Start Spreading the News...

...I'm leaving in May. Okay really a few days before May. But yes, I am going to New York City! I have been offered and accepted an offer to be an intern with LDS Public Affairs in New York City!

YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The public affairs office is in the same building as the Manhattan Temple.

Here is a summed up version of what my duties will be as an intern with LDS Public Affairs:

-United Nation activities (such as attending UN meetings, activities and events with UN Ambassadors and preparing reports about UN activities, with the goal of contacting and establishing positive relationships with the 192+ United Nations ambassadors in New York)

-Consul General activities (such as participating in efforts to contact and establish positive relationships with the 100+ Consul Generals of New York, by going to activities and identifying key staff, etc.)

-Local Public Affairs activities (such as planning and attending local PA events in the NYC area consisting of 14 stakes [a stake is around 1,000 people or so])

-Office Duties (such as answering phones, responding to e-mails, preparing country evaluation reports, assisting in planning and carrying out International Public Affairs events.

I'm really excited to be interacting with Ambassadors and Consul Generals from across the world. I have been informed that in early June, the BYU philharmonic orchestra will be playing in Carnegie hall. I will be helping plan the event and a reception for Ambassadors attending the concert.

What's a Dial Tone?

Today I had a phone interview for a possible internship in New York City. I was instructed by my coordinator to have the interview on a hard-line phone.

I had to stop and think...who has a hard-line phone?

I couldn't think of anyone I know here at BYU who has a hard-line phone. Cell phones meet the needs of a student who moves perhaps 2-3 times a year, maybe more.

When I think of having a hard-line phone for myself, it seems to go hand in hand with settling down into a place.

It was as if my coordinator could hear all of these thoughts and told me I could schedule a room with a hard-line phone in the Brimhall building (the Communications building, my building).

It had been weeks since I used a hard-line phone and over 6 months since I actually had a conversation on a hard-line phone. And I'm going to be honest...it was nice.

It was so clear, and the handset was large and comfortably fit into the crevice of my shoulder. I may even go so far to say that because of this experience I miss hard-line phones.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to sign up with Comcast to put in a phone line, but...it's now something to look forward to.

This blog entry makes me feel like Frank in "You've Got Mail" who has an infatuation with typewriters. But rest assured I'm not going to start collecting hard-line phones.

Though a unique old-school one like in the cartoon version of "101 Dalmations" would bring me adulations of joy.

The Secret is Out!

My classic rock kick continues. I was watching some Kansas (Carry on Wayward Son, Dust in the Wind) on Youtube and well I think I know who JK Rowling's muse was for Hagrid...

It's Robbie Steinhardt, violinist for Kansas!

















It's even more obvious in the Carry on Wayward Son video and Dust in the Wind is just...wow, if only every music video could be so...stoic.

Journey - Don't Stop believing

I just wanted to take a small moment to express my love for Journey. My love for Journey has been within me for awhile now, but my love was brought to the front burner tonight for some wonderfully unexplainable reason. I immediately thought of sharing my love with the small number of people who read this blog, maybe someone needs the happiness of Journey today. And I accept the challenge to be the messenger.

The Rods and Cones of the present

So I've been a bit dormant on this blog. (But not my movie one, check it out.) So I've decided to do a little color game. I will list some colors and put what my first thoughts were with that color.

Yellow: The color of the shirt I wore when I went to Medieval times as a freshmen in high school with my high school band. I told this story yesterday as there is a chance, not a strong chance, but a chance I might be going to Medieval Times again.

Blue: My favorite color. Every semester I buy plain colored folders for each of my classes. I realized today that I always give my PR class the blue folder.

Red: Extremely soft zip-up sweatshirt with a fleece interior. I re-found this piece shortly before Christmas break. It's so warm and comfortable. It really helped me stay warm in my really cold house.

Black: I just learned about black rice. I'd never heard of it before. It looks like black beans. I'm intrigued to try some. Also I think I will be making a batch of Black Bean soup again soon.

Pink: Sarah's footsie pillow. Feet inside of a pillow. Okay, it's pretty much a visual thing. No matter how hard I try to describe it, it's nothing like just examining it.

White: Snow. Lots of it. Also my inhaler, also seeing a lot of it lately.

Green: The carpet.