"My name is Jayne, and I'm from....."

Every time someone asks me where I'm from, I will say one place, and then quickly follow it up with another place. Which is then followed up by an explanation of why I can't make up my mind. I was born in Taipei, Taiwan and I moved to Utah with my parents when I was 7 years old. With my background, it's always been difficult for me to decide on "where I'm from". Some people make it easy on me by asking, "What's your ethnicity?" But I would never expect everyone I meet to be so "politically correct." I'm not offended in any way when people ask me where I'm from. I'm delighted that people are interested in me. At least for that first 5 minutes until they find out that other than my ethnicity, there's really nothing all that special about me. I've tried ever since I've arrive on the shore of America to defy all Asian stereotypes. You know the ones I'm talking about.

1.Incredible intelligence
2. Always dedicated....to school work.
3.Terrible Driver.
4. Fresh Off the Boat (FOB) dress standards.

Ok, fine. I've only manged to defy three of those. I think I'm an excellent driver. But Spencer will tell you that I'm only mediocre. And only on my good days. I do still keep in touch with my Asian roots though. And I also support the seemingly quirky things that Asians (including myself) constantly do. However, there are certain things that I cannot abide with. One of these being OBNOXIOUSLY decorated stationary. I recently received a letter from a Korean friend on a mission. She sent me three pages of stationary with 75 % of the page with little animals and flowers. She squeezed some writing onto the bottom left corner where there were 4 lines for words. Had she just used a regular piece of paper, she would have been able to just use one page. Obviously my people do not believe in saving trees.

You can't deny that sometimes they are pretty cute though.

Faceless Shame

One of my favorite blogs has been particularly entertaining as of late. There is humor, there is sass, there is the answer to all of life's little problems. One particular entry from this past week has stuck with me.

Read it.

You'll relate.

And it got me to thinking, where is my place in this world? I've had to accept a few realities and let me tell you, accepting them was NO easy task.
1) I am quite plain. I don't do much in the world worth tooting a horn. However, I do my part in society-- pay my taxes, conserve energy, help the old lady cross the road...but, in all honesty, I don't do much.
2) I do not inspire. In fact I do quite the opposite, I "despire". Sure, you think it is hard to inspire, try to despire someone. It is nearly impossible.
3) I am unable to make a difference. When I was a boy scout and we had a service project I was the one picked to announce the event. I could sweet talk any one of my fellow scouters to attend that service outing. But, when the day of service came, I worried more about the refreshments than the actual project. Just the other day I signed up for President Obama's emails. This past week I received 3-4 each day asking me to call my representative. Did I? NO, AND I WAS PLEASED WITH MYSELF!

Spring is around the corner. I took this picture while enjoying an outing in my parent's backyard with my nephews.

Bipolar weather

You know how boy scouts are always prepared? Well, I don't see any reason why I can't be just as prepared....even though I am NOTHING like a boy scout. Although it's certainly not from lack of trying. I've tried tying knots....but usually just ended up making my own special knot. I've tried using a compass, but then I got distracted trying to take it apart because I wanted to find out what makes it work. (My father was NOT happy about that one)

ANYWAY

The point is, until Utah makes up its mind on what weather it wants to dish out, I'm going to be keeping ALL varieties of outerwear in my vehicle. Heavy winter coat, hat, scarf, regular coat, trench coat, heavy jacket, regular jacket, sweatshirt, cardigan.... You name it. I'll have it. So if you're ever in Provo and need a warmer coat, a lighter jacket, or maybe just a Halloween costume, give me a call! I'll provide you with everything you need. Clothing wise.

A Public Statement

I, Spencer, the Outlaw, humbly accept the acknowledgement of this blog by Dennis Busch. I also would like to thank Jayne for having faith in this blog, as infrequent as it is. Yeah, I admit it, I wanted to give up on it. It is like that friend in elementary school that smells like glue and sand. You find that person entertaining but also kind of a burden. So, friend Kristen, I guess we can keep you around. Just stop eating the glue and wash your hands!