Clark University

CT trip part 2

After the Victorian neighborhood of my childhood, Nicole and I hoofed it up to Worcester, MA. Apparently the area has the largest concentration of universities and colleges in the US. Our visit was to Clark University.

Clark's a neat combination of big research school and small liberal arts college. There's only 2500 students total (a 1/10th of BYU's population), but their Psych department is as big as ours. It's one of the schools I'm applying to this year. So far they've received 150 applications (they only have one open professorship position)!
A 101 years ago a professor at Clark (G. Stanley Hall, first president of the APA) invited Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung and, my favorite, William James [for those not in the know these are all famous people in psychology). It was the only time Freud lectured in America. So they built a statue:
I hear that Siggie was actually a bit smaller in real life.

Oh, Nicole thought that their library looked reminiscent of a Star Wars AT-AT Imperial Walker:

Fantastik Victoriana

Connecticut Escapades Part 1

We visited the town where I grew up on Thursday, our first stop back east and continuing the last entry's theme of Victorian-esque. Here's a handful of pictures we took around the neighborhood. Many of these were corners where my bus stop was. Fantastic memories, but I have a hard time settling into a non-Victorian neighborhood now. But that's not why I'm applying to jobs in New England (well, not the only reason). Enjoy!

Steampunking Sleeping Beauty

So one of the sweetest outcomes of our trip to Comic-con was that we decided to partner up with our fabulously talented friend to create a graphic novel. It's a steampunk retelling of Sleeping Beauty. But, wait, what is steampunk you ask? Aside from a genre I use to illustrate the zeitgeist of overly enthusiastic Victorian scientists, it's probably best illustrated with the following illustration: Anyway, we're learning TONS about good story-telling from our partner-in-crime and we're nearly done with the plot and designs. Here's a sneak peak:

The first is variations of color themes with our "prince" character and the latter is the beauty of somnolence herself. We'll keep you posted with updates as they come.

What other fun steampunk projects can you except from us? I have two that are in the pipes, but it may be a little while before they see the light of day. 1st is a steampunky Halloween costume that my mom has volunteered to help (I used to be able to sew pretty well, but it was a long time ago, and the "simplicity" pattern had some difficult to understand bits, although I got most of them defined through the power of google). The 2nd project is steampunking some of my Nerf guns. There's actually a bit of a market for them and they can get quite pricey, but I'm DIYing it. I'm taking pictures of the process to post when completed as well.

Annual Campout

Last year we decided to start a tradition of an annual campout with some of our closest friends, Marie (now Marie & Christian) and the Ruekerts (see blog links).

This was quite an experience.

Context:

Brent and I (especially I) like to list camping any time we list the things we enjoy doing. He gives me a hard time because this is a bit of an exaggeration since we have been married almost 5 years, and hadn't been camping as many times. But, when we go, and when I've been in the past, I really enjoy it.

Well, now I've been 4 nights this year, in 3 different sites. So, I've earned the right to put it on the list.

Day #1 of the Annual trip:

Brent and I were exhausted from a week of working really hard. After half a day at work on Thursday, I was already on overtime. We still haven't had time to finish tiling the laundry room, among other projects (like his dissertation) that were weighing on us.

But, we had decided we were going to get away a day before the gang joined us to 'warm-up' the spot and spend some time just the two of us.

It took us a while to pack everything up and get going after running a bunch of errands. We headed up to Little Cottonwood Canyon, which was gorgeous.

We drove, and drove, and drove. Past the ski resorts the road turned into a dirt road which winded up past a remote neighborhood and up to Cecret (pronounced Secret) Lake Campground.

As we drove we watched a glorious sunset, leading to it being absolutely dark by the time we arrived at the campground.

"Closed for Winter"

Only weeks before Marie had driven up in person to talk to the camp host and confirm that they would be open until October.

About 2 minutes after we arrived, Marie & Christian pulled up. They were going to help us set up camp in the dark, even though they weren't staying. We stared disappointedly at the sign, then decided to check the place out anyway. It was so lovely, and there wasn't any information on the sign about not being allowed to stay or trespass when they were closed, so we figured we'd risk it.

It was a lovely evening. We didn't bother with a fire because it was already late, so we just watched the stars for a while, then went to bed.

Day #2:

The next day (Friday) we hiked up to Cecret Lake. It was a very steep rocky climb (ie. Nicole is getting soft... there was a hiking group of 60-70 year olds that passed us going twice our leisurely pace.)

It was well worth the hike. By the time we got back, the parking lot was full of hikers, many of whom looked suspiciously at our conspicuous tent in the front of the "Closed for Winter" campground. We did eventually get kicked out... I mean politely asked to leave by the forestry service at about 4 PM.

By 4:45, we were all packed up and headed out to try and find another campground before the others arrived to join us.

Many campers had jumped on the great weather this weekend, a stand-out anomaly in a very cold fall, and the first couple of campgrounds we passed were full. We were very lucky to get one of the last spots at "Spruces" up Big Cottonwood Canyon, and called the gang to meet us there.

It was a wonderful evening of catching up and enjoying smokey clothes smell, burnt food, beautiful mountains and excellent company. We all "sqeezed" into a huge tent (7 of us) and had a great slumber party. I think everyone slept great except Christian, and Troy had a little trouble with his cough, but was able to settle back in.

Anyway, it was so much fun, Marie and I decided to get some more firewood and come back for a second night.

Day #3:

We had slow-cooked omlets (cooked in zip-lock bags in boiling water) for breakfast-- my new favorite camping food. We played some phase 10 and then the guys & the Ruekerts split and Marie & I went to get geared up for another day.

Sometimes I forget how much fun we have together. We can talk for days at a time, and it never gets old or boring. I always feel like I know myself better after spending a lot of time with Marie, and this weekend was no exception.

My favorite memorable moment was when I insisted that Marie put a steam hole in the top of the chilli can before heating it (which she, of course, already knew). But, I explained to her that my pop-top soup can would slowly open itself up as it heated in the fire, so we didn't need to open it. Less than 10 minutes later the gun-shot sounding explosion luckily left no casualties, but nearly gave me a heart attack and sent a general mist of split-pea soup which landed in our hair and all around the camp. About 3 seconds after the explosion, as I was figuring out what happened, I heard a clatter in the trees above and yelled to Marie to cover her head, thinking the lid would be coming back down. Nothing landed except a few potato remnants, and the lid was never recovered.

Marie said, "Well, at least the 8 year old boy-scout in me is satisfied."

Day #4:

Marie and I were awakened for about an hour from 1-2 AM by some very inconsiderate campers next-door. We requested they quiet down, which they "tried" to do, but didn't do so well. After the second request, and about 20 more minutes, they finally went to bed.

On a happy note, the camp host we spoke with the next day not only went to wake them up and give them a good talking to, but also gave us a free pass for another night-- good for a year. :)

Marie and I were showered and ready for an excellent Sunday School lesson a couple of hours later, and I very much enjoyed visiting her ward before coming home to rejoin my wonderful Sweetheart.

I can't wait for next year!

Timp Storytelling Festival

As a philosopher, Brent is a huge proponent of narrative as an essential aspect of the human experience. But, in real life, it's Nicole who INSISTS that we attend the Timpanogus Storytelling Festival!!

One of the blessings of living in this beautiful place is that we are just down the street from the largest storytelling festival in the western states.

And, we would never have known what we were missing if we didn't have so many creative friends. Our first year there, we had 3 good friends who went, and 2 of them have performed. As a matter of fact they both happen to be in this commercial about the festival.

Randy is the puppeteer with the red puppet. Tamilisa is playing the banjo. And they have NACHOS!! I mean, WOW!!

Actually, our favorite storyteller this year was Jennifer Munro, an intellectual british storyteller whose prose rivals Dickens in its engaging colorful nature.

http://www.jennifermunro.net/

The most popular teller is Bill Lepp, a local talent who is legendary here-- sort of a Jeff Foxworthy of the West, as much comedian as storyteller, and very entertaining.

Most of the storytellers brought some cultural dimension: A lovely and delightful Japanese woman, an African man, two American Indians, and (my other favorite) a half-Cuban, half-Irish-American storyteller that told half in English, half in Spanish.

Brains!!!

One of the perks of knowing psychologists is that I got a free MRI. First, the good news, I have a brain. Now for the awesome news, I'm going to share pictures of it with you!

This first is taken at the cross-section of my eyes (you can see them (even the Irises) on top). You can also see the optic nerve make it's way back to the brain. Also, my septoplastian will be pleased to note that my septum is quite undeviated!
This is a nice slice from the middle:
And this next one is just off the top of my head! (Sorry, I couldn't resist a literal pun)Here's my brain on fire:
And here's the "cooler" version. I actually got an fMRI as well as a regular ol' structural MRI, but these pictures are all just from the latter (the computer colored them).

So this is what's been going on in my head recently (sorry, I'll stop now)

First Day of School

This is a shot from my first day teaching at BYU this semester (you can tell it's BYU 'cause of the BLUE shirt, on my first day at UVU I wore green!) Also, you can tell that this isn't actually during class, because my tie's off)

Anyway... I'm teaching personality again, which I'm thrilled about, because, as I mentioned in my last post, my "living question" is all about human identity/personality. Furthermore, I have a couple of students in class this semester who have previously taken a class from me, which I always take as a really good sign that I'm doing something well when I teach. (Especially when it's an elective class like personality!) This week, however, I received an even more impressive (and humbling) sign.

After class, one of the students I taught last year in an Intro to Psychology class came up to me and said "I just wanted to thank you for last year's class. I loved the perspective you brought to the subject and because of that experience I've become a psychology major." She said some other really nice things along those lines, but I was a bit too surprised to comprehend it all. I certainly don't set out to "convert" anyone to psychology as a field (if anything, I'm a bit of a critic of the discipline), and my main goal in class is to help students think about some of the critical issues effecting their lives (i.e. "what are humans, how should they be treated, how should they be talked about, and how should we stay away from really bad ideas that will be detrimental to our self understanding and progression" etc.) Still, it was nice to hear that God could use me to make even more profound differences in the course of some of my students' lives (enough so for them to had the courage to seek me out a year later and let me know it!) Nice and humbling. I've just barely begun my 3rd year teaching and have only been doing adjunct teaching and grad student instruction; I didn't expect to see such rich dividends so soon, but I rejoice in it and thank God.

Family History, I am doing it!

When I was in primary (Sunday school for kids) we had a song about doing research on ancestors called "Genealogy, I am doing it..." Latter, it was changed to "Family History, I am doing it" because, ostensibly, the word "genealogy" was too hard for the rising generation...

While my Mom was always very much into our collective heritage of pilgrams and pioneers, doing genealogy, while an interest was very difficult. On the one had I had my father's family which have been Mormons for 8 or 9 generations, and with their focus on genealogy, I've had my ancestors traced back for hundreds of years before I ever started looking into it, so there didn't seem much to do there. On my Mom's side, her father's parents emmigrated from Poland and we haven't been able to go back any farther, mostly because we don't speak Polish OR live in Europe.*

Earlier this summer, I listened to a wonderful seminar about finding your "Living Question" - that idea that energizes you, speaks to you, drives you. It's what you'd do for a vocation, even if you weren't getting paid for it. About the same time I was refered to this talk which calls the same thing your "calling." As I was reflecting on these issues, I had an epiphany. While I was gaining credentials to be an I/O psychologists and enjoyed it well enough, it wasn't my passion. Personality theory first got me into psychology and was my favorite topic to teach. I realized my life question involved exploring who we are as people, or as the Psalmist said "What is man that thou art mindful of him?" I realized that all my varied interests could be summed up in that. I enjoy stories and histories because they're about people (our collective heritage) as well as the uniquely human ability to generate, create, and imagine. My undergraduate work in bioinformatics was driven by an interest in only human genetics, a small aspect of our identity, but a fairly essential one. I left that field, in part, because it was not advanced enough for me to really pursue the aspects that were most appealing to me - genetic genealogy. My current dissertation topic gets me back to my interest in personality and human identity. I'm looking at belief in free-will (humans who answer the question "who/what am I?" with "an agent with a measure of free-will) and its impact on moral behavior (again holding out that morality is central to our identity as humans). My interest in gender and family is in the same vain - what does it mean to us our about us as humans. I could go on and on, because this is my "life question," but for the sake of those readers for whom it's not, I'll forbear.


This post was supposed to be about genealogy** and specifically, how that I've recently become involved, not with genealogy per se - the researching of ancestor's vital information - but actually family history - the collecting of stories of ancestors and family members who have helped contribute to my own identity. One of my most precious possessions in this world is a photocopy of my Mom's journal from her college years as she struggled with soul questions that eventually led her to join the Mormon church.

Recently, I've also been learning a lot more about my Utah ancestors. Despite countless "Pioneer Day" celebrations I've previously experienced, I'm shocked at how much new stuff I'm learning. For example, I had a pair of ancestors who joined the Church in Connecticut in 1844 and sailed around North and South America to get (eventually) to Utah (instead of crossing the plains). My great-great-great-great-grandmother died on that trip and was the only one who died who got to be buried on land, and some land at that! I had other ancestors in the Martin and Willie handcart companies who were famously rescued after being snowed in the Rockies and another ancestor who aided the travelers who were eventually massacred at Mountain Meadows (an event which he throughly condemened at the time). Going to Nauvoo this Summer I found five ancestor family who used to own land there. The most exciting thing I've discovered, however, is that the new Church History Library now will research your ancestor's Patriarchal Blessings and send you a copy for free! Here's how.

They turn them around in less than a month and let you request up to four at at time. The first time I did it, I got 1 blessing out of the four. Then next time 2 of my requests found matches and most recently, I've gotten 3 of four. Continuing the pattern, I expect 5/4 in the request after next ;) Which reminds me, I've got to go make my fourth request!

*My Mom's mother's side is French Canadian and we've had some good success doing genealogy on that line, but that's not what this post is about.
** I just wanted to engage here in a word play about things that I'm interested in and have done some work in:
Genetics
Genealogy
Generativity/Generation
Gender
Genre
Which are all from the same root (as is "kin" through the Germanic sound shift!)

TV reviews

We still don't watch much TV, but there are a few shows that we (mostly me, since I watch when I treadmill) regularly catch on hulu.com - Here's a brief review of my favorites:

White Collar - This is rapidly becoming my #1 favorite show. It's witty and intelligent, combining humor and mystery with compelling characters. Neil, an ex-con working for the FBI agent that put him away, is simultaneously suave and vulnerable and can really pull off a fedora. The two leads have good chemistry and, in a TV rarity, the FBI agent and his wife have a positive loving relationship. It's a really nice touch. In addition to the humor and mystery, there's plenty of suspense and enough action. It's an all-around great package.Burn Notice - I'm very pleased that something I enjoy so much has become so popular. Along with White Collar and Psych, Burn Notice had a Comic-con panel that I attended. There they announced a spin off Sam Axe movie featuring his last mission. My brother and I have enjoyed Bruce Campbell (Sam) since his Adventures of Brisco County Jr. days*, but the entire cast is fun to watch on screen. Especially this last season, I think they've figured out how to extend the tension of the burn notice situation in a believable way and the introduction of new character Jessie has really fleshed out the world and kept the overarching story arcs engaging. The show excels at action, but what really makes it great for me is the dry, subtle humor and tongue-in-cheek spy tips - they give the show a rich, fun flavor.
Chuck - The thing that impresses me most about Chuck is does character progression really well. While maintaining continuity, it avoids the "we figured out what works, so every show is going to be just like the last one but with a different bad guy" shtick. This may be because the show was nearly canceled the last 2 seasons, so it's kinda a "go big or go home" at the end of every season. This is another "combo" show that features action, suspense, humor, drama, and an apt dose of romance. It's fun in a very nerdy way. Chuck had Comic-con panel, and had a ton of people dressed up in Chuck-related costumes - I didn't see anyone with Burn Notice-themed costumes at their session.
Psych - If I could sum up this show in one word, that word would be "fun." Or "pineapple," 'cause there's one in every episode - and that's the exact kinda zany fun I'm talking about, Willis. While Chuck is definitely nerdy fun, the nerdy aspects of Psych are more regulated to the periphery, but is joined with a helping of dorkiness a heaping serving of 80's references and a splash of pop-culture take-offs. Again, it's apparent that the entire cast, and the writers and directors, are having a throughly fun time with the show and they regularly make their episodes epic - they do crazy takes on classic summer blockbusters. It can approach the silly at times but never goes as over the top, as Chuck can, in straining your suspension of disbelief. And it's always fun.
Lie to me* - Rounding out my top 5 is this sophomore offering from Fox. It's a solid performer. Its humour comes from its Britishness**. It's a "psychological fiction" so that makes it fun for me. The detective sort of angle is fun and they do a pretty good job of having intense events actually traumatize the characters a little bit (i.e. if a character is in a car wreck, or in a hostage situation, they are actually shooken-up a bit, as opposed to the act tough that most procedurals try to demonstrate). While it's a broadcast show, it had enough "mature themes" and more especially the normalization of immorality that Nicole's given it up. For the most part, I enjoy the show and will occasionally use clips from it in my classes.

Honorable Mentions: not in the top 5, so no pictures, but still entertaining.

Eureka - Along with Warehouse 13 this Syfy offering is good clean fun. The science is more than fiction, but the main character, Sheriff Carter, has a charm that's hard to resist. They recently changed up the show though a time travel episode that did NOT restore the status quo in the the end, so mad props for being gutsy, and it seems to have been a positive direction to the show over all. I'll be continue to catch it when I can.

Warehouse 13 - In it's second season, Warehouse 13 has a lot more appeal than it's SyFy cousin Eureka (although they are having a cross-over this season). It features a pair of secret service agents tasked with gathering artifacts and storing them in the warehouse featured at the end of Indian Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. So that's pretty fun. They've added a newer character, Claudia that has really spruced things up and keeps the show fresh and intriguing. Furthermore, they've developed a good continuity now and that's made it really enjoyable to watch. Both of these shows were also at comic-con.

Castle - Actually, Castle was at comic-con too, but on Sunday, so I missed it. Castle is a terribly fun idea (a writer makes a good detective, I wonder who came up with that idea? ;) Anyway, it's kinda a guilty pleasure because as a police procedural it regular features a bit of the gruesome and more than enough adultery and immorality. Still the stars really sell it and I've become a Nathan Fillion fan (he played Captain Hammer in "Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog"). He was also the lead in "Firefly/Serenity" in which Casey from Chuck also starred. I missed that show when it was on, but have really been enjoying it through Netflix (only seen the first 2 episodes so far, but still...). Anyway, Castle's fun and the daughter character continues to shine (she wore a Star Trek: Original Series uniform to the comic-con panel! (I caught it online latter))

Dr. Who - We caught a little of this in Ireland this year and really liked it, but it's not exactly available much stateside :(

Rotten Tomatoes - This is a movie review show. It's kinda fun. It's replaced Jon Steward as the only "news" show that I watch. I'm not really sure what that says about me, but the show does help lower my expectations before I get to the theater.

On Probation, cause they're new:

Covert Affairs - So far so good. I'm really impressed with USA's new shows (except for "In Plain Sight" which was kinda lame). Covert Affairs has been interesting enough so far. Lots of action, but it could do better in the humor department. It has some moments, but it's not quite as fun as the other shows above. We'll give it some more time.

Haven - This is a new SyFy show. It's based on a Steven King thing about an FBI agent in a small town in Maine where weird stuff happens. Despite being relatively into sci-fi/fantasy, I never got into the X-files and I'm having a hard time getting into this show. I've only seen two episodes and may check out a few more, but I don't think this'll be on my list next time around.

The Good Guys - This is from Matt Nix, the guy who created Burn Notice. It's pretty funny and does some good action/adventure stuff, but has yet to be really compelling. I actually forgot to put it on the list at all till the last minute.

Off Probation, but not in a good way:

Royal Pains - I watched the first season and started the second, but my heart wasn't in it. On the one hand, it's nice to have a medical mystery where the lead's not a "House" jerk, but then again, it's become kinda soap-opera-ish and the interpersonal angst isn't enjoyable. There was some inconsistency in the characterization, especially of the devout Hindu that didn't sit well with me, and again, the soap-operatic elements continue to be a turn-off, so so-long Royal Pains.

Final Report Card (hey, I'm a teacher):

Show	Category	Grade
White Collar	Humor	A
	Action	B
	Intrigue	A+
	Clean (Morally)	A-
	Fun	A
	Overall	A
Burn Notice	Humor	A-
	Action	A
	Intrigue	A
	Clean (Morally)	C+
	Fun	A
	Overall	A
Psych	Humor	A
	Action	B+
	Intrigue	B-
	Clean (Morally)	B
	Fun	A+
	Overall	A-
Chuck	Humor	A
	Action	A
	Intrigue	A
	Clean (Morally)	B
	Fun	A
	Overall	A
Lie to Me*	Humor	B+
	Action	B+
	Intrigue	B+
	Clean (Morally)	B-
	Fun	B
	Overall	B+
Warehouse 13	Humor	B+
	Action	B
	Intrigue	A-
	Clean (Morally)	A
	Fun	A-
	Overall	B+
Eureka	Humor	B
	Action	B
	Intrigue	B
	Clean (Morally)	A
	Fun	B+
	Overall	B
Castle	Humor	A-
	Action	B
	Intrigue	B
	Clean (Morally)	C-
	Fun	A
	Overall	B+
Rotten Tomatoes	Humor	A-
	Action	n/a
	Intrigue	n/a
	Clean (Morally)	C-
	Fun	A-
	Overall	B
Haven	Humor	C-
	Action	B-
	Intrigue	B+
	Clean (Morally)	B+
	Fun	C
	Overall	C+
Covert Affairs	Humor	B
	Action	A
	Intrigue	A-
	Clean (Morally)	B+
	Fun	B
	Overall	B+
Royal Pains	Humor	C+
	Action	n/a
	Intrigue	B-
	Clean (Morally)	C
	Fun	C
	Overall	D
Dr. Who	Humor	A
	Action	A-
	Intrigue	B
	Clean (Morally)	A
	Fun	A-
	Overall	A-
Firefly	Humor	B+
	Action	A
	Intrigue	A
	Clean (Morally)	B
	Fun	A
	Overall	A-

*We didn't watch his "Jack of All Trades" when it was on air, but have caught a few of the episodes on hulu recently... It is a silly thing.

**Get it, "humour" British... Nevermind, it's not funny if I have to explain it.

PS Looks like NCIS and NCIS:LA didn't even make the list this year... Uh-oh CBS...