Wed. March 18th. 2009. Mark It On The Calendar As...

... the Day that Jamie may not live through.

My life this past week...

6 tests taken
3 papers written
1 history book approved
1 rock final finished
2 basketball practices practiced

6 mailrooms sorted

1 missionary birthday letter sent
1 5k run and 20 miles of running accomplished
1 talk written/given
2 old friends caught up with
1 suitcase packed

1 brain burnt out

and yet still to go...

1 american lit. paper that may end up being the one cursed thing that leads to my downfall.

The depressing paper is due at 7:30 tomorrow morning before I leave for Oregon. How many pages I have done, you ask? Zilch, nada, nothin'. I consider this a problem.

My creativity is shot and nothing is flowing as I sit here at the computer waiting for something intelligent to enter my head so I can bust it out onto some 8 x 12 paper and run it up to my teacher's office bright and early tomorrow.

Who needs American Lit. anyways? Let me just enjoy reading for exactly that-reading. Who cares about analyzing Robert Frost and what he really means in his poems?

Thanks to the Robertson's who have let me take over their night lives for a couple of evenings and helped me brainstorm for this wonderful essay (now all I have to do is put it onto paper and sound good) and a shoutout to the Lloyds who I was lucky enough to see last night!

Rock On

We've all seen the Rocky Movie Series... For those of you who don't know-I love Rocky. I even have the Rocky theme song on my phone and I have the Rocky yell down to perfection. The only reason I'm telling you all of this? Because I happen to be having a final on ROCKS in exactly one week. Yep. ONE week. It's kind of coming quickly. And when Jamie gets stressed? She either goes for a run (it's been too cold) or she listens to great music like the Rocky theme song to build her up. What's funny about all of this? The fact that I'm listening to the Rocky theme song so I can take a final on ROCKS. How's that for happenstance? Anywho, I thought I'd give you a taste of what I've been up to for the past 5 hours...

This clear rock formation is actually a mineral called Calicite. It's nice to look at, but it also looks EXACTLY like...

HALITE!
Get this, this clear rock formation is a mineral also and the only way you can differentiate between calcite and halite is by licking Halite (which tastes like salt). So yes, I have been licking rocks. Who knew I'd actually have to ever do that for an actual grade?! It's kind of disgusting too, it's makes me wonder, Who else has licked this rock?

Let me introduce to you this bad boy named Gabbro. Cool name? Yup. It's an igneous rock that is cooled slowly inside of a volcano. However, it looks exactly like...

BASALT!
Basalt is also igneous and is cooled inside of the earth also. I'm sure you're dying to know how you tell these two apart? Basalt has the teeniest tiniest little air bubbles that you can barely call air bubbles.

So that's it. My life. For the next week. Rocks. Thought of the day? Who cares?

Good News of the Month!

I. Am. Going. To... OREGON!

For those of you who don't know, BYU has some insane reason for not having Spring Break. So... I'm making my own (Yes, this does mean I miss 3 days of school, but hey, I'm actually getting things done early for once and not procrastinating). I am going to have a wonderful 5 day vacation with two of my very best friends: a.k.a-Misty and Codi. Thanks to Codi we all have an excuse to go to Oregon for her work training thingamabob. The beach, hiking, and getting lost in the airport-I will see you all in a blissful 2 weeks!

Remember how I only have 2 weeks before we leave though? The only doubts I'm having?---Rock Final, 2 Papers, 4 midterms, and a 350 page book to read.

History. It Might Just Be My Downfall.

I love learning about history. Really, I do. But who cares if the Qin Empire began in 221 BCE or if the Olmec culture was one of the longest cultures to last way back when? Honestly? I don't care. Maybe I need a better attitude about history. I love learning about all of the World Wars and about my pioneer heritage. Geez, I even like learning about the history of the planet. However, I do not care about when some person's village got destroyed and demolished by a mud slide or who got what after so and so died. Maybe it is just me and I need to work on enjoying history.

What I really think though? One more semester of this and I'll never have to worry about worthless history again.

First Five

Let's be honest, I NEVER do these things. But the fact that I am now getting something out of Skate has made me breakdown and do this. So... here goes!

The first people to leave a comment on this blog will receive something made by me. That's right, Me. Myself. And I. However there are some limitations...

1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It will be done this year. (might take a while)
4. You have not clue what it is going to be, a photo, something I have craftily put together, or sewn. I may bake something and mail it you. All I know is, it will be AWESOME!
5. *DISCLAIMER* I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. It may blow your mind! Here is the catch, if you choose to do this. You must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog (because i am so awesome, my AWESOMENESS must be spread around the bloggosphere).

Remember to post your mailing address if you know I don't have it (which will be most of you unless you're in the ward). :)

Ready. Set. Post!

F. U. N.

Fun (fun):

1. A source of enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure.
2. Enjoyment; amusement: "have fun at the beach."
3. Playful, often noisy, activity.

(Yes. We are artists. The gallery opens at the end of the month.)

I sure had my share of fun today. I was amused. I enjoyed myself. And it was definitely a noisy activity. Let me present to you something I haven't done since I was 3 years old... FINGERPAINTING! I think we did a pretty good job considering our fingerpainting skills have been out of commission for over a decade. I've missed the ooey gooey-ness of the fingerpaint that comes in the simple form of primary colors. Childhood memories from when I would paint with my sisters at the table with paintbrush in hand and paper towels standing at the ready came rushing back in a wave of nostalgia.

It made me think, Why did I ever stop doing this in the first place?

Series of Unfortunate Events

Introducing the new series release of "The Series of Unfortunate Events-Jamie Style!" Included in this series will be Jamie's adventures through the harsh reality of college life and the epic of homework assignments, books, and papers yet to be written. Welcome to the first episode, doubly named, "Death by American Literature 101."

CAUTION-This is what it looks like, if you happen to see anything simliar to it; Run. Away. Fast. We first tried to be friends, but we're fast becoming enemies.

After a grueling 3 hours of high maintenance stress, Jamie has finally finished every flashcard, note, and memorization needed for her American Lit. test tomorrow. Every little date from when Columbus sailed the ocean blue to Benjamin Franklin's extreme obsessive compulsiveness over personal improvement (the man was a genius, but seriously, have some fun once in a while!) Cotton Mather was a sick man who had nothing better to do than to accuse innocent women of witchcraft and Anne Bradstreet had a split personality that makes for a confusing read through her poems.

Stay tuned for another episode in my life. I guarantee there will be more in future events. Until next time-this is Little Jay Madsen Broadcasting, over and out.