Alternative Commencement

If you have a soul . . . come to this! It will be AMAZING!!!! It is the most powerful example of grassroots efforts I have ever witnessed/been a part of, have faith in democracy my friends! Come celebrate it!

Miss Teskie 2007

I'm not sure exactly when Miss Teskies came into existence, my guess is maybe a decade ago. . .born of the feverish brains of teen boys. . . played out in the wild of the great outdoors. . . meant for only the bravest of the brave. . . named for a much disliked elementary school teacher. . . what is it you ask? oh! well, basically you go to a remote place (for us the shores of Utah Lake), you build a big bonfire (we burned palettes procured from the back of some store), you take a large pot and melt a bunch of parafin in it. . .till it boils. They you get several fool hardy folks to get very close to the fire holding Nalgenes filled with cold water, then everyone yells "THREE, TWO, ONE. . . MISS TESKIE!!!!!!!!!!" and then the said fool hardy folks dump the cold water on the boiling wax and KAAAABOOOOOMMMM!!!!! you all watch in amazement at the giant fire ball/mushroom cloud that erupts from the water hitting the wax. It's pretty awesome. The following are: firelight friends; the Arsenio Hall off between me and Joe; fire; the ladies of the casa; the boy beats band; me and heather; boil boil boil; one of the five miss teskies we did that night.

Cheney

Dear friends and family!
Hello! The following is a letter concerning the upcoming events
surrounding Dick Cheney speaking at BYU. My friends and I are
organizing an alternative commencement which you can read about below,
or check out the website at: www.byualternativecommencement.com
I am writing to ask you to help support this effort in whatever way
you can. Monetary contributions are greatly appreciated, as well as
coming and participating in the event. If 700 people donate $20 each we can make it!!! That's not so bad. . .c'mon! Be a part of history in the making!
Thanks so much!
Zina


I am writing to ask for support for a cause that is very important to
me. Last month, Brigham Young University invited Vice President Dick
Cheney to speak at the school's April commencement. Because many
students, faculty, alumni, and community members feel that Cheney
represents neither their standards nor those of the university, we
have formed a group called BYU Students for Alternative Commencement
comprised of graduating seniors, current students, faculyt, alums, and
friends.


The purpose of BYU Students Alternative Commencement is to voice our
dissent in a constructive way by having an additional ceremony after
the official commencement on April 26th 2007. Our alternative
commencement will not be about opposition, but about
alternatives–-creative, democratic alternatives to the problems facing
our country and government. As such, we've chosen speakers for our
event who embody these principles: former Amnesty International
director Jack Healey, former U.S. Senate candidate Pete Ashdown, and
citizen activist Ralph Nader.


By having these speakers at our alternative commencement, we seek to
promote a spirit of political optimism and ingenuity. We also hope
that this event will counter cynicism and wholesale criticism by
encouraging discussion and empowering graduates to search for positive
solutions to daunting problems. We believe that preparing students to
make this kind of visionary, creative change is what commencement
should be about.


Sponsoring a large event with distinguished speakers on such short
notice is very time-consuming and costly. In order to bring our
speakers out to Utah and secure a venue we have to raise $18,250 in
less than ten days. Through hard work and many generous donors we've
already been able to secure a significant amount in a few short days,
but we still need your help. Please support us by making donation
through Paypal* at www.byualternativecommencement.com, or by sending
cash or check payable to the "Gene and Charlotte England Education
Fund" at Zion's Bank, 1060 North University Ave. Provo, UT 84604. A
donation from you of $50, $100, or $250 will make it possible for us
students to accomplish our goal and 100% of it will directly support
this event.


Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions,
ideas, or if you know anyone who might be interested in contributing.
We also encourage you to learn more on our website, tell your friends
about the alternative ceremony, and attend on April 26th. Thank you so
much for your consideration and for helping make this event possible.

Schools Out Forever!!!

Today I took the last final exam I will ever take (I think . . .). I finished my last class for my Masters, and yesterday I turned in my proposal to my committee members and have my proposal defense scheduled for next Wednesday! In order to get all this done I've been pulling late nights all week and my body is about to quit. I have to admit though a tinge of nostalgia already building as I left my office at school late late last night . . . the empty halls . . . the bike ride home on the deserted streets . . . but I won't finish my thesis till December, so I'll probably have the pleasure of a few more of those late nights. I'm just happy the days of classrooms, papers, and tests are behind me. WOOHOOO!!!

Wordless Wednesday (Oslo)

THIS. . .

. . . breaks my heart into ten million little pieces. My parents are selling my childhood home, the only home I've ever had. I understand their reasons, and at least they are staying in Spring City (that would surely KILL me). . .but still. . . its our HOME! meoow. sad kitten.