The Daily Honky Tonk 181st Edition

The Daily Honky Tonk
181st Edition
April 6, 2010
12:17 AM

I thought I would take a few minutes to respond to the requests of Taryn and Amy and give an update on my life. I’ve started writing again and again, and then I get tired and go to sleep and don’t come back to writing. Or I just write in my journal instead of sending all my thoughts out through the virtual world to your reality.

My life looks like this:
School, Work, Play Practice, Church, Friends, Dating

School
This will be the completion of my third full semester at BYU. I attended Spring Term last year and will do so again, leaving my summer term open to recover for a month or so before I jump into the next Fall Semester.
Highlights of this year in school have been doing a TMA 101 class in which I wrote a play that was performed in front of our class. In January, I got into the English teaching program. During my free time on Campus I tend to live in the library in the Maps section on the Second Floor. Some classes that I have really enjoyed are my Book of Mormon class, Psychology 111 (Intro to Psychology), TMA 101 (Intro to Theater), and English 292 (British Literature). I have not been a fan of my Biology class, but I’ve almost completed my Science Credits.

Work
I still work for BYU Catering. Which I really enjoy doing. I work as a Captain leading out events by instructing other workers how to set up and serve. I’ve always enjoyed the food business. When I was little I wanted to own a restaurant. I don’t want to now, but I love serving people food. I love the variety in this job. Every event is different and I get to meet new people all the time. During the football season Catering kept me for 12-13 hours on Saturdays to drive trucks delivering food and supplies to different food stations around the football stadium. I enjoy the people I work with and like being able to start and complete something each time I work.

Play Practice
I’m just going to say at this point Theater is my obsession. I watch at least one play a week (luckily it’s a free student production) and about a third of the time I see two plays in a week. If I don’t go to a play I attend International Cinema, Divine Comedy( a comedy sketch group on Campus), and LOL (the improv comedy group on campus). Besides having my play produced by my group in TMA 101, I got to be part of a Student Production “I Love Lysistrada” at the beginning of the Winter Semester. Currently, I am in a main stage production called “Mysteries of Monster Grove” that will be playing May 26- June 12. The play is actually based on the concept of a children’s book author who works at BYU. We’ve been writing the play together as a cast. I am cast as Dad, an accountant who has come to monster grove to solve all the money problems. I am also writing a significant portion of the music for the performance on Piano. I love being a part of this project.
Three or Four days ago I was laying around and realized that I am in love. No, not with a girl. I’m in love with theater. I’m going to take a playwriting class in the fall and an acting class in the Spring. One of my life ambitions has become more firmly that I will write a musical.
Besides acting and drama fun on campus, I’ve done a number of little performances with some friends in my ward. My friend Sam and I performed a Mormonized version of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First” skit called “Who’s in the RSP”. We also did a Monty Python skit called “The Four Yorkshiremen”. And now Sam and I are writing the BYU 194th Ward Year in Review – a comedy skit to perform before everyone leaves for the summer. These are the things I love.

Church
Keeps me busy as always. I continue to grow and learn about the Gospel. I keep learning and trying to understand life. Everyday I learn new things and I am more and more greatful for the Spirit and the Atonement. I still enjoy pondering over Gospel topics and their application. I am not as black and white as I was in my youth. And I think I am more of a realist than an idealist. I consider these to be advances that come with a greater understanding of the gospel. I also find that they have benefited the way I interact with and understand people. I continue to strive everyday to know what the Lord wants me to do. I try and listen for the Spirit and act on it. I still feel I have a long way to go in learning charity, humility, and obedience. . .but I’ve become much more appreciative of Christ’s sacrifice and how it gives me strength to become better, and to not feel guilty for every little thing I do wrong.

Friends
I continue to struggle to understand what it means to have a friendship. When I work on forming my friendships I often feel selfish. I feel like I’m not as good at listening to people. I don’t feel like I’m very good at building trust in individuals. And I even find that I have problems letting myself get close to people. Don’t get me wrong. I have LOTS of friends. And I enjoy them. But, I don’t have many very deep relationships. I’ve kind of accepted that. In fact, I’m excited because my friend Sam and I are going to be roommates for the spring summer in one complex and in the fall we are moving to another one . ..which means in the next four months I’ll meet a lot more people. . .which I like. It’s just different than what I really want. Which segues into . .

Dating
When it comes down to it, I think my favorite quote about dating is still one that hung in Amy’s apartment from one of her old roommates “Dating is like communism, it’s a good idea, but the practical application sucks.” It makes me laugh every time I think of it. I’ve struggled to figure anything about dating out. Sam and Phil like to tease me about my dating life. Who is the new girl this week Mark?(Phil) A date for this week, no, Mark has twelve lined up. (Sam) They tease me about it. I really haven’t dated that much. Because I was thinking about it and trying to figure out what I know about dating, I worked to recall every girl I’ve been on a date with. Since turning 16 I could come up with names for about 35 different girls. About 22 of those dates have been since coming to BYU. I don’t know whether that’s good or bad. I date more than most guys I know. But that’s the only way one can figure out. I think my biggest issue is that this is the one thing that I’ve cared about more than almost anything since I was 11 or 12 years old. It’s a perfectionist issue, I have to get it right as I can or something. Every date I go on I learn a little bit something more. I try as hard as I can to make the date good and comfortable and safe for whoever I am out with. I can’t think of a date I haven’t enjoyed. That makes it hard to figure out what I want. Even when I try things out, I still come off confused.
For now I’ll have to keep praying, going out on dates, and trying my best to serve the girls I go on dates with.


Well, that’s all for now folks. I need sleep.
The Editor,
MARK