Fun Fact

While serving a 2-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I had the opportunity to train Elder Lund.  ('Elder' is a title used to denote one's status as a missionary.  To 'train' a missionary is to be the first person they're assigned to work with - in other words, to show them the ropes and teach them how to be a good missionary.)  Elder Lund trained Elder Goodwin.  Elder Goodwin trained Elder Evans.  Elder Evans currently teaches at the Missionary Training Center (an incubator for missionaries).  And at the MTC, Elder Evans "may or may not" (wink) have taught American Idol star/pop singer-songwriter David Archuleta.

So, in a very direct and personal way, I taught David Archuleta everything he knows about how to be a missionary.

The Test

"Yeah, about the test.  The test will measure whether you are an informed, engaged, and productive citizen of the world, and it will take place in schools and bars and hospitals and dorm rooms and in places of worship.  You will be tested on first dates, in job interviews, while watching football, and while scrolling through your Twitter feed.  The test will judge your ability to think about things other than celebrity marriages, whether you'll be easily persuaded by empty political rhetoric, and whether you'll be able to place your life and your community in a broader context.  The test will last your entire life and it will be comprised of the millions of decisions that, when taken together, make your life yours.  And everything, EVERYTHING, will be on it."


-John Green (click here for source)

PS - I'm not posting this in a "being an arrogant jerk at others' expense" type of way.  Interpret my intentions in a "please don't let this happen to you or your children" type of way.

VC3

One of my first posts was about Eric Whitacre's virtual choir.  Well, the third one was released a little more than a week ago.  Here it is:

3746 videos uploaded from 73 countries - that's amazing.  Honestly I like the second one a lot more - not just because I like the song better, but I think the visuals are less cheesy.  But this one's still super cool.


The sad thing is that I could have been in this one - I was just too lazy/busy to get around to it.  I also didn't own a webcam at the time.  Oh well... I'm sure they'll do a fourth one.

The Niece

So I'm an uncle, and it's one of the coolest things EVER.  Especially when my niece is literally the cutest baby ever.  No, I do not just mean really really cute, and it's not just because "she's family and so she's the cutest to me".  I mean that my niece is actually the cutest baby that exists - period.  Her name is Evette Rose McQuay!


I'm a TA, and last semester I told my students I became an uncle.  Look what one of them wrote on his homework assignment!

I'm very excited for my sister and brother-in-law and their upcoming adventure moving to Dallas.  However, that means that Niece will be leaving, which is sad.  So I babysit her whenever I can before they leave this summer!


My sister is quite the blogger (see here), and Evette has been the star for the past six-ish months.  But the photos below are never-before-seen exclusives taken by me!  My sister doesn't even have copies yet (hee hee).  Here she is:

This was taken about 4 hours after she was born.

These are from Evette's first babysit - by me!  I brought some inflatable dinosaurs for a surprise.  She didn't know what to think!

 Another babysit picture - she's helping me do my genetics homework!

 Cowgirl

Mariachi girl

Here are some of my favorites from my sister's blog:

I gave this outfit to Evette for Christmas - it says "My First Jackson Pollock" with a picture of a blank canvass!

 Giggles with Uncle Dan!

 Niece + Dinosaur = The Best

 Probably my favorite picture of her!

 This looks like a face Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes) would make.

 Another Calvin-esque face.

For all the single ladies out there, just remember that I've got half the DNA it takes to make a baby this cute!  The rest is up to you...

Walden

Last October, someone brought a live katydid into my classroom during a class break.  He/she (I think it was probably a he) was about to take it back outside, but I was too fascinated by it.  I volunteered to take care of the bug and kept it with me throughout my chemistry class.  This little guy held my almost undivided attention for the next fifty minutes:

The katydid was obviously much more interesting than chemistry.  Its head robotically moved from side to side, independent of its segmented body.  Using its front legs, the bug would clean its antennae by sliding them through its mandibles.  A small piece of poop appeared at the end of the abdomen; apparently lacking the "pinching" muscle, katydid used its back leg to kick and detach the pellet.  Occasionally (and unexpectedly), it would spread its wings and fly across the desk, startling me and nearby students (also distracted) - especially when it landed on my shirt.  Fortunately nobody was sitting in the desk next to me, so it had some room to move about.  The desks were facing south - for some reason, katydid kept trying to move in that direction.  I would turn it in different directions as to disorient it and keep it nearby for further observation, but it was all in vain.  Apparently its internal compass pointed true.  Perhaps katydid knew the winter was coming and was trying to head toward warmer climates.  The tricky part was that there were two girls sitting in front of me, unaware of the fun going on behind them.  I had to stop the bug from crawling onto their shoulders or from flying into their hair.  It wasn't easy.  Eventually, katydid ended up on the floor and crawled south (toward the front of the classroom).  Unfortunately, I lost track.  Hopefully it ended up back outside!

I somewhat reminded myself of Thoreau during his time at Walden Pond - enjoying and observing a small piece of creation.  I think I'm a bit of a naturalist - I very much enjoy nature and the beauty of the world around me.  My garden is coming along nicely - several daffodils now have bright yellow blossoms.  Here are some more nature pictures that I've taken over the past few months:

a sunset, taken December 2011

some nice flowers on my way to school, March 2012

Venus (bright) and Jupiter (below), taken tonight

(So my last post received more hits in 24 hours after being put online than my previously-most-viewed post, which has been up for almost a year.  Weird.)