Thursday, April 30, 2009

Amen to Donne

I had a little too much caffeine today (one day I'll quit, I swear) and I'm having trouble sleeping. I hate staying up late. It's a sin, totally. :) Well, for me anyway. I was feeling a little creative and decided to write a poem. I'm pretty impressed with it, actually; its form is perhaps original. I haven't seen this construction before. It's probably been done before, but I haven't seen it. So there. :) I'll just tell you. It's 8 syllables in one line, and the next line has 2 syllables. The second syllable in every 2 lines rhymes with the 6th syllable of the previous line. How about that, right?
Its title: Amen to Donne. I'll explain after you read this fun little ditty (and don't freak out. I'm a poet and therefore get to exaggerate and fictionalize. One should never assum the speaker of the poem and its author are one in the same.) With no further adieu:

Amen to Donne
It is woven within my being,
This sin.
A parasite, it seems, of sun
And dreams.
It is to me as plant to soil.
I can’t
Expunge my soul, O God, forgive
My fraud
Forgive my fraud! And yet, hold off
(Regret
Is well but cannot stay my hand, a week,
A day)
Until the hour Thou wilt banish
My guilt
By taking this my fav’rite sin—
My grave—
And accomplices; thought, desire
I’ve fought
With tireless hope which avails me not.
Assails
Still, this sin, O God! For what?So, God,
My Father, take away this plague!
I say,
Unweave my fibers, change my heart!
Derange
My days. O’erthrow and bend, for Thou
Dost mend
As yet, but batter my heart
! For I
Will fly
Only as Thou restraineth my wings.
4.29.09

What do you think? Don't think about it as something written by Stephanie, but what do you think of it as a literary work? I've called it "Amen to Donne" because I've quote one of my favorite poems ever ever, which is by John Donne, who was a preacher I think, and never did anything really bad, and yet he wrote this amazing sonnet:
Batter my heart, three-personed God, for You
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend.
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurped town to another due,
Labor to admit You, but Oh! to no end.
Reason, Your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love You and would be loved fain,
But am betrothed to Your enemy;
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again;
Take me to You, imprison me, for I,
Except You enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except You ravish me.

That is a thing of beauty, right there. WELL. Tell me how you think of my poem!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Alas

Well tomorrow school starts again and I didn't get half the stuff done that I wanted to this week. UGH. I did get family pictures (my kids actually smiled!), get my kids caught up on immunizations, cleaned my house a wee bit, and took my kids to the park. But mostly I worked. I really like my job. Well, lemme rephrase. I like to go to work. My actual job is dumb. I stand at a table and sort clothes all day long, I'm a sorter. Can't wait till I get a new job that pays decent. But this is better than nothing! It makes my body very sore, though. (Oh, btw, I totally work at Deseret Industries.) The people with whom I work are really really cool, and that sometimes makes all the difference.

My schedule starting tomorrow is going to be ridiculous. School, work, dinner, bed. But, good news, my brother Cameron is going to be moving in next month and that will help out soooo much! I'll still have my kids go to daycare because I don't think my kids or Cameron would well handle 9 hours a day together. So morning daycare, and afternoon Cameron! I'll save so much money.

I'm really excited about my classes tomorrow. The classes I'm taking are: Comm 111 (communications writing), Comm 102 (Public Speaking!), FDAMF (American History - a required general), ENG 110 -- lemme explain. As a Comm major, I am required to declare a minor. So I declared English, of course. Now, I started out as an English major and so have many classes completed in that field. However, BYU-I added ENG 110 and recently decided to make it a requirement for English minors as well as English majors. This class didn't exist at Snow College or BSU back in the day when I went, so I never took it. So, yay, I totally get to take an English 100 class. LAME! Oh well, it seems like it'll be fun. AND last but not least, I'm taking ENG 251, which also wasn't required back at Snow. Oh well. I'm not really sure what that class is about. Something about literature. And, that one's an online course! Yipee!

SO. Yep. School starts again tomorrow and I'm excited!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Actual Grades!!!!

STEPHANIE JEAN MONTANO


Winter Semester 2009

Department Course Section Course Title Mid-Term Final Grade Credit Points
COMM1001 INTRO COMM
A 1.04.0
FDCOM20127 PROF COM FND
A 2.08.0
FDHUM1031 A FRWL TO ART
A- 3.011.1
FDINT2034 MIDDLE EAST
A- 2.07.4
FDREL2003 FAMILY FOUND
A 2.08.0
FDSCI10112 SCIENCE FOUND
C+ 2.04.8

YES! The two B's I thought I had were actually A-'s!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Susan Boyle, ladies and gentlemen

A friend of mine posted this on her Facebook. I know some of you have seen this already but I am so in love with these seven minutes that I had to post it here. Embedding is disabled so you'll have to click on the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

I don't know her. She's not in my neighborhood, my state, or even my country. But, I tell you what, I am so proud of this woman! Go Susan Boyle! That first look of shock on Simon's face is classic.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Lazy

I am so lazy.

Today I registered Anna for Kindergarten! Holy Beans. I wish she didn't have to go to school. I really wanted to homeschool her. Maybe next year. I don't know what she needs Kindergarten for, anyway. She can read, write, spell, add, count to 100, recognize more shapes than I know, recite the planets in order and sing the ABCs backwards. She'll be so bored. Oh well. She is excited.

Today I started my job. It was fun. The people with whom I'll be working seem really cool.

Today I did nothing on my list. However, I did set up appointments for family pictures and well child check ups for the kids.

Anna asked me today how much I weigh. I told her, "180 pounds." She said, "What have you been eating?!" I said, "I know I'm fat, but I'm still awesome." She said, "I know you are" and gave me a hug, and then said, "but sometimes you're mean."

The other day I told her to get some clothes on. She hates wearing clothes. I told her five times and I was getting irritated because she wasn't listening. So the sixth time, I raised my voice. She told me if I keep being mean to her, she's going to go somewhere else.

WHAT?

"Where you gonna go?" I asked, sincerely. She said she'll go to a new mommy who's nice. Funny, her dad told me the same thing (only he didn't say "mommy".) I told her to come to me, she did. I looked her in the eye and said, "do you really want a different mommy?" and she gave a lip-quivering no. And I gave her a hug and told her that in this house, we wear clothes, and I love her more than any other mommy would love her, and to get her clothes on. So she did.

Funny children.

I miss my best friend Kimmie. I have a best friend!!! It's been over a decade since I've had a true best friend. I love it. I love her.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Oh the Craziness

I have a bazillion things to do and a bazillion things to write about. Finals week was INSANE. My kids are so so glad it's over. And so am I.
In my Humanities class (which was my favorite class), the final was a take home final. It was four essays. It took forever. These weren't just any essays. In each category, we had at least three essays to choose from. The ones I chose were to use four works of art (visual, music, drama, literature) that we've studied in class to back up Picasso's statement "art is the lie that makes us realize the truth." or something like that. That was fun. Another essay question I chose was something about diffusing propaganda, how do we deconstruct it and how I would tell others how to deconstruct, and choose one piece of propaganda to illustrate my point. That one was really fun. Another one was take three subjects (paintings, statues, characters) and put them together for spring break and where would they go and what would they say. That one was really fun. For those who know/care (I believe I will care in the future), I used Connie from Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, (short story by Joyce Carol Oates), the woman from Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People and Julia from Herrick's "Upon Julia's Clothes." I thought it was funny. They went to NYC. I'm jealous. The other essay I did was put a soundtrack to one of the works of literature we've studied. I put a soundtrack to Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns. That was so fun! And the essay was explaining how each piece of music goes with a specific part of the book. That one took a lot of time though.
I don't know what my final grade is in that class yet but I think it will be a B.
Science, we all know, is C+. I'm happy with that.
Middle East (my world foundations course) is an A-. I'm schocked by this because I got a D on my last test! I'll take it though! I did my first power point presentation ever in this class. It was on the death penalty in Iran. I got 100 out of 100 on that. Yay!
Religion I got an A- I think.
Communications 100 I got an A
Comm 201 (professional communications), I got an A.
Four A's, a B and a C! I'm happy enough with that! Next semester will be better (I don't have any pointless science classes, hehe)

Anyway. This week I want to:
  • clean my house
  • do my laundry
  • go grocery shopping
  • go to Lagoon
  • take my kids to the park
  • read 2 books
  • post pics on my blog from the last 6 or so insane weeks
  • Take my kids to the dr for check ups
  • get family pictures pictures
  • Buy books for next semester
  • write thank you cards for last semester's professors
So much for a relaxing week! I also start my job tomorrow. Oy.
Today I have to give a talk in church. Oy.
Bye!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Science Final

WELL. Today I took my science final and already got the grade. I was worried, really worried, because science and I are not close. Not remotely. We have several disagreements about what really matters. So, I'd been keeping a C through the class, which is fine by me; it's science afterall. I did get a D on one test (about cells, ugh) so I figured with Cs and Ds on my exams and anywhere between As and Fs on my daily quizzes, I needed at least a C on the COMPREHENSIVE FINAL to pass the class. I think I could have gotten a D on the final and passed, too, but I don't really know, and who wants a D on a final? Anyway. I was scared, this is science, what we've covered all through the semester, and, did I already mention it was SCIENCE? I studied but my studies made as little sense as ever (I just can't make myself care about equations involving atoms and radiation, etc.). Okay well anyway I got a C on my final. Hooray! I passed the class! My final grade for the entire class is C+, almost almost almost a B-, how cool would that have been? Two per cent away from a B-! Oh well. I passed my science class!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

indeed

Okay so I know this background is yucky but it looks awesome on my computer! But I saw it on my mom's computer and on the library's computer and the colors are way off from what I see at home! Changing it, as well as updating my life, are a few of the MANY things I have planned for the two weeks between semesters. Just wanted you all to know that I know the background is gross looking. :) Don't forget about me! And wish me luck for finals week (which begins tomorrow)!

Friday, April 3, 2009

speedy update

I'm so like totally busy. Finals are next week! One week of this semester left! I've registered for next semester and I'm excited. I've declared a minor: English. I bought a PS2 just for the purpose of guitar hero! I got me a PS2 slim + Guitar Hero III + a wireless guitar all for $66. eBay, baby. Free shipping, even. Might be going to Lagoon in a few weeks. Kids really wanna. I really wanna. Kimmie and Kadin really wanna. It's snowing. All the time. Rexburg loves December so much that it won't let it go. Anna lost another tooth. I'm holding Anna's baby Emma right now. Anna says, "she's still zero, so be very careful with her." Today Matthias said "I have a magic puppy that turns into a rope that turns into a transformer hand." WOW! That is some puppy. Took the kids bowling the other week, that was a blast. And we saw Bedtime Stories which was really cute. School is stressful and fun and life is stressful and fun and the end.