Scott Bartholomew

Monday, March 24, 2008

"Chance favors the prepared mind." - Lavoisier

Friday, March 21, 2008

Where the Green Grass Grows . . .

What is it about the nature of humans that makes it so we always want what we don't have? Why is the grass always greener on the other side? Why is it that relationships can be so exciting when the chase is on, but as soon as the battle's over the excitement ebbs? Why is everyone else's major so exciting and awesome until we join? Who does your BBQ chicken pizza lose some of it's deliciousness when your buddy orders your second favorite - Canadian Bacon? Does having 31 flavors to choose from at DQ really help anyone out? Or does it just make life harder for everyone because now as you eat your bubblegumyum ice cream you have to sit and look at the other 30 flavors your missing out on?
I took a class last semester where a interesting reading assignment was given - it was called: "The tyranny of choice." The basic tenant of the article was this: choices don't actually make us happier - but contribute to our overall stress level and unhappiness. Think about it - if someone just walked up to you and gave you a brand new pen you would be way stoked that you had a new pen, but if they came up to you and told you they would give you your choice of one of three pens - so you choose, but you also sit and think about what your missing out on because you didn't choose the other pens. Dang, why didn't I get the clicky one, or the cool one that could write upside down . . . ?
I think that some of the most blessed people are those who can simply make a choice and then be happy with it - as opposed to those (myself included) who make a choice and then sit and think: "Hmm, maybe I should have done this, or chose that, etc." As William Wadsworth said: "Of all sad words, of tongue or pen; the saddest are these: it might have been."
Could that be why the grass is always greener on the other side? Not because it's actually greener, but because we see it through the tinted lenses of regret. (Wow, that last sentence would have definitely made my 12th grade English teacher proud) I think all too often we allow ourselves to be unhappy with what we have because we spend far too much time looking at what we are missing out on because we chose the way we did.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Skater Boy?

So, I had this conversation the other night with a good friend of mine. She was telling me about her life, her relationship struggles, etc. It was a good talk and I think I learned a lesson. You see, girls can be placed in any one of many categories: pretty girl, skater girl, punk rocker, california girl, ditzy girl, nice girl, sweetie, sporty girl, sassy girl, crazy girl, etc. But, no matter the category, I think there are a few things that all girls want. Now, I don't know - or claim to be the expert at all - but, this particular girl I was talking to would probably fit in the 'skater girl' category. She's very outgoing, active, into skateboarding, short hair, punk rock, music, etc. Comes across at first glance as your classic skater girl - I mean I look at her and I want to start singing Avril Lavigne (minus the obscenities - she's like the mormon version). So, being the dumb guy I am my first impression would be: "Oh, she probably wants a really tough, punky, skater, fo-hawk wearing skater guy. I mean, that would be the logical thing to my brain. But, the longer I talked to her the more I realized that that wasn't what she was looking for at all - she wants a "cute boyfriend." And by 'cute' I don't mean looks (although she probably wants that too), she wants a caring boyfriend. She wants a guy who is going to open her door for her, bring her flowers, text her at 3AM to say 'i love you,' come over early to scrape her windshield, help her stand up, etc. Herein lies the problem: dumb boys look at her and think: "She's a skater-girl; she must want a skater-boy (see above definition)." And, so the boys try and be what they think she is looking for and to everyone around it seems to be perfect - ahh, there's a nice skater-girl with her skater-boy and they must be wonderfully happy. But, they aren't because she really wants a 'sappy, cheesy, caring-boy' but doesn't know how to let 'Mr. I'm trying to be a skater boy good boyfriend for my skater-girl girlfriend' know that that's what she wants. Anyway, I don't have any sort of solution for this problem, just thought it was interesting. It does seem to me that no matter what type of girl she is, she probably still wants to be treated in such a way that her roommates can ask about the date and as she relates in impressive detail the events of the night they can all go: "Ahh, that is so cute!" - even if she is a sassy skater-girl.
I wonder what kind of boy girls see me as? What kind of girl am I looking for? Do I ever try to change to be the guy I think a girl is looking for? Are the girls I meet just trying to be the girl they think I would be interested in? Hmm. . .

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Euphemisms

I wasn't sure if everyone would know what a Euphemism is so heres a definition: "An euphemism is the substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener. It also may be a substitution of a description of something or someone rather than the name, to avoid revealing secret, holy, or sacred names to the uninitiated, or to obscure the identity of the subject of a conversation from potential eavesdroppers. Some euphemisms are intended to be funny"
I think Euphemisms are really cool. In fact I wanted to suggest some that I think should be more frequently incorporated into our everyday vernacular (if you have you think deserve such a status please comment).
"Wipe your plow" - akin to getting your trash kicked, or a can opened on you
"Willie Benillies" - infatuations and such feelings; i.e. "Bro, shes got the willie benillies for you."
"Maxes my MU" - maximizing of marginal utility; anyone who's taken Econ 110 knows that this is a good thing
"Expiration dater" - one who begins dating with a termination in mind
"Garons babarons" - 'guaranteed' - from pigeon english
Anyway - these are just a few of hundreds that I like. I think we should all use them more - they're interesting and make life a lot happier. Please let me know if you have any you think I should add to my vocab.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Army Men

So for a class I'm in we had to make a video that had no words and no planned acting/actors. Well after a lot of brainstorming and collaboration we decided to make a video about the war and how it's happening and yet we often don't even think about it. Here's what we did:

We bought a hundred or so of those little green plastic army men and set them up right outside the outside entrance to the bookstore:

Well we set up all these little guys like they were in a war. They covered a good area of about 7' square and then we set up a few cameras so they were hidden. Then we left and just watched. It was so interesting to see what people would do. Many would see them, stare a little, then walk around. Others were completely oblivious and would walk through them, kicking them everywhere - some noticed what they did, others were still oblivious even as they were launching these minute militiamen to their doom. We had a few stop and play with them for a little bit and we had a few people who looked around to see if there were being watched and then stole some!

How oblivious we are to what goes on around us - I didn't even know it was elections for BYUSA until 2 days ago. There's a war being fought but because it doesn't directly affect me in anyway days go by that I don't even think about it.