Wayne and Rebecca Madsen

Originally Rebecca was supposed to be gone from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday night. She is interviewing with a company called TellMe and they offered to fly her out to San Jose. Tuesday afternoon, she was interviewing over the phone with Stanford's NLP group and they wanted to see her in person as well, so we worked it out so that she could stay an extra day in order to make it to both interviews [with Stanford reimbursing the cost to extend the trip]. This was the first time we've been apart since we got married, so it was stressful and emotionally difficult [for both of us!]. I just have gotten so used to having Rebecca around that it isn't easy to be away from her.

This is interesting because so many people I know see their spouse so little. I find it a great blessing to be able to spend so much time with my best friend. Although I know this won't necessarily last, it is definitely a wonderful thing for now.

Ah, married life is so much fun. Sunday evening, we went over to Rebecca's friend's house to eat lasagna. It was one of those frozen pre-made lasagnas and when she had read the box, she thought it said that it took one hour and 15 minutes to cook. But it ACTUALLY said 115 minutes for cooking time. A difference of forty minutes. We all had a good laugh about that and then waited for the food to be done. Well, as irony would have it, when Rebecca's friend was getting the long awaited food out of the oven, the tin bent and the whole thing dropped on the floor. Needless to say, she was upset about it while the rest of us thought it was too great of a story to even be bothered by the reality of it. So we scraped it off their floor and ate lasagna-from-the-floor. True story.

Even though Rebecca's experimental results weren't looking as good as she hoped Monday, we took a quick break to go have dinner at Karl and Angela's place. They moved this week to San Jose for Karl's internship and Rebecca kept saying that "we'll never see them again." Although they DID move to where we ARE going to move, most likely we'll just miss them because they will come back here around the time that we move out there. But I doubt that was the last time we'll EVER see them. [okay so maybe I exaggerated, but why pass up a good excuse to hang out! -beck] So we chatted Monday night and then raced back to our house so Rebecca could beat her head against the computer some more, because she said she wasn't getting anywhere with her data. [things were in a much better perspective when I met with my advisor Tuesday morning, and was sent on a quest for more data the rest of the week. I finally got additional data (which should improve things) Saturday night, so I'll have to see how quickly I can incorporate it because I really need the survey to start yesterday in order to stay on schedule. Although yesterday when I looked back on the preliminary results from the beginning of the week, they didn't look nearly as bad as I remembered! Ah, perspective... -beck]

And then Rebecca left Wednesday afternoon. The flight went well. She managed to drive around San Jose by herself. [the most nerve-wracking part, of course...I don't actually like to drive in cities. Long distance drives, however, those are fun. :) I got to spend time with friends out there, as well, which was a definite plus. -beck] She made it to all her interviews and they went well. Really, she should be writing this email so you know how things went. I can only give you my opinion of the whole affair. I stayed alive while at home, working on my video project and keeping the house clean. When she got back Friday night, we got home at around 1 in the morning and woke up the next day at 9. My parents were in town this weekend, so we wanted to spend some time chatting with them.

[I enjoyed meeting with both of these groups of people. The teams have interesting, intelligent people. The interviewing styles were different, though, which probably is to be expected. TellMe gave me programming problems, and talked a little bit about research concepts. Stanford talked about research ideas, and a little bit about programming. In fact, with the Stanford group I got to play ping-pong while discussing things. Maybe this demonstrates whether I can multi-task? :) And TellMe has a dog-friendly environment, so of course I asked whether anyone brought their cat in...my interviewer replied that no, that would be "weird." :) Overall I feel like both interviews went well, and both sound like jobs I would enjoy working at. So I guess we'll see from here.]

We played a game with my parents and Rebecca told them all about her trip. Hopefully we'll get an offer back from one (or both?) of them soon; it would be nice to have some plans defined for our move this summer. Especially so we can finally start looking for housing. But now we get to play the waiting game; lucky for Rebecca she doesn't have time to think about it because she's too busy trying to finish up her thesis project.

First brief edit of the KONP. I'm playing this for style. Brief one minute teaser to show battle sequence.

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Chicken and Salsa Verde Panini
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2 chicken breasts
3 sprigs sage
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper
3/4 cup parsley
7 green olives, chopped
2 TBS capers, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tsp lemon zest
3 TBS olive oil
3 TBS lemon juice
1 loaf ciabatta

Boil chicken in garlic and sage with water. Stir other ingredients in a bowl. Slice each chicken breast into three fillets. Divide ciabatta into two pieces. 3/4 of the Salsa Verde on the bottom half of the sandwich, chicken on top and then last 1/4 on top of the chicken. Top with bread. Makes six sandwiches

Tip: Try replacing the capers with a slice of swiss cheese! It's delicious!

Avocado and Goat Cheese Crostini
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1 avocado
5 1/2 oz goat cheese
1 tsp olive oil
1 TBS lemon juice
salt and pepper
24 baguette slices

Mash avocado, add goat cheese, olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Don’t mix completely. Brush bread with oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Add avocado mixture after.

Chicken and Peperonata on Rosemary Bread
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2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper
rosemary
2 TBS olive oil
Chili Powder
1 small onion, sliced
1 red and 1 yellow pepper, sliced
6 black olives
1 TBS capers
8 large slices rosemary bread
2 garlic cloves, cut in half
8 basil leaves

Boil chicken in water, salt, pepper and rosemary. Sauteé onion in olive oil with chili powder; add peppers and cook until peppers are tender. Near the end of cooking, stir in olives and capers, season with salt and pepper. Slice each chicken breast into three fillets. Toast bread on both sides. Cover with garlic, chicken and pepper mixture. Cover with basil and pepper. Makes 4 sandwiches.

4-Season Pizza Romano
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8 mushrooms, sliced
2 tsp olive oil
salt
4 oz mozzarella, slicd
6 baby artichokes, sliced
8 slices prosciutto
6 black olives, chopped
4 squares focaccia
1 roma tomato, diced
black pepper and oregano

Trim mushroom stems and slice. Sauté in olive oil until golden. Lightly salt. Slice focaccia in half horizontally. Drizzle insides with olive oil. Keep all ingredients 1/2 inch from edges. Layer ingredients between slices of focaccia. Grill in skillet. Makes 4 sandwiches.

Let's see...this week we went golfing for Wayne's class at a nearby golf course. Who knew the executive course was the easy course!? At any rate, I walked around with him, and he did the executive course for one of his PE classes. We'll have to do it again twice tomorrow so he can get full credit on that assignment, but at least we know the course now. It had started to rain when we first went out [read: pouring], but true to Utah's weather patterns, we waited under shelter for about three minutes and were able to go out after that, even though it was insanely windy.

Friday evening was another rainstorm, but this one lasted all night and even had fun lightning and thunder. We enjoyed a pleasant evening of cozying under a blanket and reading books while listening to the storm. I like thunderstorms. Star cat hid under the bed, though.

Wednesday we were able to take a break from thesis stuff to head up to SLC and visit with Aunt Sharla. She had a few questions about her computer and we enjoyed the excuse to go for a visit. If only school didn't get in the way so often.... :)

Thursday for mutual the young women and I played hide and seek and sardines. We were supposed to be doing an activity to plan our skit for camp, but the stake had a sudden change of plans and the older girls all went to a pre-youth conference activity instead. So since I'm with the younger girls...we planned a spur of the moment activity. And this is what sounded fun to them.

And yesterday we saw Wayne's folks again at the end of their Alaska trip. They had lots of good stories and pictures to show us, and we hung out with others in the Madsen clan for dinner. We don't find opportunity to see them often enough, so it was a good evening to listen to everyone's stories and "meet" people I'm sure I've met before. :)

We also bought a thyme plant yesterday, because it was for a really good deal at the grocery store. Now we'll have to learn something about growing herbs, in addition to the trees we've been trying to grow for the past two years! [We really love thyme seasoning because it's a staple in mediterranean foods. However, buying dried thyme from the store is very expensive. When I was growing up, my parents grew spearmint in the yard and the stuff was like weeds after the first couple years. Our friends Jon and Faith grow many of their seasonings in pots, so we thought we should be able to get away with growing our own thyme, and eventually parsley. -Wayne] Star busied herself sniffing at the plant last night; maybe Wayne and I won't be the only ones to benefit from this experiment??

This was a quick visit by my parents in Utah. A bunch of pictures of my close relatives really... and some good ones of Grandpa Madsen talking to Rebecca.

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I picked up this book because my friend, Dave, recommended it to me. He's given me some really good recommendations in the past that I was impressed with, so I spent the past half year trying to hunt it down. More exactly, he said I'd really get into this book, it was right up my alley.

By the first several chapters, I was really into Meiville's world. China Meiville has an amazing use of language and really creates a lush world in New Crobuzon; also, the world felt very similar to the nightmarish quality of the film Mirrormask, and so I was enjoying the ride right from the start. The characters were introduced and immediately I felt like there was going to be some really good development and good twists. I was excited and the world was fresh and vitalized.

Then he threw the handlingers at me, and that's when it all went sour.

The biggest flaw with almost every sci fi and fantasy author is that they spend more time on developing a unique world than they do working on a plot that is remotely interesting. Perdido Street Station has this same problem and I knew it once those handlingers popped onto the scene only to fight for half of one chapter. China Meiville obviously did a lot of backstory for his world, however, instead of using that to enhance the plot, he tells it to you, like he's reading from his notes. When the Construct Intelligence comes to life, it GIVES the characters it's life story, right in the middle of an extremely tense part in the book. Why are you listing for me all your backstory notes, China? Are you trying to prove to me that you did some back history? Don't be so obvious about it. Instead of enhancing the story, it shows that he didn't do any work on the plot: there is none. This is your simple "kill the monster" story. All through the book I was hoping for some intrigue, something that complicated the story, something that I overlooked. C'mon, even Harry Potter can give me that!

Second sin of all mediocre sci fi writers: liberal use of swear words. I understand in the heat of the moment, needing language to show vehemence, fear, and excitement, but if you've already spent all your ammo in the daily usage of language, then you've got nothing to bargain with. In the most tense moments of this book, they could have been enhanced if Meiville had shown some control through the rest of the book.

Lastly, the third sin of all mediocre sci fi writers: pointless sex. Ultimately, anything that doesn't advance the plot just kills it. You're either adding to what the book says and where it goes/develops by a scene or you're not. I'm assuming that, in the loss of plot in this book, Meiville didn't feel it was necessary to obey this cardinal rule and threw in a bunch of easter eggs because he wanted the book to sell to his "demographic audience" of sci fi readers. Sad.

Now that I've bashed this book apart, I did enjoy what I got: a wild, vivid world, luscious language and a fun ride. A part of me wonders if this book wasn't written specifically to become a movie. It's got all the simple ingredients that a "summer blockbuster" needs, but as a book, I was kind of let down. In order to enjoy something so wonderful as literature, I'd like to have a bit more plot than just an amazing world. Meiville could take a few hints from Dan Simmons as to how to create an amazing world and still maintain an interesting plot.

This book opens with the declaration that it will make you believe in God. [Or something like that. Rebecca picked it up and when she reads a book, she gets really into it so I'm not going to bother looking up quotes or anything.]

Everyone I know has read this book and enjoyed it. We finally got it from the library and while Rebecca was out of town, I read the whole book. Couldn't put it down.

My worst fear is of swimming in the deep ocean. I can't handle the thought of not knowing what is underneath me. I can barely swim in lakes. Once I went to Lake Powell and saw a big turtle swimming right under me. I freaked.

Life of Pi is an abstract book. There's no surprises here, but just poignant reflection afterwards. It's not like I would spoil the plot by saying that Pi Patel spends most of the book in a life boat with a bengal tiger in the middle of the ocean, but this book does an amazing job of showing the absolute danger he is in. Being a zoo goer, my perceptions of the docility of zoo animals were shattered.

But here's the catch. On his 227 day trip, amazing things happen. Surviving a bengal tiger is only one of them. But then, at the end of the book, you have a question given to you: is this story real, or fake? Better put...which one would you rather believe in?

I've often thought about this as a viable explanation for people who don't believe in a Higher Power. Faith is the sort of thing that you believe in something fantastic. But in order for faith to grow, it has to go beyond this point of simply "believing in order to know." But this book (is it a biography?) isn't addressing that question. It's a simple tale/parable about how we come to approach God. The more I think about this book, the more I reflect on my own weaknesses with faith. It's quite good.

A guidebook to Judaism, by Herman Wouk.

There are a few books that every cultured American should have on their shelves. Ghandi's autobiography is one. This has been added as another to my list. Written around the same time, Wouk's explanation of Judaism is completely comprehensive and inspiring.

Herman Wouk is a devout orthodox Jew who has written several plays and novels. His writing flows and makes this study on Judaism clear and enjoyable. If you have any interest at all in Judaism, this is a great resource, as are your Jewish friends. I miss Josh Palay.

Rebecca is still trying to convince 25+ people to take her survey. Unfortunately, close friends and relatives shouldn't take the survey because they might give "biased" results; but you could tell all your friends to take it! :)

We've tried various different things. Rebecca started with a Google webgroup which had a bunch of people signed up to take the survey, but many of those people fell through. Then we posted flyers all over campus and offered bribes (a chocolate bar) to people who take it, but most of the campus is full of EFY kids who aren't old enough to take this survey. So we've been waiting and praying that more people will take her survey so she can write about it in her thesis. [I also am of the opinion that some people who are willing have been unable to take it, because I am using someone else's java applet software to run the survey; so yesterday and the day before I learned a bit more about cgi so I could write my own survey software. That should be up tomorrow, as long as I can convince myself there are less bugs in what I wrote than in the software I'm already using! -beck]

This week has been the last week of classes for me. On Monday, Rebecca and I went to the golf course for my class. By the end of the term, I had to complete 27 holes of golf. We did 18 of those Monday evening in the 90+ degree weather. By the end, we were parched and dehydrated but Rebecca had the great idea to go to 7-11 and get some slurpees. Ah, brainfreezes are a small price to pay for quenching thirst.

Not much else happened this week. By Thursday, things had gotten rather chilly around here, but the Young Women had made plans to go swimming (outside). Rebecca refused to get in the water, but the girls had a good time splashing around. [I did jump on the trampoline with them, and get "accidentally" close enough that they could splash me... -beck]

Saturday, we built and filmed a mock-up version of an installation I'm working on. My professor politely informed me that if I didn't have a video of the installation space by the final, then I'd fail his 1 credit hour class. Nice. [personally I think his professor is bluffing, but Wayne didn't want to risk it! -beck] After a lot of planning and figuring out where to put this thing together, we commandeered the Relief Society room in our ward building for 4 hours. While Rebecca cleared out the room, I drove all over to pick up the slide projector and bedsheets for the project (and a little snack for us both). We picked up some friends' couches, and filled the room with couches and tried to make it feel home-y. Then, we put on a little slide show. And filmed it. And then, the tape went bad and when I tried to edit the video, it was a mess. But I'm still going to turn it in anyways and hope that I pass the class ;) .

We still haven't heard back from jobs in San Jose for Rebecca. We're still hoping she can make her July 7th deadline for her thesis. I'm still hoping I pass all my classes so I can graduate. Last night we registered me for my graduate classes. And if we're moving, we need to do it in about a month and a half. No pressure, right?

Rebecca wanted me to post these pictures. Here's some images of our trip golfing.

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Yay! This week was momentous - Wayne finished his last classes and last finals ever here at BYU (of course he will have teachers and books...just at a different school....), and I finished my first draft of my thesis. Definitely a cause for celebration this week. Plus, we were finally successful at making ciabatta bread. Yay.

Wayne finished classes Monday, so we celebrated by eating out; it was a spontaneous celebration really. Wayne got back from his class and announced that we were going to go out. He didn't have to twist my arm too hard, that's for sure. Finals were finished on Wednesday, and we celebrated by going to a bells concert at the bell tower on campus. The first half hour of the bells concert they played bagpipes, which surprised us a little. But whatever. We took books and a blanket along and found a nice shady spot, so we couldn't hear the bagpipes too well, but the bells (once they got around to them) were quite nice. I thought it was funny that we were so wrapped up in our books at the beginning that it wasn't until after they finished the National Anthem that we realized that we were supposed to be standing.... Yay for good books and good music.

The rest of the week Wayne read and read and read and I spent staring at my computer, hoping I got enough people to take the surveys (which I am very, very close to having enough, but not quite there. Know anyone I don't know that might want to take it?!). Monday and Tuesday I got record numbers of responses (it took a week and a half to get the first 15 people, but then I got over 20 in just those two days!), and finally Saturday I finished my first draft of my thesis. With the numbers based on the surveys I have right now. I'll have to update the numbers once I get the final participants, but fortunately the trends have held steady since the first few responses.

That's pretty much the bulk of the week. I am continuing to apply for different job positions, and waiting to hear from the two I went out to San Jose to talk to. I'll have editing to do this week on my thesis, and hopefully find the last participants I need for my survey.

I tell you, if you were in such dire straits as I was, you too would elevate your thoughts. The lower you are, the higher your mind will want to soar.

-The Life of Pi

How did it get so late so soon?
It's night before it's afternoon.
December is here before it's June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?

-Theodore Seuss Geisel