Saturday, September 29, 2007

Andrew, Ice Cream, and BYU

Andrew Gee is the 6th Gee from the Salt Lake City branch to attend BYU. He is currently preparing to serve a full time mission. Today he shares some of his plans for the future and what the life of a high school grad is like.

What was your favorite part of BYU?

The BYU creamery ice cream, and after that it would be the library, I like how big it is and how many places there are to study. I liked my roommates; they were always doing fun stuff. I like the testing center too, I really like the instant results. I also liked the smith field house, you could go and they would give you clothes and wash them so it made working out really easy.

After finishing your first semester what areas would you like to focus on when you continue?

I want to take language classes; I want to take several languages so that I can travel the world.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?


At McDonalds having a big Mac. Perhaps in a foreign country doing a humanitarian project.

How are you going to pay for said humanitarian project?


Well if you have a real job then you just get over there and you just live off the land. Everywhere you go they have dandelions.

What type of things are you doing to prepare for your mission?


I’m making this cool scripture case, and I’m reading a lot more. I am also taking a mission prep class, this is my second one. I think the best preparation was moving out and learning how to live on my own.

What were some things you enjoyed, and disliked about living alone?


I thought while I was there I was eating worse, but then when I came back I realized I was eating much better. I liked the freedom of it; going out any time you want, swimming at midnight. It was fun.

What are some of the things that you are looking forward to doing on your mission?


Serving others, I like doing that. I feel happiest when I am helping other out.



Becca Boo!

Today we take a special look at our rising generation by interviewing one of the new Junior class officers from Skyline High School located in Salt Lake City. So this one is for our future.

Rebecca Gee was born in South Salt Lake City where she has spent all of her growing up years. She became famous after writing the article "For some life ends when their wife dies, for others life begins." After becoming a high school celebrity she decided to try her had at school politics by becoming a Junior Class Officer. Then masses are eagerly awaiting her next article uncovering the corruption and money laundering of MESA and other school clubs. Without further ado I give you the lovely, talented, and erudite Rebecca Gee.

As a junior class officer what do you feel the role of school government is?

To plan all of the dances and activities, and they say it is our responsibility to be the example for the other students.

What is your favorite class in school?

That’s a very good question. Math, except this year it’s not. Seminary or Mrs. Farr’s class. Because seminary is really relaxing, this year it isn’t as relaxing because I am with special ed kids, so that is kind of an adventure. Farr’s class is really interesting but it isn’t my favorite because I have so much homework.

What do you enjoy most about being in high school?

Friends and getting to know people. Well pretty much just talking to friends. Everyone in high school has there own weird personality so you can be what ever you want and just have fun with it.

So what kind of goals do you have for the future?

Graduate, and get into BYU. Graduate from college. Get a good job, get a nice place, and live a nice healthy life. Oh, and go on a mission. And maybe get married if that’s the way life turns out. I’m not really determined on that one since you can’t really predict it.

Do you have any ideas as to what you want to do in college or for a job?

I think politics would be fun. You just need to go to college so people think you have an education. You get the news first hand, you have a say in what happens. I also want to be a lawyer…well just in law. Laws are good. I want to be judge to chew out people that do really lame lawsuits, I also think it would be fun. Being a detective would be fun. And I have also thought about doing fashion design.


Friday, September 21, 2007

Fed up

Well I must say it was high time someone (a real republican) called Bush on the carpet for all of his crazy spending. Now even though I am personally starting to have doubts about the role the Fed is playing. I am still glad that we had someone as good as Greenspan in there for as long as we did. And I am even more happy about the fact that he is speaking out about how fiscally irresponsible some of our politicians are being. But as we celebrate Greenspan's memoirs I think it is appropriate that one of his mentors was also in news.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Denny "Grand Slam Breakfast" Sheppard



Although she was born in the Lone Star State, Denny has just recently discovered this place we call "Austin". As a champion of non-profits, graphic designer, and State employee Denny shares what it is that makes her "The Grand Slam".

W
hy did you decided to move to Austin Texas?
I decided to move to Austin because I wanted to work for the Lance Armstrong foundation. In college my degree was in P.R. I wanted to do non-profit P.R. work. And I became obsessed with them. My step dad was diagnosed with cancer so their cause became real to me and I really pursued working for them. And then I got an internship with them and I moved down here.

So that begs the question…why aren’t you working for the Lance Armstrong Foundation now?

Well when it came time for me to get a job, they didn’t have anything open so I applied to everything in my field and I got the job with the State Bar. I stayed on as a volunteer and I am on their steering committee for the Ride for the Roses.

You said that you wanted to do non-profit? Why is that?

I just never had a desire to work for a corporation. I wanted to do something that would be helpful. Something where I knew I would be making a difference. Just helping people that needed help. Working for a corporation wasn’t appealing, or doing main-stream PR wasn’t appealing either.

What is it that you didn’t like about corporations?

At the time it seemed so stiff and rigid and the dollar was the bottom line and I didn’t want that to be my bottom line.

Do you think it is possible to make a difference working for a corporation?

It’s hard for me to say because I’ve never worked for one. I am kind of in a limbo phase now, it is government but it is run like a corporation, it’s not what I want to end up doing, but helping law students is what I’m doing now. I know corporation and industries create products and make the world go round, but it’s just not the same to me. On the other hand they often have community involvement programs where they put part of their funds into their communities that support them, if I was at a corporation that is what I would try to do.


You mentioned that this isn’t what you want to end up doing? What would your dream job be?

I don't know. I thought about that a lot lately. Things at work have been weird, but I don't know where would I want to end up. I've thought about going back to something like the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Not there, but something like that. Like The Make a Wish Foundation. I seem to go to places with health issues. As a side thing, a fun thing, I like graphic design. I would like to have better skills with that and develop that. I always wanted to have my own stationary, on the side. I make gifts. I have one client that I make gifts for. I don't have a real solid answer for that question; I feel like I am back to square one with what I should do.

You mentioned reading was one of your hobbies…what are 5 good books you would recommend?

Books I like, people can take them or leave them. Cold Sassy Tree. I love southern literature. Another favorite, Secret Life of Bees, another southern book. Every chapter starts with a fact about a bee, and it foreshadows what will happen in the chapter. The Fountain Head by Ayn Rand. It's my brother's favorite, and I read it last summer. He is an architect, and I learned a lot about him and his philosophy. I had a conversation with him about it that lead him to take a picture that is on my wall. Tender at the Bone. It is written by a lady who is a food critic for the New York Times. She would put on elaborate costumes and disguises to critique restaurants. It is really about the relationship with her mom. It is her memoirs. She has recipes in between that were her comfort foods during times of her life. The Great Gatsby was my first book, I had already read it, but in high school it was the first book that I could see everything, with the foreshadowing and symbolism, and it all really came together for me.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Fox, don't hate him because he's brilliant.

So once again the republican canidates lined up to for their debate. This time it was in New Hampshire and it was on FOX. Now there were a lot of things said and a few things learned. For one we learned that Rudy Guilani has great family values (he proved this by being the mayor of new york during 9-11). We also learned that he is the best in fighting the war on terror (proved by being the mayor of New York during 9-11). He is also the best at fixing the problem with illegal immigration, abortion, and high taxes (proved by being the mayor of New York during 9-11) And he didn't get a chance to mention it, but I am fairly certain that every one will have their wildest dreams come true if he becomes president (proven by him being the mayor of New York during 9-11).

We learned are that Brownback is really a decent fellow (If Ron wasn't running it would be a real toss up between him and Mit).

But the thing that was most apparent was that FOX hates Ron Paul. If you listened you would hear snickering every time he answered, also the people asking the questions were clearly baised. But did that hurt Ron Paul or his reputations? Well to find out why don't you find out by going to youtube.com and search for "Presidential Debates". Go ahead, I can wait...Wow what do you know the first three things that come up are all clips of Ron Paul! No they aren't of the debates in general (the fourth is of the democrats debate), they aren't of Guiliani, Obama, Hillary, or Mit. In fact of the top ten items from that search Ron Paul comes up four times most of the others are just the general debates. When FOX tried to make Ron Paul look like a fool, he shot it just right back at them with good old fashion libertarianism. So the one thing I really learned from the debates...RON PAUL ROCKS!!