I Made Up Several Words

11/26/24

Yesterday was Monday. I know that. I apologize for being late. I know that some weird people wait on my emails because they like them. I can't fathom why.

I'm going to make an announcement just like they did in grade school: my missionary.org email account will probably stop working before too long. Thus, please update any necessary contacts with williamvott@gmail.com (the address sending this email). If you are a missionary, add that one to your list so that I can still see what you have to say. Imagine a PA system for this next part... "Thank you students and teachers, have a wonderful day here at Willisburg Elementary. Go Wolves!"

I made it back to Connecticut. I saw 2 different high school theater productions while in Massachusetts, one of which I liked far better than the other. Theater is an interesting thing. It's like the O.G. form of television and has been around for a very long time. Even before people could write they were performing plays. We like stories; they captivate our attention and make us think about other things for a while, transporting us out of our own dull and dreary lives and into another world where the rules and circumstances are a little different.

I know. Speak for myself. You probably don't have a dull and dreary life. At least, I hope not. I would say the days ahead are brighter, but they aren't because of Daylight Savings and wintertime fast approaching. Sorry to remind you of that if you forgot.

What did I do this week? Well, I read more Stephen Hawking, for one thing. I could read his writings for hours. For those who don't know who that is, I'm just a tad bit disappointed but I'll get over it. He was a theoretical physicist who was diagnosed with ALS (a disease where you pretty much just melt due to muscle unresponsiveness from the outside in until your organs fail) just as he was getting his PhD. Over time, it got worse until he could no longer move his hands to write or otherwise indicate how he was feeling. This meant no more math and no more particle physics or cosmology. Wrong. Intel had developed a computer that would detect movements from his eyes and eyebrows and turn them into speech. He is remembered for his robot voice. Some of his most important work was done from his wheelchair after he could no longer speak. I can't even do the mathematical stuff he was doing in his head and I can move my hands to write things down. He gave lectures with his robot voice and was still a genius, yet if you looked at him, you would just pity his condition and talk to him in a soft voice and want to donate to his GoFundMe (he didn't have one by the way). This is the person who was making predictions about black holes and was probably the closest at his time to have a good picture of the universe in his head. My point with all of that? We all come in different vessels for our own genius. Just appreciate the genius a little more than the getuous. I made up the word getuous by taking the backwards "in" in geNIus and replacing it with a backwards "out" in order to make a point. Get it? Good. It's not a real word though, so don't throw it around in casual conversation with commoners or they'll be really confused.

I went to church in Connecticut. One kid was giving his mission farewell talk. I hope all goes well for that dude. When sacrament meeting ended I just kind of wandered out into the hall, and some lady came up to me and said I could come to Primary, so I did. Connecticut Primaries are not like Utah Primaries. They are small. There were maybe ten kids in the whole Primary. My 9 year old cousin sat with me at the very back. It was pretty hilarious. I was sitting in one of those brown plastic chairs (XL, don't worry) on the back wall with my arms folded, and so was my cousin. We could start a Primary Gang or something. My other cousin gave a talk and it made me laugh because he is cute, but also made me think a little bit. I like that our church gives peace to people. I don't think that is a bad thing at all, and hearing it from a little kid who probably had no actual testimony of what he was saying was a nice way to hear it. I think that having a congregation and a community that is stable helps people whose lives seem to be falling apart. I didn't really have to talk to anyone, except the feared J. K. Maybe I'll write about her another time.

I have been learning many songs on my guitar. This week's highlights: "Delta Dawn" by Tanya Tucker, "Walmart" by Welles, and "Man of Constant Sorrow" by the Soggy Bottom Boys. I should probably start a YouTube channel or something. Maybe someday I can even be... famous? That would be so awesome. That would be so cool.

 

I have just remembered a piece of fairly important news. I called BYU to find out how my life is going to work for the next little bit, and it sounds like I kind of have to go back to school in January. I'm gonna be a college boy again, folks. I'll try not to get too much of an education. Sadly, the year option for Americorps might not work, but I can do one of the shorter times. As for school, not sure if engineering is a good fit, but we'll stick with it. I've had several teachers suggest a math or physics degree, so that's on my mind. I'd like to be well off in terms of monetary stores though, and sometimes physics degrees don't come with that. I do know that money isn't everything and I'd much rather feel like I was making a positive difference in the world than earning a little bit more paper, and I think that I could.

In mission news, I got some messages from the only real friends that I made, and they said that they were really glad that I happened to be in Ottawa because I had been the perfect teacher for the guy, so boom. Take that. I can say I did something good at least. I got a letter at my house with the mission office as a return address. Some of my close connections were really hoping it was an apology. It wasn't. It was mail from someone else and they had written "gone home!" in big letters on the front and then sent it to my house. I thought it was a little bit mean for no reason. Other than that, nobody has reached out to me or my family. I could have just called an Uber and disappeared for all they know. The only witnesses they have are my companion and the zone leaders who saw me leave with a couple older people.

For all of those who made fun of me for owning any Dogecoin, who's laughing now?

I can't really think of anything else that happened. If you got engaged in the last few weeks, congrats. That seems to be increasingly popular among kids my age these days (weirdos), and it seems to get more popular every year. People like the whole "fish in the sea" metaphor, but little do they know: I'm afraid of the ocean and can hardly swim anyways. But I will go to your mysterious "weddings", if you wish.

I don't have much else to say. I guess I'll talk to you all next week. As always, you're free to reply.

Will Ott