Mar 28, 2010
Mar 23, 2010
Topaz Trip
On Saturday I went on a trip to Delta to visit the Japanese internment camp, Topaz.
When the camp was shut down the buildings were sold off and torn out, but the trash - now called "artifiacts" - remains along with a small monument.
Let's play "I Spy" among the sagebrush: the foundation to a recreation hall, thousands of rusty nails and countless glass shards, burnt remains, terra cotta pots, a stove, one of many safety-pins and do-dads, and two interesting rock finds.
These are homemade inkwells carved out of rocks. Above is the ornate one displayed in the museum. To the left is an unfinished one found by a guy in our group. It was taken back to the museum.
Above the fancy inkwell is another decorative rock, I think. It looks like a pile of rocks, but it's actually hollowed out plaster and lava rocks from the mountains in the distance, with a sheet of glass embedded in between. The only use we could imagine for it was decoration. It's interesting to see that although the internees were denied their rights, their property, and were relocated to the middle of nowhere, they still found creative outlets - even if it involved collecting rocks. There were some spots where you could see somebody had whole piles of trilobites, interesting rocks, and minerals. They did have more than just rocks though; there is a lot of artwork that came out of Topaz. In fact, BYU had a display of it and the Springville art museum will be showing it too this summer. The most sobering part of the trip wasn't reading off the statistics or hearing the stories, but when we were walking around, the curator found the arm of a doll. It's hard to imagine the rows and rows of barracks now gone, but old bits of toys somehow made it more real.
So, what do you think?
When the camp was shut down the buildings were sold off and torn out, but the trash - now called "artifiacts" - remains along with a small monument.
Let's play "I Spy" among the sagebrush: the foundation to a recreation hall, thousands of rusty nails and countless glass shards, burnt remains, terra cotta pots, a stove, one of many safety-pins and do-dads, and two interesting rock finds.
These are homemade inkwells carved out of rocks. Above is the ornate one displayed in the museum. To the left is an unfinished one found by a guy in our group. It was taken back to the museum.
Above the fancy inkwell is another decorative rock, I think. It looks like a pile of rocks, but it's actually hollowed out plaster and lava rocks from the mountains in the distance, with a sheet of glass embedded in between. The only use we could imagine for it was decoration. It's interesting to see that although the internees were denied their rights, their property, and were relocated to the middle of nowhere, they still found creative outlets - even if it involved collecting rocks. There were some spots where you could see somebody had whole piles of trilobites, interesting rocks, and minerals. They did have more than just rocks though; there is a lot of artwork that came out of Topaz. In fact, BYU had a display of it and the Springville art museum will be showing it too this summer. The most sobering part of the trip wasn't reading off the statistics or hearing the stories, but when we were walking around, the curator found the arm of a doll. It's hard to imagine the rows and rows of barracks now gone, but old bits of toys somehow made it more real.
So, what do you think?
Mar 13, 2010
My Addictions
Confession time...I am addicted.
Completely addicted.
Totally addicted.
Shamefully addicted.
Mar 10, 2010
Random
You know I'm actually sick of the word 'random', but it is the only thing that describes this post, and looking up synonyms for random is useless. No other word works quite like it.
Anyway--here you go:
First, I had an epiphany. Why in the world am I going to school, working to pay for school, and staying up all night doing homework if sometimes I'm afraid that I'll never get to use my degree?! I have no time, no money, no sleep, and plenty of stress, and for what? So I can get married and have children (which I do want, don't worry) and then never actually teach history someday? I was lamenting this with my BFF Jill--yes I have an "idk my bff Jill"--when we realized that moms have no time, no money, no sleep, and for what, or who? Well the answer is obvious, and I gained a little perspective. It's still a little frustrating, but such is life, and I've never heard of anybody regretting education.
Second, check out this awesome portrayal of early September of 1776 for the Continental Army. The design, coloring, and half of the drawing was by yours truly, but I had to have Rebecca draw some of the faces.
Third, I have been thinking about something terribly sad. A guy from back in junior high, 8th grade English to be exact, committed suicide last weekend. He jumped out the window of his apartment in Los Angeles. I feel that with crime shows on TV and the news and intense movies, we talk about and view death and suicide quite a lot, but hearing about this has put a gray cloud over my week. It made me think about what I remember about Michael, sitting next to me in Ms. Aland's class. It made me think about later in high school when Mr. Tanner drilled into us that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. It made me think about Ms. Kelley telling about students that she was able to help before they made that mistake and those who she wasn't able help. I thought about how many times me and my friends joke about "throwing ourselves off the top of the swkt" (Kimball Tower). I feel bad about that because life is precious and I forget that too easily. When Jeff passed away Teresa was motivated to start living some of her dreams, so she made arrangements to take care of a horse like she has always wanted. Hearing about Michael makes me want to fight the urge to get overwhelmed and down on myself. It makes me want to appreciate every single day, whether it's gray or sunny.
Fourth and last, on a lighter note, I thoroughly enjoyed going to the BYU Creamery and Bean Museum with Grandma, Aunt Debbie, Tristan, Teresa, Andrea, Elizabeth, Nathaniel, and Marinda. I love spending time with my awesome cousins!
So those are my random thoughts. What are your random thoughts?
Anyway--here you go:
First, I had an epiphany. Why in the world am I going to school, working to pay for school, and staying up all night doing homework if sometimes I'm afraid that I'll never get to use my degree?! I have no time, no money, no sleep, and plenty of stress, and for what? So I can get married and have children (which I do want, don't worry) and then never actually teach history someday? I was lamenting this with my BFF Jill--yes I have an "idk my bff Jill"--when we realized that moms have no time, no money, no sleep, and for what, or who? Well the answer is obvious, and I gained a little perspective. It's still a little frustrating, but such is life, and I've never heard of anybody regretting education.
Second, check out this awesome portrayal of early September of 1776 for the Continental Army. The design, coloring, and half of the drawing was by yours truly, but I had to have Rebecca draw some of the faces.
Third, I have been thinking about something terribly sad. A guy from back in junior high, 8th grade English to be exact, committed suicide last weekend. He jumped out the window of his apartment in Los Angeles. I feel that with crime shows on TV and the news and intense movies, we talk about and view death and suicide quite a lot, but hearing about this has put a gray cloud over my week. It made me think about what I remember about Michael, sitting next to me in Ms. Aland's class. It made me think about later in high school when Mr. Tanner drilled into us that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. It made me think about Ms. Kelley telling about students that she was able to help before they made that mistake and those who she wasn't able help. I thought about how many times me and my friends joke about "throwing ourselves off the top of the swkt" (Kimball Tower). I feel bad about that because life is precious and I forget that too easily. When Jeff passed away Teresa was motivated to start living some of her dreams, so she made arrangements to take care of a horse like she has always wanted. Hearing about Michael makes me want to fight the urge to get overwhelmed and down on myself. It makes me want to appreciate every single day, whether it's gray or sunny.
Fourth and last, on a lighter note, I thoroughly enjoyed going to the BYU Creamery and Bean Museum with Grandma, Aunt Debbie, Tristan, Teresa, Andrea, Elizabeth, Nathaniel, and Marinda. I love spending time with my awesome cousins!
So those are my random thoughts. What are your random thoughts?
Mar 3, 2010
Mar 1, 2010
March Resolutions
Obviously, I missed New Years resolutions.
Instead of committing myself to some goals for as long as they last, I am just going to take it one week at a time.
This week I will
Instead of committing myself to some goals for as long as they last, I am just going to take it one week at a time.
- actually follow through on my homework to-do lists
- because I'm way behind
- go on a week-long media fast to clear my head
- my weaknesses will be music and hulu.com
- attend the temple with Melissa on Thursday
- read the Book of Mormon for more than school or just with my family
- get my computer fixed!
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