Late Night

There is something really great about working late on Friday evenings.
It is like when you have to leave the house early on Mondays when it is dark and rainy, or when plans to go out get changed and so you end up not leaving the house at all. It's very hermit-like and it breeds self pity. I really like it.
I stayed late working on my next paper today and used my new bike lights coming home. Pretty fun stuff. My front light is one of those super-bright blinky ones. It is kind of like a strobe light.
Hmm. Whatever. Nothing else is going on. I'll be at the library all day tomorrow too. Probably I will write a blog post to procrastinate.

yikes

It is a good thing I love Soapy or else I would sell her for a hamburger.

She screamed for forty minutes straight today. It was awful. She didn't eat, didn't want to be still and didn't want to move around. I could get her to slow down with the screaming if I put her on her stomach, but it made her even angrier when I picked her up later. I don't even remember her stopping. I stopped listening (which was hard because she was on my shoulder) and then I realized she hadn't been screaming for a while and she was asleep.

I don't even know what you are supposed to do when a baby is so tired she screams. She keeps herself awake because she is screaming, and she keep screaming because she is so tired and miserable. Also, she swallowed so much air she kept burping when she tried to take a breath and cried even harder. Tragedies.

But things are better now.
She is a pretty great baby overall.

Hodge podge

Yo. I picked up some more sweet medicine today. My INH tuberculosis killer pills. I had to ride downtown to get them and of course my bike has to freak out on me.

No. I wish. It was really dumb. The chain fell off again but this time it doubled up on itself in the back and locked up the rear wheel so I skidded real bad. I took it into the bike shop after I got to my doctor's appointment (45 seconds before they called my name! Woo!) and they said that the chain was too loose.
Then they fixed it.

The worst part about the whole thing was that I was kind of showing off a little bit and I flew past like four joggers and another biker. I was so sleek and dragonfly-like, but then mein Fahrrad went gefrizted and I was off on the side of the bike path trying to untangle the mess and everyone of them passed me by. I was so humiliated. Also, when you are working on your bicycle is the worst time to be wearing a dorky helmet and have a pantleg rolled up. At least if you are going fast they have to move out of your way or they think you are reckless or something cool and intimidating like that. When your bike is broken, you are just a big 3 year old with bad style.

So that was a pretty awesome trip. But now I am back on campus working on homework. I have a memo due in a few weeks on invasion of privacy cases from Arkansas. I don't even know how I can manage to hold myself back. Procrastination is definitely the furthest thing from my mind. I would be working harder on it, but I just feel so gross. It is super humid here today you see, and I have this big gross sweat stain on my back. Look:
Gross huh? It's worse to have it. (I had a hard time figuring out how to push the button for the shutter while I was turned around. I had a lot of blooper shots.)
So I realized I can post picture of myself on my blog with my webcam. I had to post a little talent show while I was at it. And with that, i finish to do more homework.
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nevermind. it was taking like hours to load. anyways, it was a sweet video. maybe some other time.

Bananas

In Torts today we were going over different negligence cases. Three cases in a row dealt with banana peels on the ground. I loved it. I drew little pictures of each banana peel in my case book.

The first was in a Massachusetts train station in 1901. The plaintiff was suing the defendant railway company for negligence. He stepped out of the train onto the dock right after it had pulled into the station and slipped on a banana peel. The case made its way to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts where it was heard by then Chief Justice Holmes (who was later one of the most famous US Supreme Court Justices ever and also has a sweet mustache) who said that it was impossible to tell when it had fallen on the ground, and it could have just barely been dropped, so the defendant won.

The next case was in a train station in 1911 but I don't remember where. A woman asked one of the employees of the station where she should go to get to her platform and he told her to follow him. She did and as they were walking, she slipped on a banana peel that the employee had nimbly stepped over. The court ruled that it had been there long enough for an employee to have cleaned it up and the employee escorting the plaintiff obviously saw it was there, due to his artful dodging of it, but he didn't do anything about it, so the railway was found liable. I like that it was described as "gritty, black, with not a spot of yellow on it." Ha ha, 1911...

The third case involved a banana on the ground in an A&P. A woman stepped on it and slipped. The final court dismissed the claim because they said there was no way of telling how long it had been there. It could have been on the ground for thirty seconds or three days. Because she didn't have any proof of negligence on behalf of the store, the court found in favor of the defendant A&P.

All this banana talk got me to thinking about a book I read this summer. Shockingly enough, it was called "Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World" by Dan Koeppel.

I can say that it was probably the best book I read this year. I still think about it. Chapter 11 was pretty great: "Why Banana Peels are Funny." But it isn't a gag book or anything. The author has really done his research, has traveled around the world and has succinctly summarized the history of the banana. It is actually a fascinating story too.
For example, the banana we all know and see in the supermarket is called the Cavendish. It was not the banana that Americans knew before 1950. The bananas of Justice Holmes and Twinkle-toes were the Gros Michel. Due to a virus called Panama Disease that affected the soil, virtually every Gros Michel was exterminated by World War II. The Cavendish was immune to the disease so that is what we eat now. You notice we don't get too fancy with our bananas- you don't see a lot of varieties in the West. Just about every banana you will find in the world will be the Cavendish. Crazy. Especially because there are over one thousand varieties. This is just asking for trouble. There is no natural way for a Cavendish to grow. Every Cavendish in the world is a clone of another- they have no utilizable seeds. They are sterile berries. There is a disease going around right now that is affecting the Cavendish and could repeat what happened to Big Mike. The history of bananas is cool too. Cool in a tragic sort of way. The banana has destroyed nations and cultures and caused wars and spawned inventions such as refrigeration. Anyways, it is a great book and I can pretty much guarantee you will learn some cool new facts. It's not like we are taught a whole lot about bananas in school, and it seems as though the banana should have a pretty great story anyways. It is a fairly new fruit for the west.

Also, the author wrote an awesome article about a bike trek he took across China that I read in a biking magazine. I really like this guy.

Also, since you brought it up, I was riding my bike to school and my chain dropped. That isn't so bad on a bike with multiple gears and brakes and a free-wheel because you can just coast like normal and stop with the brakes, then use the rear derailleur to loosen tension to replace the chain on your rings, but on a fixed-gear bike you don’t have a derailleur or multiple gears and your chain is your brake, so dropping a chain = certain death. So I panicked but luckily the chain fell off both front and rear rings, so it just sat next to the rotating cog and didn't kill me. I thought I would have to walk it to a shop to get it fixed but luckily I am a bit of a genius at everything I try so it is all good now. I hope it never ever happens again.

Transfiguration

Yesterday while I was sitting with Sopwith (which was also a great computer game) waiting for Anna to finish drying her hair so we could get to Stake Conference on time (which didn’t really even matter considering daylight savings. Whatever.), I thought I would look up some churchy videos on YouTube. There was one called The Transfiguration by some Priest that I watched. It was ok- he focused on how when you have a spiritual experience you are likely to run into a lot of opposition directly after and then showed how Peter, James, and John were all mega-tested in that last week of the Savior’s life.

So I got to thinking and I decided that Peter, James, and John must have been terrified. They had known Christ for years and have walked with him and joked with him and fasted and camped out with him. They knew that he was the son of God, but I can’t imagine they understood everything that that meant. So they walk up to the top of this hill and Moses and Elijah show up and it sounds like they were both just talking with Christ. Peter offers to make a little shrine for them all and then BAM! a voice from a cloud said “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” and they all fell down on their faces. And then they walk down the mountain. I wish sometimes we had little side quips like on reality shows to have the disciples explain what they were thinking right then. That whole thing must have been pretty intense.

Joseph Smith said that “[t]he Savior, Moses, and Elias, gave the keys to Peter, James and John, on the mount, when they were transfigured before him. The Priesthood is everlasting—without father, mother, etc.” Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith p. 158. So the disciples experienced a lot more than just bright lights and a loud voice. They actually participated in it all and had things explained to them. That must have been so crazy. You know how you never really appreciate anything momentous as it is actually happening? It all seems so small and normal at the time; reading about it or watching it later seems much more meaningful. Anyways, it would be cool to have been there.

A hard day

So it turns out Anna and I don't have much contact to the outside world. Or at least the kind of outside world that would let us know it is Daylight Savings today. Thanks to Daylight Savings, Anna, the Spook-star, and I got to church 1 hour and 6 minutes early instead of just 6 minutes early. This wouldn't be so bad, except it was Stake Conference and we had to go to the Stake Center far away and we were all asked to be there early. We couldn't go home and then back again because then we would have lost a parking spot, a cushioned seat, and have had like 12 minutes at home.
Whatever.
At least we got to sit with all the other people who forgot it was Daylight Savings on the pews.
Also, for dinner we tried one of those packaged roasts that you can buy in the pack that has the vegetables and sauce and everything in it. Anna got it on sale for $4 so we thought we would try it out. It is cooking now, we haven't eaten it yet. It smells kind of funky like a large TV dinner. We might give up on it and finish that half pan of brownies and make hot chocolate. Oh, I hope I hope I hope we give up.

Candy

I read a book over the summer that I really liked. It was called Candy Freak and it was pretty much a book about candy in America. The author, Steve Almond (really!) visited a few candy factories across America because he likes candy and wanted to see them. I had two favorite factories.
One was the Idaho Candy Company that makes the Idaho Spud and the Cherry Cocktail along with a couple other candies. The author said this was one of his favorites and explained it thoroughly which is probably why I liked it too (also, I really like Idaho Spuds and I ate about one a week after reading this book until we left Utah). The owner is Dave Wagers, a young guy in his 30's, and is really excited to be making candy. It is a pretty great interview. I learned that they move sugar by blowing it onto the roof. They have this huge machine that will blow it all up. Awesome. Also, the secret ingredient is agar agar, a seaweed derivative that gives the spud its resilience.

My second favorite factory was the Standard Candy Company, which produces the Goo Goo Cluster. I haven't ever had a Goo Goo Cluster but apparently they are a pretty big deal. They are honored at Country Music Festivals and have been crowned as "The Official Candy Bar of the South." I liked the Goo Goo Cluster factory because it sounded so violent. It is not a uniform bar like a Reese's or a Toblerone- you expect those candies to come in a certain shape. The Goo Goo is a half caramel/half marshmallow disc that is dipped in chocolate, spun and shot at with flying peanuts, and then flung into another coating of chocolate. The author said his guide was just as excited as he was to watch all of it, and that they go to eat them off the conveyor.

Another part of the book mentioned that it is actually really hard to break into the candy market. People don't often go out and try new candies and stick with them. Candy is not something you improve upon to get more customers. People buy candy to make themselves feel good. It is a comfort thing and people buy what they are familiar with. We have a few candies that we like and we tend to stick to those most. I thought it was really interesting, especially because the companies that the author visited were only small companies- he didn't ever contact any of "the big three" (Hershey's, Mars, or Nestle). The small companies tended to only sell to surrounding areas. It's doubtful Idaho Spuds will start selling big in South Carolina, or that the Goo Goo Cluster will sweep Nebraska by storm (which is a shame because I am a little bit enchanted by the thought of it), but they do really well in their own neighborhoods and region.
So I think you should read it,

Also, I think you should let me know what your favorite candies are. I have included some of mine below.


Reese's Peanut Butter Cups- Best enjoyed NOT melted

Grape Bubbalicious- I liked eating these a whole pack at once so you are gnawing on just a section of it at a time. The flavor lasts longer that way and it's more fun.

TropiFrutti- Haribo makes them. They are a kind of gummy candy that are sort of hard on the outside and they have pretty cool flavors

Gushers- I kind of like these now because I was SO JEALOUS as a kid of all the other kids who got fruit snacks with liquid filling. The idea still blows me away. It is like those old toys that I wish I could go back and play with. I will probably always love Gushers now.

Pop Tarts- What can I say? I love them , but they are definitely candy. It's just an excuse to eat candy for breakfast. I think I like Pop Tarts for the same reason I like Gushers, but I actually have Pop Tarts because I feel like they are more excusable- sometimes I eat them for breakfast. What reason could I possibly have for buying Gushers? (I actually rarely eat my Pop Tarts for breakfast. It's kind of crazy, but I often think to myself "this is a normal weekday and I have to go to school- why would I waste a Pop Tart on today?")

Hershey's plain candy bars- I feel guilty that a "big three" is one of my favorites, but it is just so versatile and delicious. I don't think I believe that once you go Euro, you don't go back. It could also just be my bank account keeping me All American.

Galaxy- I think they might have these here in the US too, but I haven't tried it yet. I would get these in Cyprus from the Supermarket. It used to be a British Colony until like, '64 or something. Maybe '56. Anyways, they had lots of English imported stuff and it was pretty good. They have one kind that was filled with little pockets of caramel. I ate a LOT of candy as a missionary. Ha ha, once my companion and I thought we would make some homemade hot chocolate so I bought a half pound bar of white chocolate and we melted it down and added a cup of milk and drank it. We were so sick and had to stay in that evening because we both wanted to throw up. It was pretty much like drinking straight up fat.

Twizzlers pull and peel- I like these more for the novelty than for the actual taste. They kind of have a funky aftertaste (at least the Cherry ones do) but its really not too bad. Plus you can whip people with the strands.

Starburst- Yeah, Starbursts are pretty good.

Oh man, I've always wanted one of those 4 foot long gummy snakes. It seems like a dream. Or like, an airliner made out of gummy candy? That would be awesome. I have often thought about how cool it would be to jump into a pool of peanut butter. Not a sissy baby pool or anything, but to get thrown deep into the middle of an Olympic sized pool of peanut butter. I wonder if it would hurt.
Anyone else's candy wishes/dreams?