BYU physics professor, Dr. Stokes, executed a much performed experiment with an air-vacuumed ping pong cannon, but he did it just a little differently. Stay with it, especially the last 3 minutes.
Insight Magazine is looking for fascinating, well conceived blog content to bring together the minds of BYU and BYU Honors Program students. We don't want to give any directions, but allow your creative processes to flourish. We just want to know that you're interested in having one of your posts on a preexisting blog published to the Insight Magazine blog, and we'll routinely check your content for posts we that would reach our audience. It can even be pre-existing content!
To participate follow these steps:
1. Let us know. Reply to this post letting us know you're interested, and provide a link. You can also email Sean at, SeanRWatson@gmail.com.
2. We'll confirm that we're following your blog. When we like what we see we'll let you know, and ask you again if we can use the post.
3. We might ask for some minor edits. If you don't desire to change anything that's fine, however, some of the edits may be necessary for us to re-post, and if they can't be met we may not be able to use the post.
4. Of course we'll give proper credit, and will look forward to future content!
I thought this was really funny because I've sat in on these conversations too many times. "Songs where you get tickled are so exclusive."
Harry Potter has been the connection in lots of social situations lately. It was the craze of the PKP experience as the final installment dropped, enhancing our British experience. Indepedent of home universities, we liked Potter. Harry Potter's been a commonality for me with other honors students, and with lots of Insight staff members too. In an earlier post I supposed which house I would belong to, Ravenclaw, and I asked other Insight members which one they would belong to. They said Ravenclaw also! We're not weird in our own company. It was too fun a subject, we had to pitch the idea of house separations with Honors Program students. It'll be on the website soon!
I've been studying Latin America for a few years now, and something never seemed to add up in Latin American history. I became interested in Europe after my study abroad at Cambridge, and realized Latin America can only be abstract without understanding of European events simultaneously.
Brett Peterson suggested on Facebook that I create a blog post clarifying my profile status which stated that my academic life was starting to look up. It sounded like a good idea, and I told him that I would. But after sitting in front of my computer attempting a few times, I realized the story is not completely unfolded. I'd had wonderful academic experiences involving some of the best people I've met, in the places of my dreams, but they were accompanied by strange personal difficulties and overwhelming doubt. I'd insisted on discontinuing my academic experience, but realized it's the blood in my veins. But that's only midway through the first act. The rest is yet written.
I didn't read the Harry Potter books when they came out, and I fell asleep at the midnight showings of the first and second movies, and subsequent DVDs watched, but Katelyn Hemmeke filled me in on the events of the first seven movies as we went to see 7.2 in Cambridge, and I got into it. I made a promise that I'd start reading the books, which I didn't intend to keep. But Lindsay and I purchased the first book for Christmas, and have been reading it together. She's read most of them, and seen all the movies 3 or 4 times, and we've really gotten into this first book. We want to go to Hogwarts. We've had some fun conversations about which houses we'd best be suited for, and which characters we're most like.
She concluded she's got the heart of a Hufflepuff, but the competitive nature of a Gryffindor. Oddly though, she's related till now with Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw, and Neville Longbottom, from Gryffindor, because of her self-professed clumsiness (though it's true). I'm under no delusion of my oddness, and know that I'm probably a mix between Professors McGonagall and Flitwick. Ravenclaw seems to espouse my kind, though I tend to be Hufflepuff-ish at times. At the same time I'm nothing like either of those two, and neither is Lindsay, so we're awaiting out invitations to Hogwarts, we would be solid additions. We think so at least.
What are you?
In BYU's Family Finance class with Dr. Israelson, I learned about compounding interest rates, either annually, quarterly, or daily. By compounding interest rates, the earned interest in the specified time is added to the next time frame increasing yields. But I've found that instanteous compounded, for me, yields less than periodic compounding.
It's a strange dilemma, but I found that my visuospatial learning style has similar dynamics that can be less frequently compounded to increase yields. I'd previously compiled information in relation to information already attained, with immediate compounding, but discovered that I can use visuospatial images to compile fragments independent of one another, then compound later. I suppose this is like having a tab and enjoying the sociality of an evening instead of passing the time signing bills. But it's exponential as I have multiple tabs simultaneously without signing any of the bills until I desire. Essentially this allows me to develop indepedent ideas, and then compound those into my balance, limiting the friction of idea contextualization, and increasing my knowledge of the subject.
It sounds silly, but this is revolutionary to my thought processes.
I've been enjoying the quick and sometimes jazzy rhythms of ska lately, and wanted to post a few of the songs that have struck a chord with me.
News media sources in the US have terror tactics mastered, sensationalizing disconcerting points to provoke responses from viewers. We know that issues can be taken in many ways and that news agencies are in the entertainment industry, but with the formula laid it's hard to get the optimistic real facts some times. I read a couple startling facts about US demographics that gave me a little perspective to the unbalanced sources. Money and politics are thrown around, but there is good news to be had too. Here's one about African Americans:
"...the 38 million African Americans in the United States in 2010 represented the best-educated, wealthiest, and fourth largest (after Nigeria, Ethiopia, and South Africa) population of African-origin persons in the world."
I liked the following quote by Matthew Henry (1662-1714)
There is a burden of care in getting riches; fear of keeping them; temptation in using them; guilt of abusing them; sorrow in losing them; and a burden of account at last to be given concerning them.
At the beginning of this winter semester I did one of the smartest things I've done in my college career, I went back to reexamine my metacognition and self-regulation with study skills. I have only a couple more semesters before I graduate from BYU but I realized I want more organization and better study skills for grad school and future jobs. I'm taking a study skills class that has opened my eyes wide with the two days of class attended. As I read the opening chapter, I made goals, realized strengths and weaknesses, and attained realistic expectations for the future, and how I can achieve them.
Similarly, a huge blessing I received from my parents was the absence of debt. I'm grateful they've paid my way through college, and never left a burden for me to clean up. As I've begun my own family I'm realizing what they've done for me, and am taking the Family Finance course to maintain what they've endowed me with. My ignorance of finance made me fearful of it, but learning the specifics of starting right and acquiring good habits has made me optimistic about the future.
My life was rocked by brutal things experienced in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and I've spent the better half of my years back neglecting the effects it's had upon me. I took off the fall semester of school to everyone's chagrin and critique, but have re-harnessed my desires and motivation and am ready to kick again. I've made New Years Resolutions addressing certain aspects of life, and intend to strictly keep them. I'm glad 2011 is almost over, and that I can figuratively restart the new year correctly to make it better than the previous. These are my resolutions:
Heart - Help my wife reach her goals and desires
Mind - Allow myself to recover from PTSD and ease back into competition.
Body - Return to peak shape again by running daily and maintaining a healthy diet.
Soul - Go to the temple once a week, especially busy weeks.
Pleasure - Take my wife on weekly dates. Make time to go to BYU sports games.
Future - Think about it less and be present now.
I'm very grateful I have a wife that is a helpmeet and has supported me in dark times.
I wanted to congratulate friends that made 2011 a big year:
Caitlin Watson - Graduating from BYU
Brett Peterson - Graduating from BYU
Ryan Watson - Cutting a record
John Watson - A sweet job in NYC
Fenton Hughes - Harvard Architecture
Sarah Beth Wills - Yale Med School
Eric Lundquist - Phd. from U of U
Lance & Coral Montgomery - Marriage
Kevin & Mallory Burton - Marriage
Alan & Michelle Whitaker - Marriage
Phil & Jennifer Romero - Marriage
Stephen Jordan - RM
Bryan Tuttle - RM
James Montgomery - RM
JC & Melanie Raney - Marriage
Clint Peterson - Goldman Sachs
Liese Roger - Goldman Sachs intern
Emily Dekam - Physic TA and honors society
Michelle Watson - Honors society
Drew Capener - Successful record
Nathan and Cecilia Robbins - Twins
I'm also impressed with the work of the PKP crew, and those I've neglected to state but who are doing good things.
I haven't really had my head in the academia game for a couple of years, but I'm back, and not in a bad spot. I'm going to take what I set out for! 2012 is the year of Sean and Lindsay Watson.
We expected snow to stick upon the barren trees as we observed from inside our cosy basement apartment. But then again nothing was traditional for either Lindsay or myself as we spent our first Christmas together. With our families in California and Lindsay working both Christmas Eve and Day we were inclined towards childhood nostalgia, but Christmas somehow transformed to a magical day for us.
Justin, Lindsay's 9 month older uncle, drove down from Idaho to spend his birthday with us before flying to California with his family. "I just love that boy," Lindsay frequently says. Naturally altruistic as she fundamentally is, it became her duty to ensure Justin maintained high spirits and a sincere smile on his birthday. Lindsay hadn't yet experienced Sundance's Tree Room from the otherside as a guest, and the three of us drove up on a frosty night to experience her world. I'd met her coworkers at a Christmas party and felt natural and well received, and seeing them as fine dining servers was right. Our feet bent the wooden floor planks entering in, but I found a beautiful lit, masterfully decorated, and soothingly ambiental setting with exquisite dishes. The conversation was easy, and the experience was superb. Justin left early in the morning, and we were sad not to have him for the rest of the holidays. He returned after Christmas, and we got back to our adventures.
Nick had wanted to leave for some time now, but costed back antisocially watching the partygoers get their fix. It seemed very strange to him, irritating a little that the get together was a therapy session for its clients. All throughout the day he imagined uncertainty and confusion until the Xanax of social validation focused the three or four emerging self-perceptions that before the party had mounted sides to defeat the other in battle. The night was either a confirming elixir of adequacy, or a disastrous evening profiting anger, jealousy, and conflict sending both parties onward in despair. The proceeding hours and days would be wasted on balancing the tangled humors.
Bodies parted within the crowd until Grace finally appeared. The smile on her face clearly did not express glee but concern. "Sometimes a person just needs a smile."
Whether that was intended to cheer him up out of concern or cheer her up from blunder Nick couldn't tell. It was however for neither reason.
"Carly's boyfriend Ben who she's been dating for five months who everybody thought was super stellar and was always so good to her just toasted with his friends, Chad over there with the white backwards hat, and those guys, Steve and Dan, and the other guy on joining the Marines, but..." her voice choked not finding enough air, "but Carly didn't tell him yet that she's pregnant. He's totally not going to marry her, well that's what she thinks. She was standing right in back of them and heard accidently. She's freaking out. Sometimes a person just needs a smile."
He concluded that Grace had a somehow mutual observance however varyingly applied.
"Ben's just going off?"
"He reports in like a month, and Dan and Chad were saying they were going to follow. Sure they're flakes, but Carly is so upset. Just like a man to forget responsibility."
"But he doesn't know she's pregnant."
Grace's steam deflated a bit, "I know, but he's totally not going to marry her, and is going off to war to die." Her fury manifested itself in concern and love for her friend
Her passivity sometimes questioned Nick's reason for not dating her. They were able to reach similar perspectives pretty easily, but he remembered that they were friends, and wanted to keep it that way.
The US is anthropophagist, only in a different manner than Brazil. We ingest cultures, traditions, and trends, but only in their affliction. As the Pygmalion effect forms individuals' identities according to how they're perceived by others, the US has toned itself according to its hateful image fed by society's sensational worst. Once the worst is standard it's kicked lower until sex, death, corruption, and pessimism are found in the remotest barns of rural America, without sanctuary. America's recovery is morality, but its commencement is found in its own perception. George Washington led the Golden Age only because the hero was possible. Press is only given now to the anti-hero, who covets its deification. Oddly enough the two don't coexist, but reign supreme in their own times covering America in distinct colors.
Americans have become comfortable with lies in politics, it is to be expected. It's even common to lie when talking about politics, and then to lie when not talking of politics. This is a grave error! Integrity is the essence of character, and America doesn't have character without it.
Their shoes clapped as Nick and Grace were ushered to a quaint table by the window. The hostess whose eyes spoke of affection greeted them. Restaurant guests filled her reservoir with care, which erased with the next morning's yawn. A tear was always at the crack of her eye, but so was a smile to her lips. Either could emerge unannounced, and retreat to the other as swiftly. She remained chatting at their table as the server came with glasses of water. Nick and Grace cheerfully smiled at the hostess who battled her departure and seeming return to imprisonment under the stairs, but she left.
