WALK IT OFF!

YOU KNOW WHAT I HATE!?

Condescension! Seriously, condescension is my biggest pet peeve...and ironically, I seem to get it more than anyone else. What I really hate is when stupid people talk to me like I'm stupid. You people have some nerve!


YOU KNOW WHAT I LOVE!?

This:



...and then, he gets his 72 virgins:



Hahaha, thanks to Family Guy for that pic.


YOU KNOW WHAT I HATE!?

When fat people complain ad nauseam about being fat...and make no effort whatsoever to lose weight. Dang people, WALK IT OFF! I was a blimp two years ago, but when I re-joined ROTC, I made a concerted effort to get in shape. Was it easy? Heck no! It took hours of running, swimming, push-ups and sit-ups. Not the funnest way to spend one's spare time, but a heck of a lot more productive than sitting around and whining!


YOU KNOW WHAT I LOVE!?



In fact, I'm snacking on them right now.



YOU KNOW WHAT I HATE!?

SMOKERS!!! If you smoke, you're an idiot. Of course, there are old people who started smoking back when it was socially accepted...but my generation has no excuse. We were taught that smoking was stupid and unhealthy starting in kindergarten. When we were little kids, ALL of us knew smoking was bad...but apparently some of got dumber as we grew older.

What really bothers me is when smokers get indignant when I point out how smoking is stupid and unhealthy. Well gosh, if you've already heard this before, why the heck do you still smoke? And don't get angry at me, you smoke so you're the stupid one! You should apologize to me for breathing my air!

I think stupid people are just as annoyed by my smartness as I am by their stupidity.

...and only a stupid person would take offense to me bashing stupid people!

'HISPANIC' IS NOT A RACE!!!

Well, conservatives have their knickers in a twist over these "racially-charged" comments made by Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Sonia Sotomayor:

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,"

Wow, that's outrageous. Just switch the terms "Latina woman" and "white male" and this quote could easily be attributed to David Duke. Of course, Sotomayor's apologists insist she wasn't nominated simply because of her gender and ethnicity, but we all know that's laughable. I mean, was it just a coincidence that Clarence Thomas was nominated to fill the vacancy left by Thurgood Marshall? Come on!

What irks me more than anything it how Judge Sotomayor seems to think that "Hispanic" and "white" are mutually exclusive (I know I've gone over this topic before, but people don't seem to get it!) Okay, now here's a question:

What's the whitest country in the Western Hemisphere?

It's...URUGUAY!!!

According to Uruguayan Institute of Statistics, 94.6% of that country's population are of European descent. Here are some Uruguayan friends I met on my mission (pictured with yours truly):



Hmmm...I wonder what race these people are. I don't have a PhD in anthropology, but I'd wager these people can be considered white.

I cringe whenever I hear the word "Hispanic" used a racial category, because in reality, a Hispanic person can be of any race.

So, what do YOU do for a living?

How cool is this? BYU engineers made this super-go kart:





That's so awesome. Engineering is boring, but the applications are amazing.

Pop quiz!

Who said the following?:

"I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage."

Was it...

(A) Carrie Prejean

(B) Jerry Falwell

(C) John Wayne

(D) Barack Obama



If you guessed (D), you're right...and apparently better-informed than good chunk of the American public.


I was left incredulous by the mixed reactions of liberals on last year's election day. They celebrated the election of President Obama, but were aghast at the passage of California's Proposition 8. Some columnists even noted the irony on how America took a great step forward by electing its first black president, while we also took a step backward by supporting "bigoted" legislation that eliminated gay marriage in California.

Gosh. Did these people not get the memo that President Obama opposes same-sex marriage?


Why isn't anyone calling him a bigot?

Big news in the Beehive State.

Whaddya know!? Utah Governor Jon Huntsman stepped down from his post to accept an ambassadorship to China:



Props to President Obama for making the appointment based on qualifications and experience, instead of rewarding a political crony. Click here to read the glowing praise Mr. Obama gives him.

Jon Huntsman served an LDS mission in Taiwan thirty years ago, and still speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. My dad graduated with Ambassador Huntsman (Brighton High, class of '78), though I have a feeling he and my dad did not run with the same crowd.

Some GOP pundits have eyed Mr. Huntsman as a potential Presidential candidate for 2012. He certainly has an impressive in resume in terms of international relations and business, Utah has prospered economically under his tenure as a governor, AND he's a clean-cut family man with a squeaky-clean public image. But, alas, we saw in 2008 that anti-Mormon bias among conservative Evangelicals (who form a large part of the GOP base --- especially in the critical Southern states) made Mitt Romney unelectable. It'll be awhile before America elects an LDS president...at least a Republican one.

Still, it would be interesting to see Mr. Huntsman court Chinese-American voters (who're definitely a growing demographic) on the campaign trail. Last year, when my roommate (who also served in Taiwan ) and I went to Arches National Park we ran into a Chinese family as we were coming down the hiking trail. The dad asked Drew in halting English how far they were from the Delicate Arch. Drew replied, in Mandarin, "You'll be there in about ten minutes." Stunned, the Chinese man stared at Drew and uttered the one phrase I understand: "...shiu-shiu!" ("thank you!") The Chinese family were amazed that an American could speak Mandarin.

I speak Spanish...but Hispanic people generally aren't impressed when speak Spanish to them...but then again, I've been told that I speak the language well enough to pass for a native speaker. Drew, however, can't pass for a native Chinese speaker no matter how good he gets (and he is pretty dang good.)

The bigger the better!

Wikipedia has an interesting chart ranking every state in the union by obesity rates. I wasn't surprised to see Mississippi at the top of the list...during my stay in Hattiesburg, it seemed everyone not in a uniform was morbidly obese. I was, however, surprised to find Utah ranked 44th in overall obesity (portly people are ubiquitous in this state.) Utah is also ranked dead last in childhood obesity...but that didn't surprise me. In Utah, kids play outside year-round and do boy scouts, sports, etc.

Utah statistics are fun...the fact that a majority of the state's residents are members of the Church has a noticeable influence on society and demographics.

One guy in my steel design class is married and has three young children. He lives in Spanish Fork, about twenty minutes south of Provo. The town is nearly crime-free, and the neighborhood has plenty of other kids the same age as his (despite having the greatest longevity rate, Utah is also the youngest state in the union --- the median age in Utah Valley is 22!) When he first moved here, he acknowledged that Utah seemed a quirky place...but, it's also a great environment to raise a family. I guess that's why Utah's the fourth fastest-growing state.

Speaking of families, the man-shrew has been tamed:



Semester after semester, he eschewed ward activities and social events, but now my roommate Drew has found the woman of his dreams, and in this photo, he's giving her an impromptu manicure...I kid, I kid!

You'd prefer an engineer.

Well, Spring term started a three weeks ago and I'm already falling behind on my blog.

Right now I'm taking nine credit hours, the maximum BYU will allow during a Spring/Summer term (which are only half as long as the standard semesters.) I'm also working part-time as a custodian in the Cannon Center Cafeteria (where I also take full advantage of employee meal benefits, :-) )

One course I'm taking is ME 501: Stress Analysis and Design.

This class is nuts. Out of the twenty-something students in the class, I'm one of four undergraduates...the rest are graduate students. It's a graduate-level course, but as an undergrad, I have the option of taking it as a "technical elective" for my BS degree. Oh, and there are no females in this class.

Here's a sample of some of the homework we do:



I average about eight pages per assignment. It's maddening, and nearly impossible without outside help. Fortunately, the professor leaves the homework solutions in the classroom for students to check with (under the assumption that, as graduate students, we're motivated enough to take the time to learn the material and not merely copy.) On our first test I spent a solid hour on the first question, even though I exactly what I was doing.

Who would've thought aircraft components could be so complicated?

New apartment!

On Monday I moved into my new apartment, in a complex about two miles north of campus called Carriage Cove. It seems nice.

Here's my room:



We have private rooms, which definitely has it's perks. It's almost as if I'm living by myself, in fact, I STILL HAVEN'T MET ONE OF MY ROOMMATES! Can you believe that? I caught a quick glance at him on moving day, but haven't seen him since.

Anyway, here's the kitchen:



...which I never use because I eat in the cafeteria. Accordingly, I keep myself exempt for kitchen maintenance duties. Heh heh.

Here's the balcony that we use as a barbershop:



Drew asked me to buzz his head because (1) he no longer works as a teacher in the MTC and (2) his fiancee is out of town on an internship...speaking of which, it's going to be sad not having him as a roommate anymore.