OH man...lots of arc

Today was pretty frustrating. I just kept getting behind. I don't know...there's just so much to do and to remember that i have a hard time with everything. However, what was cool was that we did make the dino quarry in 3-d and then we learned how soar as a bird over our creation. That was really cool!
As far as my thanksgiving plans go, me and my sister are going to my Grandma's house in Grace Idaho for a couple of days and we are bringing our friend from back home with us too because he doesn't have anywhere to go. Then, we are going to go to Lava Hot springs and sit in the hot pots and finally relax. That will be nice...then go home and and do papers....arrggh!

ArcGIS again

Well, we've been continuing to to work with Arc and it's a really tough program. I think it's a combination of everything hitting us at once it other classes that makes it hard to focus...at least for me. So, sadly, i've gotten behind in the Arc work. But, it is neat to learn the program as a whole, because once we got it down we'll be able to use it in the future for field camp and those kinds of things. I really think it's cool how you can make your own contacts on a mylar sheet, scan it in, and then overlay it on a topo map and georeference it! It was great. I'm just frustrated because i'm slow in these things. I need to go over it again and again. Oh well, i'll get it.
Now, as for the random questions, the best book i read recently was....oh wait....i haven't read for fun since before the mission. Oh my gosh...that's the saddest thing in the world. I've just read gospel related thins and text books!! I live a sad existence. However, i did start reading a fantasy book written by a professor here at BYU actually, called Elantris. It's good to read something for fun. But i haven't been able to pick it back up for at least a month *sniff*. Also, as far as Christmas music goes...i'm an after thanksgiving kind of a guy. People are just too crazy about it and i think you need to give thanksgiving a chance before you jump the gun and go onto Christmas.

The amazingly counterintuitive world ArcGIS!

Alright then, today we started to learn about the amazing program of ArcGIS!  This is a great program in which you can pretty much do just about anything you would ever want to do with a geological picture.  My a ha moment today was that you can actually type in specific coordinates of an area you want and it will take you directly to that spot.  Also, that pyramids are good!  Click "yes" for pyramids!!!  The only thing I'm still frustrated with is how counterintuitive it really is.  All the bugs don't really help things either but luckily we are in this class so we can learn all about it.  

Now, as far as my favorite places to eat are i would most definitely have to say Tucanos.  I love that place because seriously, not only is there an all you can eat salad bar, fruit, pasta, etc.  but you get all you can eat meat of any kind you want!  I mean come on, it doesn't get much better than that!  

Review!

Today was a full and exciting day of review! We basically just reviewed today for the test. There wasn't any a ha moments and i really don't feel frustrated at this point. However, that paper kind of makes me nervous. Anyway, that's all there is to it.
As far as a good joke goes... What is green and invisible?

Hold out your hand with your palm facing up like your holding something and say "this head of lettuce!" I love it! See ya!

The glory of PowerPoint!

PowerPoint is a wonderful tool that i. honestly, don't know how we would get through college without it. In all regards the possibilities are endless. My a ha moment was that when you add a picture you can totally change the angle and all these different styles come up. I thought that was really cool. Other than that though, there wasn't anything too new and exciting because we have all used powerpoint at least a little bit i think. The one thing that frustrated me though was the slide master. I still don't really get how to use that.
As far as Adam's presentation goes, i thought it was fine but there were way too many sounds. Sounds are fun, but too many just kind of gets annoying. But this was all in good fun so it's ok!

Poster Post

Hey, alright! Well, things are really starting to pick up. With papers and tests and projects and homework it's amazing i get anything done at all. However, despite it all, we are still plugging away in this ol' 230 class. Today we learned about how to properly make posters in illustrator. This was really neat for me because i never knew how to do this before. I have always seen the geologic posters around before, but never knew how people made them. I really thought that this whole concept was my a ha moment so i really enjoyed this. what i am still frustrated with is just how much work i have to do. Not just for this class but all of it combined. I am actually understanding what we are learning and catching on, but i am starting to get overwhelmed. Note to self; never procrastinate your work!
On a lighter note...my favorite class i have taken so far has got to be my astronomy class i took freshman year here at BYU. It was the physics 127 class and i absolutely loved it! That along with geology 109, geology of the planets was wicked awesome too. I loved those classes!

Once upon an AI

Ok, what i thought was really cool and was my a ha moment was actually a lot of things. I really thought it was neat how the eraser tool actually just separated the object you erased into two different objects. I also really liked how you could drag the color you wanted into the gradient to change what gradient you wanted. Most of all though, the reflect tool was wicked awesome. It was sweet to be able to draw one thing and then just reflect it. Those were my favorite a ha moments. What i'm still frustrated with is that not only can i not draw on a regular piece of paper, but i still stink at drawing regular objects on illustrator. I am definitely not an artistic person. Everyone seems to be able to draw cool things but i'm just like, what can i draw, and then i try to draw something and it sucks. But anyway, that's what i'm frustrated with.
Now, as far as where i have lived. Aside from the college life i haven't lived too many places. I grew up in NY and then for one year we lived in south east Washington, but then we moved back to the same house in NY. Then i lived in Ogden on my mission for two years, and then good ol' Provo. I loved growing up in upstate NY though. I love the east.

making a crossection in AI

Today was really cool. I felt like i was right on task, i followed everything Nicole was teaching, and i felt i understood the material. We learned how to use the eyedropper tool as well as the transparency tool. With those tools we practiced making a cross section, and amazingly, i understood it all. My a ha moment came also, with learning how to make the stroke a dashed line. More specifically though, I really thought it was cool to use the multiplicity transparency option. That was my favorite part. I'm only frustrated with the fact that i have procrastinated too much and now i have a huge load on my hands. Hopefully i survive this week. Here goes nothing.
As far as my random question/statement, i'm going to a metallica concert tonight with an old mission companion which should be fun even though i'm not a huge heavy metal guy. Its just for the fact that i can say, i went to a metallica concert. My favorite band, though, is Jimmy Eat World!