the pain of having to repeat themselves.



EF: The Young Ones: Zoobis Freshmenticus

Every member of the Zoobis family starts as a Freshmenticus. Members of this species are classified as being "in their first year of college/BYU." Wide-eyed and optimistic, they find themselves lost while trying to find the elusive Crabtree Building, and confused after being turned away from the testing center with a beard. They are among the most social of the Zoobis family, as they are trying to cultivate a strong group of friends that will carry them through college and hopefully the rest of life. They reside in "The Dorms" on campus, usually, but a few can be found off campus. Every member goes on a migratory hike to "The Y" while in this stage of life. They are always excited, and they never sleep. As a result, sometimes they exhibit stress-induced anxiety attacks, panic attacks, and an overwhelming feelings of despair. Freshmenticus are usually made fun of by other people, but you have to give them credit for coming out to a brand new stage of life. The ability to adjust is key to success, and many Freshmenticus are able to survive. The mentality of a Freshmenticus usually wears off by the second year of school, while the organism slowly moves into another category of Zoobis.




TR: Officer Off-Topic: Zoobis Irrelevanticus

This species has a natural tendency to take the discussion into the dark and dreary wilderness, off the beaten path the teacher has prepared for the lecture. His speech is rife with 'bridge' phrases such as, "I interpret this to be..." or "I think this is a lot like..." which inevitably leads to something less than 10% of the class can relate to or even understand. Unfettered by the shackles of reason, this species can connect global warming to microwave burritos faster than you can bat an eyelash.


EF: General Awkwardness: Zoobis Exclusicus

This species is closely related to Zoobis Afectionicus. They too thrive only in pairs. Once together, they follow their culture's norm to only speak to members of the opposite sex through their significant other. It is unclear whether or not members of this species are overly-territorial of their significant other, or if they socialized from the time of birth to speak in such a socially different way.



TR: Professor Personal: Zoobis Uncomfortableicus

This species appears to have no sense of personal or social shame. He is more than willing to expose the most private and secret parts of his soul in a public setting. You will often find him sitting directly behind you, talking about how in a past life he struggled with a cartoon pornography addiction. You are powerless as you feel the immense weight of proxy-embarrassment, and you suffer vicariously for his lack of understanding of common social taboos and acceptable topics to share with utter strangers.



EF: Lieutenant Light-Tone: Zoobis Righteousness

To be classified as in this group, you must speak in a "Testimony Voice" in every situation. A testimony voice is such that the tone is very light, happy (or fake), and absurdly faithful. Whether you are talking about flowers, the weather, your testimony, 9/11, or pizza, you must always use your testimony voice. Extremists also embed their testimony into everything they say.



TR: Master of Matrimony: Zoobis Dateicus

A species whose entire existence is centered around the point of courtship and marriage. Those who are not yet married can often be seen charging at members of the opposite sex anywhere on campus, fearlessly taking seats next to them in lecture halls and offering streams of meaningless pre-generated compliments. They are often interpreted to be "flirtatious," "overly-friendly," and "creepy."




EF: Count Clean Mouth: Zoobis Awesomesauce Fetchicus

Another species who uses different language, Awesomesauce Fetchicus incorporates nonsensical words into their vocabulary instead of swearing. You may hear something close to the real swear world, but members of this group never actually swear. Their effect on BYU culture is that campus is a very family-friendly place, where nobody needs to wash out their potty mouth.




TR: Rabbi Radical: Zoobis Shockicus

This particular species is extremely concerned with not falling under the same stigmas as most of the other White, Mormon students on campus. Often associated with the Left Wing of politics, they also have a tendency to "rock the boat" with controversial, and borderline heretical, statements and opinions. They often attend protests, enjoy conflict, and have the loudest yelling capabilities of all the species on campus. Avoid this species, as they are very aggressive and territorial.



EF: Judge Judger: Zoobis Inbutnotoftheworldous

Inbutnotoftheworldous are enthusiasts of the gospel principle "Be in the world, but not of the world." Typically, this means appreciate the world, but do not follow its unrighteous paths. Members of this species interpret the phrase to mean "Live in the world because that's where we are, but do not acknowledge people who are different from you." They like to think that they can make a bubble in which for them to live while the rest of the world goes on around them. Such an attitude causes the Inbutnotoftheworldous to be substantially more judgmental than normal people. It often comes off as self-righteous and offensive to those "of the world," but we must remember that they are just trying to follow the Prophet, and not purposely/personally trying to offend. While members do not necessarily try to convert others to their way of living, they make sure to use a tone that will make you feel like you're the unrighteous one.






Tuesday, September 2, 2014

First Day of BYU Vs. Last First Day of BYU

Today was my last first day of school. This is what was different from my first day of college, approximately 3 years ago:










Luckily, there seems to be one constant between now and then.

Cuz listen guys.
I'm a senior. Thanks.
Haha.

Friday, August 15, 2014

The Newest Addition to our Family

This is Rocky.



She is our new pet cat. Rock. I mean. She does everything just like a cat, really.

She loves to sit on our microwave and watch over the kitchen. She sits on the microwave because we already taught her to not jump on the counters.


She drinks water from the sink, not from a bowl.


She loves playing with strings and ribbons and wires.



And she also loves our couch, and doesn't like to share it. It is the perfect spot for her sunbathing.


She likes to play in the mirror.



And she likes to jump onto bookshelves and make friends with the other animals we have in our apartment.


She's the perfect cat. I mean rock. She never makes any noise, and she doesn't shed. When we leave for the weekend, she knows how to take care of herself. 

Also, our landlord can't evict us for keeping her.

Monday, August 11, 2014

#SerengeteeSelfie: Why You Should Make Serengetee a Piece of Your Life


[ser-uhn-get-ee]

What is Serengetee?

Serengetee is a company whose mission is to change lives around the world by contributing to 32 different causes in Africa, Asia, Central and South and North America, Europe, and the South Pacific.

What is a serengetee

The company sells a soft and cute pocket shirt, a serengetee. The pocket pattern is designed and created by artisans from all parts of the world. The company picks up the pocket from their various places, sews the pockets onto your choice of shirt, and sells them for you to wear. The pocket makers are given 5% back from your purchase. 

They can look like this:


Or, they also come in a variety of style shirts, with whatever pattern of pocket you want. Check out all the choices here.

What do you mean when you say the pockets are from "all parts of the world"?

Serengetee picks up their fabrics from 7 regions all over the world. You buy your shirt based off on what part of the world you would like to help, or by which cause you'd like to contribute to. Here is the breakdown of the countries you can choose from:

Africa
Camps Bay
Cape Town
Dar
Dundee
Ehtiopia
Ghana
Kenya
Madagascar
Senegal
South Africa
Tanzania

Asia
China
India
Indonesia
Japan
Nigeria
South Korea
Thailand
Zimbabwe

Australia
Australia
New Zealand

Central & South America
Guatemala

Europe
France
Poland
Italy

North America
Mexico
USA

South Pacific
Philippines
Solomon Islands


So where does that 5% go again?

It goes to charities! Each purchase from various pockets go to one of these organizations. You can choose what pocket based on the organization you want to support. Here is the breakdown (feel free to skim):

  • Thanda - "supports future generations and communities in Africa by developing local, sustainable solutions to the issues of care for orphans and vulnerable children, HIV prevention, and poverty alleviation." Thanda takes care of orphans and vulnerable children by offering a school based in rural South Africa, where they employ local role models and use local school buildings to teach and support the kids. The kids in the program receive a meal each day and are offered "guidance, mentoring, skills development, and a way forward." Learn more here.

  • Reef Check Worldwide - a non-profit organization dedicated to tropical coral reefs and California rocky reefs. They partner with community volunteers, government agencies, businesses, universities, and other non-profits to educate the public about reef ecosystems and the current crisis; create a global network of teams to monitor and report the status of the reefs; create sustainable solutions; and to promote local community action against damaging reefs worldwide. Learn more here.

  • Japan Society: Japan Earthquake Relief Fund - a relief fund to aid those affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11. They estimate it will take Japan five years to recover; as a result, Japan Society supports long term recovery and reconstruction. Learn more here.

  • All Hands Volunteers - a non-profit organization that assists communities around the world, "with maximum impact and minimum bureaucracy." They strive to provide "immediate, effective, and sustainable support" to communities in need. Currently, they are working on cleaning up Superstorm Sandy, the Haiyan Typhoon, and the Colorado Floods. Learn more here.

  • AHOPE For Children - provides a hospice to orphan children infected with HIV, ages 0-18. AHOPE stands for African HIV Orphans: Project Embrace. They focus on care and HIV treatment. Learn more here.

  • Simply Smiles - is "dedicate to building bright futures while improving the daily lives of impoverished children." They are also another non-profit organization that claims to be impactful, sustainable, scalable, and successful. They see the individual in need and support them by solving their individual problems, such as providing food, shelter, medical care, education, jobs, and hope. Learn more here.

  • The Dar Project- "100% of donations go directly to educational programs in Tanzania." Of the 1.3 million orphaned children in East Africa, the DAR project has raised over $10,000, tutored over 150 orphans, and sent some to college. They focus on funding college tuition for children who have a commitment to higher education. Learn more here.

  • The Drew Gyorke Memorial Fund - A fund that honors a University of Arizona student who was killed in a car accident. The fund is to help photojournalism students achieve their dreams. Learn more here.

  • Greeks for Kids - donates books, toys, supplies, and friendships to alleviate education and health challenges. It was founded by two college students from University of California, Santa Barbara. They donate to schools, hospitals, and shelters. Learn more here

  • Shining Hope for Communities - combats gender inequality and extreme poverty in urban slums by giving girls free tuition, free healthcare, free food, and free psychosocial services. It links girls' education to community-wide services, which increases the value of women and girls. They hope that the students will be able to support their families after they complete their education and find a way out of poverty. This organization obviously has a feminist flair as they try to increase the value of girls and women in Kibera, Africa. Learn more here.

  • Living on One- a "production and social impact studio that creates films and educational videos to raise awareness and inspire action around extreme poverty." They starts with four university students who took camera and spent a summer in a rural Guatemalan village, where they lived on 1$/day. After the summer, they created an inspiring documentary. The donations go to creating films and education videos that aim to raise awareness and inspire action concerning extreme poverty. Learn more here.

  • 5 Gyres - aims to discourage plastic pollution through "exploration, education, and action." They want to decrease the amount of plastic pollution in the world's oceans down to zero. They are researching and communicating how plastic pollution harms the world's oceans. They sail through each of the 5 subtropical gyres. They share what they find with the world, and they try to stop plastic pollution by endorsing different materials, better designed products, legislation, and consumer education. They also contribute to cleanup efforts, island debris removal, and mitigation. Learn more here.

  • Footprint Free - prides itself "on using reforestation as our sole form of carbon offset." Basically, they plant trees that they buy through the Green Trees project along the Mississippi River Valley. Learn more here.

  • 2 Seeds Network - an "umbrella organization incubating small, efficient, and effective agricultural development projects in Africa." Their teams address the food issue and income security issues of Africa. Learn more here.

  • Kilu-ufi Hospital- a hospital that has three doctors and a dedicated staff in Malaita, Solomon Islands. They try to treat as many people as they can, but government-provided resources are small.

  • Soles 4 Souls - fights poverty by collecting new and used shoes and clothes from basically anyone. Then they distribute their items through direct donations to the people in need, or by starting mico-enterprise programs that create jobs in poor communities. Learn more here.

  • Generosity Water - an organization that provides clean water to developing countries. They sell water and donation 100% of the proceeds to a communities to build wells or otherwise provide clean water to the people. Learn more here

  • Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - the world's largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. They want to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Jodgkin's disease, and myeloma while improving the quality of life of patients and their families. The funds go towards research around the world. Learn more here.

  • Ghana Medical Help - provides medical aid to hospitals in northern regions of Rhana in order to save lives and increase the quality of healthcare. They believe that health is a basic human right, and they want to create a sustainable health care system that involves the community and posses extreme integrity. To do so, they create a list of the most needed primary care and equipment resources. Then they fund-raise the money to provide and deliver the medical necessities. They also provide medical training. Learn more here

  • Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund - serves wounded and injured United States military personnel. They are funded only with donations from the public, and they provide family support, disability support, and rehabilitation. Their current project is to extend the care at NICoE to more service members that suffer from TBI, PTS, and related illnesses. They want to build 9 centers across the country. Learn more here.

  • Polish Gift of Life, Inc. - works with Polish children suffering from congenital heart defects. They raise funds for surgeries, equipment, and recovery for the children. So far, they have helped over 435 children receive open heart surgery. Learn more here.

  • Feed my Starving Children - a Christian organization that is committed to feeding hungry children in body and spirit. They pack meals specifically made for malnourished children and they ship them to 70 countries around the world. Learn more here.

  • Whole Planet Foundation - founded by Whole Foods Market. The provide grants to institutions across the world who then develop microenterprise loan programs, training, and other financial services to the self-employed poor. Basically, they want to help people become entrepreneurs. Learn more here.

  • Zela Aid - pronounced shay-luh, as they kindly point out on their website. They promote self reliance in the villages of the highlands of Guatemala. They want people to break the povery city and to become healthy, education, and self reliant. They provide scholarships that eliminate health, environmental, and socio-economic barriers to going to school. Learn more here.

  • GPL - a website that is totally in French, but I translated that they want to educate and train children and women. They promote the health of children and women and the family in general. They want to change policies about smoking, alcoholism, AIDS, and more. Learn more (if you read French) here.

  • Esperanza International - they hope to transform individuals into a "person of love, compassion, respect for all other peoples and cultures and will intentionally act upon that transformation." They want to work across borders towards sustainable, dignified housing for everyone. Volunteers build homes and other projects in Tijuana. Learn more here.


They seem expensive upfront. Why should I get one?

I know, I know. I'm a poor college student and I have no money either and 30$ is literally my week's worth of groceries so why would I use it on a t-shirt?
Here are some reasons:

1) If you're reading this, that means you have some sort of access to the internet so I'm going to take a guess that you probably struggle with a lot of #firstworldproblems, like your phone is going to die before you finish reading this post and your charger is all the way over there by the couch. I am going to advise you to take a step back from those worries and think about people with #thirdworldproblems for a moment. 

What if you didn't even have access to a grocery store and relied on your farm for food and you were in the middle of a huge drought? What if you had HIV from birth and needed medical attention but because of your failing farm, you didn't have the money to go to the doctor, let alone pay for the medication that treats HIV? What if you used an old bucket to wave in dirty water off the dirt road to drink after you ride your bike 3 miles home to your families? Maybe you don't care about yourself too much. So pretend that was your daughter, son, niece, nephew, uncle, best friend... Do you still struggle with getting up to charge your phone when your loved one is suffering from one (or more) of these problems?

2) I can get you a 15% off discount. Leave a comment and I will contact you. Or, if you don't want to, they have a sale going on where if you click on the elephant on the right, it will give you a 10% off discount code. 

3) You can choose the charity. You have a passion for ex-military? Buy the shirt that has the pocket that will donate to that organization. You want to help cure cancer? Same deal, buy the shirt that corresponds with that organization. You can make a difference the organization you support!        

5% doesn't sound like a lot.

I know it doesn't. If you buy the most expensive product, the Button Down, for 65$, you are only giving $3.25 to your selected charity. You can't always even buy a gallon of gas with that much. But, if you think on the optimistic side, that gallon of gas that you could give someone could help them reach a place potentially 25 miles away (assuming they don't have a 2014 car with excellent mileage).

I would like to tell you that it's okay if it's only $3.25! You are still thinking like a rich American. All of the donations add up quickly. If every person in the USA (313.9 million in 2012) bought one of these shirts, we would get up to $1,020,175,000 (which translates into one billion, twenty million, one hundred seventy-five thousand DOLLARS). You could help make a billionaire out of these donations.

If that still doesn't convince you, look at the current exchange rates of the US dollar:
$3.25 US dollar = 28.79 Botswana Pula
                          = 26.48 Argentine Peso
                          = 3.47 Australian Dollar
                          = 252.20 Bangladeshi Tak
                          = 6.48 Belize Dollar
                          =13146.25 Cambodian Riel
                          = 1818.80 Chilean Peso
                          = 20.16 Chinese Yuan
                          = 64.11 Ethiopian Birr
                          = 25.17 Guatemalan Que
                          = 38155.00 Indonesia Rupia
                          = 330.60 Japanese Yen
                          = 284.86 Kenyan Shilling
                          = 7826.00 Malagsy Ariay
                          = 34.68 Namibian Dollar
                          = 141.76 Philippine Peso
                          = 34.73 South African Rand
                          = 3355.14 South Korean Won
                          = 8537.75 Ugandan Shilling

Your donation could still go a long way in someone's life.

Where can I buy one or learn more? 

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Every Kind of Cat 2.0


Alas, the journey to introduce a cat into my husband's heart continues. Circumstances are almost just as bleak as before, namely for these reasons:

1) It is very hard to find a place to rent that allows pets


2) We are poor, and pets have the potential to be expensive, so it's a risky investment

3) My husband doesn't like cats (but he likes me, who likes cats). See my other post about that if you didn't already know.

I feel that my tactics have become more convincing as the discussion has continued.



Watch this video:





Because, I have made some progress:
So now, the game has changed.
Look out landlords, here I come.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Ten Things that Change When You Get Married

When you get married, a lot of things change. First off, your name changes (if you so choose) and it takes forever for it to change everywhere.

Second off, "girlfriend" turns to "fiance" turns to "wife." What the weird.

Third off, you suddenly get enormously more busy for some reason that I haven't figured out yet, but all I know is that we are so busy!!

Fourth off, you get Pell Grants, because you're poorer than a baby kitten sitting in the rain in a cardboard box. That needs a home.



Fifth off, you eat more because you have a whole kitchen to yourselves that you can rightfully hog, so it's okay to take two hours to make a fancy dinner.

Sixth off, being married also gives you more authority with other adults... despite the fact that you were still an adult before you got married and should be treated equally anyways because America is all about equality and bla bla bla, but that discussion is not for this blog.

Seventh off, people treat you differently, because you're married.

Seventh-point-one off, a lot of married people only function in pairs, and pairs only. This is a seemingly unspoken rule that I didn't know about before. Therefore, when one or both pairs are separated for whatever reason, any social encounter with another person is significantly stalled and increasingly more awkward. Almost to the point where it is sexist.











Eighth off, along the same lines of seventh off, making and keeping friends is a lot more difficult. The first reason is discussed in my other blog: Why Your Friends Die After Getting Engaged/Married. It's very hard to stay friends with your non-married friends.
The second reason is because to be friends with a married couple, all four of you have to like all four of you, and that's a lot of people to like. Okay, I guess you already like your spouse. So then you both have to like two whole married people at the same time. And then they have to like you both! So being BFFy is hard.

Ninth off, all the major credit card companies suddenly want you and send you tons of mail. Which is nice, getting mail is always an exciting thing, even if it is from an impersonal bank that just wants your money.

Tenth off, you start to understand concept of Price Vs. Quality.
Refer back to Fourth off.


Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Every Kind of Cat

My husband doesn't like cats. When he was just barely brought home from the hospital as a baby, his family's cat pounced on his face and gave him a black eye.


Now, I love cats.


Almost as much as this famous lady. And I have spent the last two years trying to convince my husband to let us get a cat eventually. I have had to get very creative.

I've tried to convince him that cats love him.




I've tried to convince him that cats are poor and need a home.

I've tried to show him that cats are adorable.



I've tried to show him the protective qualities that cats have, and how they could benefit us and our future family.

And I've even tried to show him that engineers just like him also love cats. (I know the video is long, but it's worth it if you have the time.)


So much, that the engineers even made a second video about how cool cats are.



Each time, the reaction is the same.
So I keep trying.


Despite the unpromising outlook, one day this will be a thing.