Worst economy in 75 years?

Every day we read headlines and statistics about the slowing economy, many of which make some claim about this certain statistic being the lowest in 3, 5, 20, or 50 years. But I wonder every time I read these claims, "Is that so bad?" Is it so bad that home prices have dropped to the 2004 level? Or that consumer purchasing has dropped the most in a month since 9/11? Is it so bad that we've seen the most jobless claims since 1992? Certainly these things are bad signs, but shouldn't these be--more than anything--comforting? Isn't it a good thing that, despite all the gloom and doom we constantly hear, house prices are only down to the prices of 4 years ago? Isn't it good that consumer purchasing hasn't dropped MORE than the month following 9/11? And wouldn't we be so lucky as to go through the mild economic slowdown of the early 90s?

It would certainly be nice for the reporting agencies to put these facts and statistics into a more appropriate light to offer real meaning rather than just looking back through the past 30 years of economic history and finding the next worse thing. But it may even be more necessary to make sure that we, as consumers, realize that throwing up a time period to show the weakness of the economy may not mean what we first guess it means.

In other news, my savings account is at its lowest level since I opened it 2 years ago. Go figure.

Olympic Fever!

A few days back I was discussing with a co-worker my general apathy about my current life and future prospects. He asked me, "What do you get excited about?" And I honestly couldn't think of a single thing!

However, in the past few days I've realized that there is ONE thing that I get super excited about: the Olympics! Few things get my blood pumping and my brain agitated like good athletic competition. And the Olympics are, in my books, on the highest echelon of competition. It's a wonderful feeling rooting for US athletes, even though I've never even heard of most of them. And it's an even better feeling when those US athletes win.

But which events am I looking forward to most?

1. Track and Field
2. Gymnastics
3. Swimming
4. Basketball

And which am I looking forward to least?

1. Table Tennis (As much as I like watching crazy asians wildly smacking a tiny ball that you can't even see, I'm embarrassed that Americans aren't even close to being competitive.)
2. Rhythmic Gymnastics (This always felt like a cheap ripoff of REAL gymnastics, created by Eastern Europeans to ensure winning at least a few medals.)
3. Biathlon (I know that this is only in the Winter Olympics, but I'd still like to take this opportunity to complain about the seeming uselessness of this sport. Skiing for a few miles and then shooting a target also seems like a cheap event created from two other, already-existing events: cross-country skiing and shooting. Why don't we also create an event called biathlon that consists of competitors swimming 3 miles and then getting out of the pool and playing a round of curling?)

While we're on the subject of the Olympics, can I just say how much I despise the "bird's nest"?
So it appears that my life will have purpose, at least for most of August, when I'll be watching the Olympics day in and out! Which events are you most looking forward to?

PS. Check out these links for some pretty interesting insight on the pollution problems hovering over the Olympic games.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=oly&id=3481809
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3457413

What do you want to be when you grow up?

In our family, taking photos and videos was a very rare occasion. Therefore, the few videos that have survived the past few decades are a real treasure. Perhaps one of the most enlightening moments for me on these videos is when my dad was interviewing each of us individually. I was probably 6 years old at the time. And when my dad asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up, I answered, "A fireman." !!! I don't recall ever having a burning desire to be a fireman, no pun intended. But it's an appropriate example of something I've just recently realized: I can't make up my mind what I want to be when I grow up.

Over the course of the past decade, I have changed my mind almost a dozen times about what I was going to study and eventually become. Some of the mind changes came about because of necessity, some because of fear or doubt, some because of being fed up, and some because, well, I think I'm wishy-washy.

Here's a quick overview of what I've wanted to be at certain ages, and why I changed my mind:

age 6--Fireman (grew up?)

14--Composer (self-doubt)

16--Architect (wasn't offered at BYU, where I wanted to go to school)

17--Singer (wasn't accepted to program, then desire went away)

19--Linguist (more of a passing thought)

22--Accountant (grew to hate it)

23--Web Developer (scared of computer programming classes)

23--Russian (Thought I wanted to live abroad, but now I'm not so sure)

24--Pastry Chef (Culinary school, as it turns out, is super expensive, and life as a chef is crappy)

24--Technical Writer (I considered this last summer, but the fire was rekindled recently)

What have you wanted to be at various stages in your life?

My Poor Lungs

After just over 3 weeks in Russia, I have decided that it will be a miracle if my lungs survive the summer unscathed. Three separate forces have colluded against my poor lungs, determined to destroy them: my relentless cold, the spring пух (pookh), and second-hand smoke.

First, the cold I got last week is teetering on the edge of going away, but isn't giving up quite yet. I still have some phlegm buildup in my lungs and some faints signs of a continuing headcold.

Second, the пух. This is a phenomenon that few people truly understand until they've lived through it themselves, but each spring, a certain tree (I don't even know which tree, to be honest) releases its seed in the form of a floating piece of fluff. The fluff literally fills the sky so that it's nearly impossible to get from your apartment to the metro stop without getting a few pieces in your hair, on your clothes, and unfortunately, sucked in through your nose or mouth while trying to breath. I have found myself holding my breath for short periods of time while I feel my face being assaulted by a thick cloud of пух. While the picture I have described here may be slightly exaggerated, it hasn't seem that way to me. This spring has been a lot worse than the springs I remember on my mission in terms of пух in the air. Thankfully, it's started to die down.

Third, and worst of all is the unavoidable second-hand smoke I am forced to inhale everywhere I go. Stepping outside the apartment into the stairwell, I smell it. Walking to the metro I can't avoid it. Coming out of the metro I have to take it in. And entering or leaving the building at work forces it upon me as well. Basically, if you're ever outside and there are people around, there will be second-hand smoke. Now, before you accuse me of having lived in Utah for too long, I want to say that I have experienced my share of second-hand smoke in Philly, but this far outweighs anything I experienced there. Everyone here smokes. I'm not sure what the actual percentage is, but I just read an article that put the number at just over 50%. I wonder, though, if that includes dogs and cats and cows. It seems to me that it must be closer to 80%.

Anyway, I ask you to keep my lungs in your prayers this summer. And if you're planning a trip to Moscow, it might just be best to bring a gas mask just in case.

Modern Russian Folk Medicine

Anyone who spends at least a few months in Russia and has any sort of meaningful contact with locals will no doubt come across what I call "modern Russian folk medicine" (I think you'll see why). Almost every American I've met who's spent time in Russia has as much trouble accepting these practices as I do. It seems that in the US we have learned largely to rely on proven science to determine the effectiveness of treatments. Russians, however, seem to depend on these folk traditions. This week I came down with a pretty bad cold and subsequently faced a barrage of such folk remedies. Allow me to introduce you to a couple:


Our Russian language professor offered this remedy to get rid of a stuffy nose: "Take a clove of garlic. Place it in one nostril. Hold the other nostril shut with your finger. Take a long, slow breath in through the nostril with the garlic. Do this five times. Then, remove the garlic and put it into the other nostril. Close the first nostril with your finger and take five more breaths. Now don't take more than five breaths, or it will burn the insides of your nose. If you do that the first day of your stuffy nose, I promise that the second day it will be almost gone. And if you do it the second day, I promise that the third day it will be completely gone!"

The same professor also recommended the following: "If you're having problems with your heart, eat apricots. And if you're having problems with your stomach, you need to eat plums."

My friend Rachel passed on these to me:

To remove toxins from your blood: Place a tablespoon of mustard in a sock and put it on your foot overnight. But if you're using a strong mustard, you'll probably want to put a clean sock on between your foot and the mustard-sock or else you could burn the skin.

To help expediate the healing of a bruise: Place a cabbage leaf on the bruise for a few hours. If you're trying the mustard-sock thing, you might as well keep the cabbage on the bruise for the night as well.

To help remove congestion in the lungs (or something): place a few hot cups on your chest for a few hours. You can also put the cups on your back.


My host mother recommended the following to get my temperature down: "You need to place some raspberry varenya (a combination of fruit and water that is boiled and conserved in jars) in a cup and add hot water and drink it before going to bed. During the night, the raspberry varenya will cause you to sweat and as the sweat dries, it will cool off your body and in the morning your temperature will come down."


While I can certainly see the science behind the cooling effect of evaporation, this recommendation came as a surprise to me considering Russians' great fear of WIND. Of course I exaggerate (slightly) when I say that, but I have had countless experiences with Russians who have scolded me for not wearing a scarf. "Ветер дует" they say. "The wind is blowing." And then they tell us that we will get sick if we don't cover up our necks from the wind. My host mom also has repeatedly mentioned to me the dangers of the infamous "сквозняк." Skvoznyak is a crossbreeze that can be created by having multiple doors or windows open in a building. While most Americans would agree that a crossbreeze is generally a good thing, barring cold weather, Russians have an innate fear that even a minimal amount of time spent in a skvoznyak will indubidably result in you getting sick. I quote my host mom: "Even the slightest skvoznyak can cause you to become terribly sick, even nigh unto death."

Despite all of these recommendations, my host mom told me that there was one thing I absolutely had to do. "There's a special drink," she said, "that we always drink when we have a cold or flu. Vitaly (my host dad) will run down and get some from the store. And you need to drink it three times a day until you feel better. We always drink it when we're sick and it always helps." I, of course, met this suggestion with some skepticism, but because my cold was so bad, I was willing to try it. Wouldn't you know, Vitaly comes back from the pharmacy with a few packs of Терафлю, "Theraflu". And wouldn't you know, after two days of regular doses of this Терафлю, I felt almost 100%.

Maybe there's something to this "modern Russian folk medicine" after all.

Nice 'hawk, man!

Yes, yes, yes. These pictures are real. None have been edited, doctored, or otherwise tampered with. I have a mohawk. (Or, apparently, if I style it right, it can be taken down a notch to qualify as a faux-hawk.) I have had it for a full three days now. And I assure you that three days of having a mohawk in Provo is quite enough to get an understanding of how people react to this hairstyle. In fact, this is my focus for today's blog: the reactions of the BYU/Provo community to the infamous mohawk.

I have determined that there are four general types of reaction to my current hairstyle; they are explained in depth below. But before I begin, what was YOUR reaction to the above pictures? Read further and see which group you fall into.

Group 1: Glance-Stealers

Group 1 consists of those who try not to notice my hair, but just can't help stealing glances. Group 1 is also made up of the largest portion of the population. However, even within this group there comes a variety of ways for people to steal glances. Many take extended looks as they pass me on campus or in the hallway. Some take a peak when they think I'm not looking, but I can often see them out of the corner of my eye. And perhaps the most enjoyable cross-section for me is those who just can't prevent their eyes from flitting up to my hair during a conversation with me. This last description was made most aware to me during a conversation I had with one of my classmates in my Russian Film class. While we were supposed to be describing to each other our views of the movie "Burnt by the Sun" ("Утомлённые Солнцем"), my partner was describing to me why he thought it was a Drama, but he just could NOT stop his eyes from stealing a glance at my hair every 3 seconds.

Group 2: The Shameless

Group 2 consists of those who, as soon as they see my hair, can't withhold their disgust and disapproval from appearing in their face. I'll admit that this has been the smallest fraction of any group, but perhaps the most noticeable. And it's worth noting that the largest demographic within group 2 has been those 40 years and older. The most noticeable example from group 2 so far was from an older woman on campus Saturday. As I was walking back to my scooter, she saw my hair and gave a momentary glare of disapproval. I saw it from a good 20 feet away, but I could've seen it from 1000 feet away it was so obvious.

Group 3: Joy-Joys

This group I called "Joy-Joys" for lack of a better name, and describes those who have expressed unexpected enthusiasm for my new haircut. Like group 1, group 3 is also wide and varied in its expression. My first human interaction on the morning after I had my haircut was with a girl at work, who just stared at me with an inquiring smile for about 15 seconds. Later that day, in my Russian class, a kid behind me turned to me and asked me interestedly about how people were reacting to my hair. He then shared with me how people reacted to a huge, thick beard he once wore on campus. On my way home that day, I noticed another girl who gave an amused smile at me as she passed. The last example I'll give came from our Saturday trip to Macey's from a store employee. While he was refilling the bell peppers, he turned, saw my hair, and said with great excitement, "Nice 'hawk, man!"

Group 4: The Ignorers

This final group is arguably my favorite—it consists of those who walk past and are so dumb-struck and in awe that they can't even bear to look or say anything. . . . . . okay, okay. I'll admit that most of them probably just don't care. And I'll be honest, that's probably why they're my favorite; although this post may seem very narcissistic, I really didn't do my hair this way for attention's sake. Or did I? I'm not even sure anymore. . . . .

So were you able to put yourself into one of these groups? Which one? And do you think I did this for attention, or just for fun?

Chatlog: Hairspray Potter 6?

My sister and I couldn't remember the contents of Harry Potter 6, but then my sister remembered:

Katherine: well first harry finds a magical locket in his pocket and he opens it and there's a picture of you! so then he starts looking for you

Jeffrey: lol lol stop stupid

Katherine: and then he finds you and kills you. the ed

Jeffrey: lol stop ha;ofiwjefo;iawjfo;iwj

Katherine: the end.

Jeffrey: the ed!! hahah!

Katherine: shutcho face!!!

Jeffrey: Oh, now I'm reminded of what happens in book 7: Hermione makes a magical mirror potion to find Harry but instead she sees you and she goes to find you and she does find you at Panera (a restaurant back home) and sees that you have the same hair as her

Katherine: hahaha

Jeffrey: so she kills you the end

Katherine: nooooo!!

Jeffrey: lol YESSS!

Katherine: that's amazing jeff! i'm in a book! and a MOVIE!

Jeffrey: lol I know!!! but they didn't cast you for the role
they cast nikki blonsky

Katherine: hmm... yeah

Jeffrey: lol

Katherine: they didn't cast you either

Jeffrey: who

Katherine: they cast nikki blonsky

Jeffrey: LOL i'm laughing so hard people are probably staring
I h8 u

Katherine: i hope so!

Jeffrey: I h16 u

Katherine: and i hope they're remarking at how much you look like nikki blonsky

Jeffrey: "he should be in a movie"
"played by nikki blonsky"
stupid

Katherine: hahahaha

(Both above images taken from Wikimedia Commons.)

Three Things I Hate About You, Dems and GOP

After nearly a full year of following the campaigns of both the Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls, I think I'm finally exhausted by its seeming endlessness. This political burnout, as I might term it, is a major contributor to my next statement: I don't like any of the choices for president. Many may be surprised that anyone could feel this way when so many, especially on the Democratic side, are exclaiming, I like ALL my choices! So in order to explain my current predicament, I've decided to publish these complaints in three parts. In each part I will address one complaint per party. Enjoy part I.

The Democrats

1. Trying to be everything to everyone. It seems to me that this has become the overarching theme of the Democratic party. Throughout the past 50 years, the Democrats seem to have taken under wing every minority group and every minority interest, as well as most majority interests. Now, I'm not saying that this is a bad thing. I'm glad that the Democrats have seemingly been more supportive of blacks, hispanics, poor people, women, and other groups. The problem I have is that they try to simultaneously appease the whole constituency. A good example of this was the debate over the recent stimulus package approved by congress. President Bush, Speakerwoman Pelosi, and a handful of other politicians proposed a stimulus package that would send rebate checks to all those who paid income tax--a simple, straightforward plan to inject more expendible income into the economy ASAP. The House approved the package. However, the Senate Democrats made a big stink in trying to add benefits to the plan for the unemployed, the elderly, an increase in food stamps and other social programs. Thankfully they gave up on these goals and signed the package as it was sent from the House. But still, this was a huge cause of concern for me. I can only think of two scenarios as to why they were pushing for these unnecessary additions.

A) They think that the point of a stimulus package is to encourage equality and equinimity in the economy. (This is NOT the point of a stimulus package.)

or B) They KNOW that a stimulus package isn't the forum for a socialist platform, but they slow down the legislative process just to show their poor and elderly constituencies that they're thinking of them.

Whichever of these situations is true, or even if neither is true, I will still hate the Democratic party for slowing and bloating the central government with their attempts to simultaneously appease everyone. Parts II and III will speak more to the bloating effect.

The Republicans

1. GOP Party-Egoism. In following the campaigns, debates, speeches, and rallies of the candidates, one theme that has ticked me off more than most is the way that they often speak about their party over the needs of the American people. "Our party will gain/keep control of the White House!" The Republicans are especially guilty of this party-egoism, as I term it. It seems that many of them have forgotten that most of us, even if we are registered in the Republican party, do not have a die-hard attitude about the party itself. I guess maybe I should just speak for myself. I'm a registered Republican in the state of Pennsylvania, but I honestly don't care one iota for the party itself. I like the Republican ideals of social conservatism (though I do not always agree with their proposed legislation), and I love the ideal of small government. But the more I hear this rhetoric of "Party this, party that. All for the party." It makes me want to do something drastic: register Independent, or Green, or Libertarian, or even Democratic. (jjk--just jk)

FirstPost

Yet again, friends, I have submitted to starting a blog. I'll be honest with you, I have long had trouble with writing a blog. I always feel confused about whether I should write with my audience in mind, or just write what comes off the top of my head. To boot, many of the things that are important enough to me to write down are often too sacred to post in a public forum.

So, keeping this in mind, I have decided to move forward and create this blog. My main motivation came from this simple fact: sometimes writing a note on facebook just isn't enough. Therefore I present for your reading pleasure (and occasional displeasure) Blogspot's newest blog, "Just a little zest" by LemonZest.