Diversity

When I graduated from high school my mom gave me the coolest book of advice and notes from a huge list friends and family. One of the contributors who I respect and deeply admire wrote, "Seek out diversity and what you can learn from it." At the time I thought it just reinforced my already-planned approach: I would go down to Provo but not get caught up with all the BYU zoobies. Instead I would find the more interesting types. But inherent in my interpretation was actually a focus on finding similarity (those like me) and not on seeking out diversity (those very unlike me).

Recently I've had several encounters which finally caused the real meaning of that advice to click. Two of these were particularly memorable:

Blond Bow with Dog (BBWD)
BBWD was a passenger on my flight to Chicago who I first noticed while we were waiting for our flight to start boarding. She was blonde, very nicely dressed, in her late 30's or early 40's, had a red bow in her hair, and a small dog in one of those little carriers that can go under the seat of an airplane. My initial reaction to seeing her included a degree of scorn (due to the red bow on a middle-aged woman) and a degree of dread that I would end up sitting next to the poor dog being stuffed under the seat. Obviously not an "embrace diversity" reaction.

Our flight was delayed for about 3 hours and when we finally started to board, the flight attendants were rushing us all into our seats so we wouldn't miss our departure window. They were clearly feeling stressed and having to deal with a lot of unhappy passengers.  When I was settled in my seat, I saw BBWD stop the flight attendant walking by her row and present her with a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. She apologized that the doughnuts weren't warm anymore, she had picked up a fresh box on her way to the airport that morning as a gift for the flight crew but in the three-hour delay they had gotten cold.

I was shocked! Not only had this woman thought to bring doughnuts for the crew of an airplane, she kept the doughnuts with her for three hours (in addition to her dog and other carry-on bags), AND she was perfectly pleasant despite the frustrating delay. My scorn and dread of course became shame and admiration. Agreeableness in the face of stress or irritation, and thoughtfulness, especially directed at strangers, are not common character traits. This woman impressed me. While I can't say that her behavior had a pay-it-forward-type ripple effect, I certainly tried to be more pleasant and helpful to others that day, and I've been more conscious of my own agreeableness and thoughtfulness since. Now when I think of her - the bow and the dog are secondary. I remember her more as Thoughtful Agreeable Doughnut Giver.

Danny Bardeaux

I met Danny in the waiting room of a car audio shop. I expected to be there for about an hour and a half, and I had list of things I planned to get done while I waited. However, when I walked in, Danny was the only other person there, and he was watching a History Channel show called Pawn Stars. We each said hello, I started to work on my list, and he started making comments about the show. It seemed rude to just ignore him, so I laughed or nodded occasionally and somehow we got into a lengthy, unrelated conversation.

While we talked I learned that he is my age and from Cincinnati, though not quite the same
Cincinnati as my Montgomery-residing cousins. He was very clean-looking with casual but high-quality, down-to-earth clothes, which made an impression on me because it seemed like a stark contrast from his dirty blue-collar fingernails as well as his bloodshot eyes, semi-yellow teeth, and constant cursing. We talked about his background and career - he was a drug addict, now seven years clean and sober and working as a contract industrial pipe-fitter/technician (or some job that sounds like that). This means he travels all over, only staying in one place for a few weeks or months at the most. His aspirations include working this job until he accumulates enough money to buy some real estate; specifically, he wants a few rental properties or ideally a storage unit facility, which he said would allow him to have at least one steady income source that doesn't require his being present. In reference to owning the storage unit facility he thought it would be like, "Owning a money tree." He also aspires to settle down somewhere without winter cold but also without scorpions (the only things in life that terrify him). When he shook his head after I asked him whether he'd considered southern Utah, his one-word response to my questioning look was, "Mormons." (Side note: He apologized by saying, "No offense if you were one." Not sure what to think of his use of 'were' vs. 'are'...)

So that's Danny. Those facts paint a certain picture of a person who, despite my admiration for the way he has dealt with hard things, I would seek out or choose to befriend.

But he also told me about his uncles - a surgeon, an attorney, and a Bank of America executive in New York. He explained that he knew he had the intellectual capacity to be very successful (and I absolutely agreed by the end of our conversation) but had made poor life choices that he had to deal with. He told me that he'd grown up in a really traditional home, even going to church every Sunday, but in the last few years his parents declared bankruptcy, his Mom came out, and her girlfriend from the UK is coming to live with her. But she and his dad are still living together because he has three younger siblings (youngest age 9) and the parents are trying to make things as stable and easy as possible for them. He was leaving for Cincinnati the next day because he hadn't been home in a year and felt like his siblings needed a big brother around.

He explained his comment about Mormons by saying he couldn't understand a religion that wasn't even as old as the country where it started - a very surprising and interesting response. He told me about the epiphany that caused him to get his life in gear: When he was working with disabled adults he came across a 45 year-old woman who had disabilities but was very aware of them and wished she was capable of having a more "normal" life - specifically just one child, a job she earned and provided opportunities for progression, and a place of her own. After meeting her he realized, "It was EXPLETIVE selfish for me to waste my God-given abilities."


He talked a lot about other people and made insightful observations about how people think and interact. When we were discussing his career thoughts I told him he seemed to be pretty knowledgeable about psychology, and seemed to really enjoy his time working with the disabled, afterwhich he laughed and said, "I've spent a lot of time with therapists." As someone who has also spent a fair amount of time with therapists, I gave him my spiel about how great I think therapy is, how it's like having a personal trainer for your mental/emotional self, and how everyone ought to go in for a tune-up every once in awhile. He responded by saying, for him, the real value of therapy was increased self-awareness, which he thinks is so crucial and important. Suddenly I had one of those moments that occasionally occur in conversations (mostly with good friends) where the other person puts words to a nugget of thought/feeling I share, and just gets in a way no one else has.

Unfortunately, that last comment was where the mechanic came in and told me my car was ready. We shook hands, introduced ourselves by name, and I left. Not only was I surprised by Danny, and I certainly learned from and admired him, but I connected with him on something that I hadn't necessarily connected on with anyone else.

For me - and I think this is what the advice I received was getting at - similarity is safe, but it isn't stretching or stimulating. Diversity of experience, thought, age, character, etc. offers me opportunities for meaningful learning, self-improvement, entertainment, enrichment, empathy - all things that are worth "seeking out".

Groupon Addiction

If you haven't tried Groupon or sites like it.....you've got to start! Here are just a few examples of how I've benefited:

• Cutlery - Well of course I don't have enough cutlery, how could I say no? (I now have at least 6 forks and 12 knives that have never been used - they just sit in the drawer and never make it into the rotation. Don't seem to have this problem with spoons.)
• Vitamins - Everyone always says I should take vitamins and now's my chance! Never mind the fact that they taste like alfalfa and I tried one and threw the rest out. It was a bargain so I really didn't waste money - only $40 when it should have been $80!
• Watch - I was thinking I might possibly need a watch and hey - 50% off! I've worn it once in a year but again, it was a deal so that's ok.
• Vietnamese/Mexican Fusion Cuisine - Oh that restaurant sounds good - I know it's 30 minutes away and I may not know anyone interested in this particular kind of fusion. But of course I'll come up with a reason to get there - it's such a great deal.
• Games - I love games, I'm sure I'll want to buy one soon so why not get a discount.
• Camelbak backpack - I was just on a hike the other day and envying someone's camelback - now I can have one of my own for the 2.3 hikes I take per year.
• Contact lenses (yes it really did get this bad) - I have to squint to read small print far away lately, so I bet I'll be needing some sort of vision help. I need to take advantage of this deal now for when I have to get them for real.* ** *** ****

*Note: You can't just buy lenses without a prescription. 
**Note 2: You need to find an eye doctor to check your vision - the little chart in the hall of the doctor'a office is not enough. 
***Note 3: If I were to need vision help, I'd have to go with glasses - I tried sticking something in my eye and it did not work. 
****Note 4: Upon trying some glasses on, I discover my ears are lopsided - now on the lookout for a Groupon for ear-adjusting plastic surgery

The Library Missing from My Genes

As I go through life, I realize more and more all the things I don't know. Some of this is normal, but what I'm talking about in this case are things that seem to be inherently obvious to most around me (women specifically) but somehow did not make it into my genetic code. My first thought when I don't know something is to Google it....but I think I need more than search results or wikipedia here. I need books, large volumes, and probably a tutor to go with them. If anyone knows of books like these, please let me know:

• Matching for Dummies - Beyond the black shoe/brown belt faux pax. 
• The Vocabulary of Hair - Speak the language of the Salon!
• Love The Burn - Making running your life's passion
• For me, in the case of running this is probably a more reasonable title: Lessons in Performing - how to make everyone think running is your favorite hobby
• Purses Explained.
• Walking Made Easy? No Thanks: How evolution took the fun out of trying to walk upright and how high heels bring it back
• The People You Meet in Your Dreams or Sleepwear Selection - you thought it was about comfort?
• The Big Book of Terms You Should Know Before Using and/or Questions You Should Never Ask a Stranger - Vulva, Dipstick, and more!

I'm sure there are millions more titles to put on my list...but I think these six would be a good start.

My Summer Vacation (Girls Camp)

So I was assigned to help with our Ward girls camp. 33 girls, 7 adult leaders, 3 days, 3 nights, camping. It was an enlightening experience in a lot of ways, but generally pretty fun. Here are the highlights:

• The theme of the camp was Happily Ever After and we were all supposed to be princesses (not my idea). I didn't think it was possible to be a princess when you had to sleep in a tent...but I was wrong. There were people with cots, with sleeping pads on the cots, with sleeping bags, and comforters! They also had whole bags of makeup, perfume and even something called dry shampoo. I didn't sleep or look or smell like a princess but some people sure did.  
• Justin Bieber songs never fail to make teenage girls scream. I bought my first Justin Bieber song after I got home - hoping if I listen to it I will understand this phenomenon
• I made crafts. With flowers on them. Enough said.
• Advice: If you want to make people happy after a long day of setting up campsites (complete with a carriage that lit up and chandeliers in our case) don't feed them sandwiches for dinner 
• Snoring sometimes come from the most unexpected sources 
• Sleep aids: sometimes necessary 
• Whole wheat pancakes are one of the best breakfast foods that exist...when covered with buttermilk syrup.
• There's a reason the fairy godmother in Cinderella floats - that robe is impossible to move in, especially through a circle of camp chairs while pirouetting. Floating is the only way to go, and I have the bruises to prove it.
• Removing hair wraps requires hair cutting - something you should find out BEFORE you have one put it in your hair.
• Women of a certain age are really hot ALL the time so they like to leave the tent windows open when they go to bed - makes for a pretty chilly night. Again, insert sleep aids here.
• There's this thing called Crackle that is apparently supposed to go on top of nail polish and make a cool cracked-looking pattern or something? My nails just look like they were really poorly painted with whiteout.
• I will never again walk up to a tent and just start unzipping without giving the people inside some sort of warning. You see and hear things you wish you hadn't.

Living Solo

Discoveries I've made since living alone:

• I actually can kill spiders, given a heavy enough shoe that can be attached to the end of my swiffer. 
• I'm messy. That will shock no one I suppose, but I always thought I was just messy when I only had small spaces to work with (like my bedroom or my desk). Turns out the messyness just expands to fill the space. 
• I might not like the color green as much as I thought I did. I have a LOT of green stuff. 
• It becomes really easy to leave doors open when no one else is around...bedroom doors, bathroom doors...there's no one to separate from!
• I love yogurt and cheerios, together. That's been my dinner for the past four days. Still trying to get around to unpacking my kitchen.
• I need to take more pictures (I have so few to put up in my apartment) but I now have a lot less to take pictures of - I'm not going to take pictures of myself sitting on the couch, reading on my bed, standing in the kitchen....the solo apartment doesn't lend itself to exciting photographic remembrances. 
• I cannot tolerate sleeping in the heat. If I were on a jury and a murderer testified that he lost his temper because his bedroom was hot and that's why he killed the woman who cut him off on his way to work....I'd let him off.
  

The New Place and Some Old Places

Two of my favorite places in the world are Walden Pond (Concord, MA) and Central Park (NYC). My new apartment is nowhere near as cool as either of those places. BUT, I think there are some similarities.

• When Henry David Thoreau went to Walden Pond, he "wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if (he) could not learn what it had to teach." I came to my apartment for sort of less profound, but similar reasons. I was ready to be on my own. I aslo needed some separation from my parents, which apparently Thoreau did not - he still had his mother do his laundry.

• Thoreau was not completely isolated at Walden Pond, but he clearly had a lot of time on his hands to think...he wrote a 300 page book with chapters like "The Bean Field", "Solitude" and "Brute Neighbors". Since I've started living here, I've written in my journal almost every day. And in fact, one day I wrote about how much I like being alone (solitude) and yesterday I wrote about my neighbors! I don't plan on writing anything about a bean field.

• I live by Liberty Park, which has a pond. 

• It's a little harder to show similarities between my new place and Central Park. There's actually just one thing that reminds me of it, and that is the squirrel. When I went to Central Park I remember being really surprised by how many squirrels there were, and how they didn't seem to be afraid of anything, humans or otherwise. Well outside my living room window lives the most obnoxious squirrel in the world. Every morning I wake up to him squeaking away for no apparent reason. It took me awhile to find him, but when I did he seemed to be squeaking right at my neighbor, then he went to another tree and was squeaking at some bird, and on and on. I had no idea squirrels could be obnoxious, I don't even think I knew they could really make noise. But now....well I never understood the point of BB guns.

Sharing the Joy

I am in my last real week of finals at BYU, sort of. Anyway, I'm attempting to find the joy in these last few (except the one that was at 7am - I literally felt like I could kill someone if they even looked at me wrong. Early morning=irritability to the point of psychopathy) and I thought I'd share the joy with you. (I fully expect this to be the least read blog post ever). Here are some gems from the week:


Philosophy of Law:  Today at 7am I was presented with five questions, including the following - our answers to each were supposed to be at least a page long - in total I ended up writing ten pages. Who needs coffee when you have this stuff?

• (a) Under the standard proposed by Estrich (p.875), what would a person be required to do to avoid being negligent regarding the consent of a sexual partner? (b) What problems does a negligence standard for rape entail? (c) In your opinion, what should be legally required to be guilty of rape? Defend your answer against possible objections.
• (a) Is the U.S. government morally obligated to provide remedies for past discrimination against African-Americans? Explain. (b) State arguments for and against using affirmative action as a legal remedy for past discrimination. (c) How does Justice Brennan in Bakke (p.594) argue that preferential treatment (affirmative action) should be subjected to less than strict scrutiny. Do you agree? Why or why not? 
  

Logic: Mostly proofs and some symoblizations. It's like math without numbers.

• I had to give proofs for give statements like the following:
• (x)(Cax→Dxb)
• (Ǝx)Cax                  C: (Ǝx)Cax→(Ǝx)(Ǝy)Dxy 

Philosophy of Language: Mixed bag, essays, short answer and memorizations.

• Essay: Drawing upon Kripke's theory of naming and the notion of a rigid designator, give a semantical account of the word "philosophy." Implicit in this answer should be an explanation of why "the love of wisdom" is a problematic answer. 
• Turn sentences like "The French king is not funny" into:
• It is false that: "x rules France" is sometimes true, "if y rules France then y=x" is always true, "x is not funny" is sometimes true.

• Memorize nine quotes like:
• Everything is what it is and not another thing.
• All these results were obtained not by any heroic method, buy by patient, detailed reasoning. I began to think it probably the Philosophy had erred in adopting heroic remedies for intellectual difficulties, and that solutions were to be found merely by greater care and accuracy. 

Philosophical Writing: Papers. Lots of papers.

• Excerpt from my term paper on Skepticism and St. Augustine: The Academics deny that knowledge is possible. They deny the validity of cataleptic impressions and sensory experiences because they are too easily duplicated in verifiably untrue ways (such as dreams), and they are too vulnerable to the errors of human perception. The Academics do acknowledge that truth exists but deny the existence of knowledge because our human modes of perception and reason are too fallible to access truth. They argue that while people may think they know some fact which actually turns out to be true, they have no way of knowing that they know it. Therefore, true knowledge, that is knowledge of our knowledge, is not possible (Klein).

Philosophy Senior Seminar: Very broad/general readings and another Paper.

• Excerpt from the paper on Ethical Egoism and Kantian Deontology: While it is true that committing to certain duties takes a degree of thought out of some choices, it does not take away one's autonomy in Kant's sense, or one's concern for self in an Egoist's sense. In fact, the adoption of these duties may  be necessary for us to truly conform to either system. If we always had to make hard choices in the moment of action, we would probably be much less effective both in choosing what is moral, and is choosing what in our own best interest.

Doctrine & Covenants: Multiple Choice and Matching - lots of terms like these: 

• Keys for detecting messengers (D&C 129) 
• Kinds of beings in heaven (D&C 129)
• Appearances of the Father, Son (D&C 130)
• Willard Richards
• John Taylor 
• Alvin Smith

Inkiversary

I was told it would hurt

And that I'd feel like dirt

And that it meant I was going astray

And that I'd regret it someday

However, on this date

One year late-r

I think

My ink

Rocks

And it puts me outside the box

I still love the quote

And I'll end on that note. 

The New Apartment

I've been living in a new apartment for about a month now. We moved here because we thought it would be a great place to live during the great Spring weather (which has yet to appear here yet...we had snow a few days ago). It's got a pool and lots of grass to lay around on. However, after staying at the Stein Eriksen Lodge last week, I realized what a dump our apartment is. And I decided to document it.

Our roommate Becky, whose TV we have been using for two years, moved somewhere else so we were left with my TV. I thought it would be perfectly adequate, but when we set it up...well the screen is about as big as a computer screen. We have to squint to see the ball when watching the NBA finals, and whenver any writing shows up (most often in the after-stories at the end of movies, ie: so and so went on to own a store in Bluffton) we all have to get about ten inches from the TV to be able to read it. A picture is worth a thousand words, but I think this picture just needs one word: pathetic.

We were actually fairly excited about the couches here, they look a lot softer than the ones we came from. However we soon discovered that upon sitting on them, you sink to the point of drowning.

The bathroom is doable. The toilet necessitates an unnatural observation of one's own waste as it doesn't completely flush about once in every ten flushes. You'll notice in this picture that the outlets in the sink area are oddly positioned. We're curious what electrician thought that putting the outlets immediately below the lights, barely within the reach of shorter people like me, was a good idea. I don't enjoy being reminded of my lack of height every morning as I go to plug in my hair dryer.

There is another lighting mystery in the bedrooms. Apparently the electrician also decided that only one of the two occupants deserved decent light, so he decided to put the fixture on one side, right up against the wall. I lucked out with the lit side of our room, but it is absolutely blinding in the morning.

The kitchen is small, but that's very doable as there are just three of us. The biggest problem is the absence of a dishwasher. It's sort of a wash-and-use situation at this point. If you need a spoon you've got to dig through the sink, find one, and wash it. But we don't really have anything to dry them after we wash them, so I've been using a clean t-shirt. We also decided to actually cook something after things settled down from the move-in. We wanted to make a chicken dish in the oven, but we realized we had no pans to put in the oven, and nothing to pull hot dishes out of the oven with. We bought some cheap stuff at Smiths but only the minimum. We made quiche (baked in an alumnum pie tin we got for 93 cents) and muffins last week. Instead of springing for a muffin tin we bought the cupcake liners, put them on an old cookie sheet, and poured the batter in. It worked well enough that I may never invest in a muffin tin!

The last, and possibly most irritating aspect of our apartment is the noise. We live right above the lounge of our complex, and there is a piano in the lounge. We have to deal with people pounding away at all hours of the day. I woke up to someone playing Phantom of the Opera (not well) and singing along! We also live on the pool, which we thought was brilliant. We'd have easy access, we'd have a good view of whoever was hanging out there, what could be bad about this? However we soon learned about the pool gate. It's this big iron thing that closes automatically behind people as they enter or exit. However, if they don't slow it down before it closes it BANGS shut and shakes our whole apartment. The heater vent drowns out most of the talking and yelling at the pool but there is NOTHING that will muffle the noise of that gate.

Thankfully only three more weeks of this place.

The Place I Call Home

Not sure if I just like my new apartment a lot more than past residences, or if it's just a matter of being used to living in an apartment, or if it's a function of finally feeling settled in my third year at school...whatever the reason, I've adapted to this place much faster than any so far.

In the dorms, it was 'the box','the hole', 'the dorm', 'the room', and my favorite, 'the cave'.

Last year, it was 'King Henry', 'the apartment', or 'the place'.

This year, we have a red kitchen. There is a serious lack of storage, but it is so worth it to have a red kitchen. We've all moved past Ramen or Pasta Roni this year, and have actually begun developing our cooking skills. Sometimes it pays off - as in the case of delicious Pear and Brie chicken we had last week, and sometimes...well let's just say one of us learned not to cook chicken by placing it frozen in a frying pan. (Our apartment was so thick with smoke it looked like we lived in a cloud, but at least we learned that the smoke detector is broken.) Anyway, I attribute our new exploits in cooking to the pleasant aura created by the red paint.

The bathroom/sink area is a little small this year...two sinks for six of us - but this is where the magic happens. Six disheveled and sleep-deprived girls emerge from their bedrooms, but after considerable time spent in front of this mirror, which includes lots of negotiating of various cords, and in some cases massive amounts of makeup and/or hairspray (to the point of causing a fire hazard - if one of us lit a match in front of that mirror in the mornings we'd all be toast, literally), six well-dressed girls in varying degrees of glamour emerge ready for the day. That is to say nothing of the bathrooms themselves. There are shampoo bottles on the floor of the tub because there isn't enough room on the edges and the hot water is so flaky that we have all resigned ourselves to the fact that we will be going without showers or be dealing with frozen hair this Winter.

Our living room is much larger than last year, and despite the ugliness of the plaid couches we actually enjoy hanging out in there. This is where we study when we can't stay awake on our beds, where we play marathon card games, where we do roommate therapy sessions, and where we watch Grey's Anatomy religiously every week.

And then there's my room. Well, our room. I have transitioned from having my own room last year to sharing a room this year. It has actually worked out pretty well, with the one exception that it is MUCH more difficult to go to bed at a reasonable time when there is someone five feet away to lay in bed and talk to about the big picture philsophical issues, the minor details of the day, and everything in between. It's fairly small, but we handle it. I just have to keep my mess to my side, and Ainsley keeps her order on her side. So far we've managed not to overflow but it's only been a month.

Anyway, that's the new place....this year, it's 'home'.

A New Era of Responsibility

Parker - that is his name. My new pride and joy...well neither actually. Can I just say that getting a car is far less exciting when it's one you are paying for and that you are responsible for? When I finally got my license and could drive my dad's old 1994 Ford Taurus (Bruce - see blogpost dated March 2nd, 2009 for more on him), when I got to drive that car I was ecstatic. There was nothing better! I volunteered to run every errand under the sun, I spent every minute in that thing that I could, despite the fact that it had no air conditioning and for music the choices were either radio stations full of static or good old-fashioned tapes.

Oooooh how times change. When I bought Parker, which name he shall be called, I could barely bring myself to go 70mph on the freeway. I would leave a good twenty feet between me and the car in front of me at stop lights. I tried not to accelerate or break too fast for fear of damaging something. It was much less a toy or source of fun, and more a prized possession, needed for transportation to work, and something I felt a real sense of stewardship over. It was all I could do to let my dad take it for a test drive up and down the street the night I bought it. And when he came zooming past the house, clearly giving the accelerator a good test, I determined that I would never let anyone get behind Parker's wheel ever again.

Now the cautiousness has worn off a little, I've returned to my normal, faster, more efficient method of driving, and I've already gotten two speeding tickets since I started driving Parker. In fact, the second officer to pull me over felt it necessary to inform me that the most common cars pulled over by his officers were Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords, like Parker, because apparently they run so smoothly that people don't realize how fast they're going. Hmmm, but was he going to let me use this as an excuse? Heavens no. $260 ticket, signed and binding. All of you in Millard County out there, it's poor Accord and Camry owners like me that are paying for the frivolous expenses of your country leadership. I hope you feel good about that.

Anyway, while my driving style hasn't changed, there is definitely less of a sense of fun when driving Parker. It's much more sophisticated and responsible. I notice every scratch, every crumb, every noise. I feel like I have to up my game for Parker, he is a car deserving of NPR and nighttime Jazz. He represents a transition to a more grown-up and sophisticated phase in my life. It's sad to see the fun driving days end, but at the same time I enjoy my morning commutes with the Diane Rehm Show and evening commutes with All Things Considered. Besides, this new phase of life calls for different types of thrill-seeking and rebellion, and Parker won't be a part of it.

Europe: Self-Discoveries and Advice - #1

I learned a lot in Europe, a lot about myself and what to do, and not to do while there. Life is a little crazy being back home, but I want to pass on the pearls of wisdom I gained. So I will attempt to do this over the next few weeks. One pearl at a time.

I have never been a sweets person, not a big chocolate fan, I generally prefer cheese. However, I discovered something in Europe that completely altered my sweet/salty priorities. It's called the Magnum Classic.
Normally you don't want to quote from the company marketing spiel, as it's clearly bias, but in this case their description is right on: The crack of the Magnum chocolate as you bite in, followed by the contrast of the smooth and silky ice cream transports you away to a land of luxury...the original, pinnacle of pleasure, Magnum Classic. Everything, from the bronzy wrapper, to fine-grain wooden stick, to the monogrammed 'M', to the rich chocolate, to the delectable vanilla bean ice cream on every bar....it all says 'pinnacle of pleasure'.

I became so addicted that people would have to physically restrain me to prevent me from buying one. I once had four in one day. My name is Jennifer and I have a problem...but I don't care, it's heaven in an ice cream bar and if I was back there I'd do it all again!

So, Europe advice: Seek out Magnum Classics for a refreshing, luxurious, delicious, artisan treat on hot afternoons. Beats the heck out of Gelato.

Warning: You may experience withdrawals once you've returned to the U.S., a barren land devoid of these, one of life's greatest pleasures. Symptoms include: late night grocery store raids searching for Magnum substitutes only to be disappointed by the unworthy Dove bars, frantic internet googling Magnums with the hope that someone, somewhere brings this joy to deprived U.S. citizens, and finally, massive consumption of all things sweet - aka over-compensation.