Dear Drabulous,

You want vinyl wall decals. They come in pretty much every color imaginable and will peel right off the wall when you're done with them. You can shop for designs you like online, or purchase a roll of adhesive-backed vinyl and cut out your own. You can do quotes, pictures, or anything that pops into your head (an indoor jungle, a giant pair of eyes, a life-size cutout of Salvador Dali).

I also looked into the fabric and starch method of creating temporary wallpaper you mentioned. It is totally possible, and apartmenttherapy.com has a good tutorial you can follow. They do mention using pushpins to hold the fabric in place as it dries, which would not be an option with cinder block walls. You might find another way to secure it or enlist a friend with muscles to hold it up for you while it dries. Just make sure you use a lightweight fabric and follow all the steps they outline and you should be fine.

-Genuine Article

Dear asker,

After discussing this with a department chair (who wishes to remain anonymous (this is the 100 Hour Board, after all; we love anonymity!)), there is technically a policy at BYU that professors are not supposed to hold class or have homework due during Reading Days. That being said, not everyone follows it, as you've found out. Since grades do not need to be posted until about a week after finals end, professors have some leeway in when they accept homework.

In a perfect world, all the professors would be sure not to assign homework to be due on Reading Days. But unless you specifically make a complaint (probably to the department chair for your class' department), there isn't much stopping a professor from doing that. Sorry that wasn't a very happy answer (I did, in fact, tone down my cynicism - you're welcome!). You can read some "Reading-Day Rituals" from BYU Magazine to cheer you up after reading these disheartening truths.

-Mico

Dear Paul,

BYU's policy was quoted in this question, ably answered by Anne Certainly. (Speaking of that, I will quote her latest text to me: "Rude." Good times.) Seems like they do a fairly good job of keeping the official policy secret, though. 

As for the apartment question, to establish the background, I'll quote part of the answer you linked:

The Utah law (code 76-10-530) indicates that a landlord cannot restrict a renter who he has legally given possession of an apartment to from having a firearm in that apartment. So when it comes to off campus housing, they cannot legally restrict you from having a firearm. [...]

Now, the dilemma comes in how BYU, in renting dorm rooms, can prohibit guns in the rooms yet still be in compliance with 76-10-530. What they do is classify the central building for the housing area as part of the "housing". Therefore, they provide a secured area for residents to store their firearms and reasonable access. (I'll reserve my opinions on whether that is truly in compliance with the law.)

Now the relevant bit of that handbook:

Owners agree that they will not nor will they allow tenants to store, keep, or maintain on the premises any firearms, explosives, fireworks, or dangerous weapons, including knives (except reasonable cutlery), or other items which, in their intended use, are capable of inflicting serious personal injury.  Any exception must have prior written consent from all tenants in the rental unit and from the owner. This policy also applies to the owner or his or her agent when living in a dwelling unit with students on the premises of BYU Contracted housing.   

There was a Daily Universe article about this a while ago in which a lawyer said BYU really is violating state law in how it treats BYU-approved apartments. That was also my impression. If you have time to invest in your principles, you could probably get the NRA to pay the legal costs to sue BYU about it. (You'd want to be careful to time the suit so that it wouldn't impede your graduation, but I think it'd be a cool thing to do.) If you really care but don't want to sue BYU about it, you could probably just live in non-BYU-approved housing, as a housing waiver is not that hard to get.

~Professor Kirke

Dear Yes,

Me! Me! ME!!!11!!!

- Conceal O'Canth

Dear Cilantro,

Only if you promise I can use it in a future bad date story if things end disastrously. I have a collection to maintain, after all.

-Marguerite St. Just

Dear Maurice,

Last time I accepted a date with a Board reader, it was... not pleasant. Also, I'm not really into relationships that start off being long-distance.

-Azriel 

Dear Hammy,

Hahaha! Nice, Hamilton. Your impersonation of me is impeccable. 

Dear Yes, You Did,

I'll be in another state by the time this posts. You might have better luck with the other lady writers.

–Concealocanth

I think when Concealo says that "Hamilton" did an impeccable impersonation of her, she means that she really did want to scream "me me ME!!!!" when she read this.

--Pilgrim

Dear Did,

I think what "Pilgrim" is trying to say here is that he likes to project his deep-seated desire to date ALL the boardies onto me. Ladies, the Pilgs is still single! Don't let him get away!

–Concealocanth

Dear Hogfather,

OHH! Pick me! So, sleeping issues run in my family, and by no means did they skip merrily along past me. When I got home from Taiwan, I went to my doctor and she told me to start taking melatonin. What she told me is that for my body weight and health, it would be safe for me to take up to 18 mg a night, but to start at 1-3 and increase the dosage nightly until I felt it was doing the trick. She occasionally takes up to 11 mg a night. I ended up topping off at 9, but now that I've more or less got myself back on schedule, I don't take it at all any more. I was informed that too much wouldn't kill me, but it would make me feel ill.

So. Talk to your doctor. See what he/she has to say. You should probably do that if you're suffering from sleeplessness, anyway.

Also, my current method of falling asleep is to play sudoku on my iPod touch until my eyelids get heavy. Now every time I start to play sudoku, I get sleepy. You can find other methods to help you sleep by searching the archives.

-Azriel

Dear Dangerous Beans,

My contact that works with the Family History Library said:

BYU doesn't so much have a subscription with Ancestry as an agreement, and it hasn't been cancelled.  If you are having problems the best way to get help is to go into the Family History Library and ask someone at the desk or one of the many helpful senior missionaries to help you sign in.  It should just happen automatically.  Try clearing your cookies on your computer also.  It is possible that you just somehow have a conflict there.

Hope that helps!

-Azriel

Dear Ice Breaker,

Kissing her.

–Anonymous

Dear Glace,

Fleeing the state, having wacky though heartfelt adventures that will wow audiences for decades to come, and getting paid for menial work.

–Concealocanth

Dear Ice Breaker,

Seeing my sisters graduate from BYU, having a family reunion at the beach, seeing my brother get home from his mission, getting my business up and running, going to Baked Alaska's wedding, and attending Cub Scout camp.

-Genuine Article

Dear breaker of ice, destroyer of worlds,

Let's see, well I'm graduating so this summer will initially be spent sleeping in and wearing pajamas every day. Once I get tired of that, I'm going to be working at a small internet start-up for a few months; reading lots of books (novels and linguistics books, to keep my mind sharp!); trying to find people to practice Chinese with; watching all the movies Mr. Mico doesn't want to watch with me; turning 22; going to a family reunion; and at the end of summer, I'm moving to one of Utah's neighboring states to pursue a master's degree. That's the plan, anyway! 

-Mico

Dear Don't Break The Ice,

I landed a wicked sweet on-campus job that will keep me plenty busy. I'm also planning on finally taking the Adobe software training classes from the library. I've got some books I want to read, day trips I want to take, places I want to visit, and maybe I'll finally give Dr. Who a chance. For all intents and purposes this is the last summer of my adolescence. By this time next year I'll either be graduating or getting ready to leave for an out-of-state grown-up internship.

-Art Vandelay, who would also like to smooch a girl this summer

Dear Paprika,

Visiting Michigan to see my family, going to DC to see Lexi Khan, having a Girl's Camp with my old singles ward friends in Green River, going to visit Azriel and, best of all, taking pictures of everything.

-Marguerite St. Just

Dear Anonymous,

Tell me more, tell me more!

- The T-Birds

Dear T-Birds,

Well, we met about six weeks ago at a dinner at a mutual friend's house. Lord of the Rings came up, and I asked if she'd read it (yes). She asked me if I'd read The Silmarillion (yes), I asked her if she'd read The Book of Lost Tales (yes), and she then asked me if I'd read a book whose name now escapes me that's even more obscure (sadly no). I was impressed; I am not easily out-Tolkien-ed. I asked her out solely on the basis of that conversation. As I've gotten to know her, my impression has only improved, and we decided to go exclusive a few weeks ago. We both like taking things kind of slow, but I really like the direction things are going. If all's still well in about a month, it'll be time, and that's what I'm hoping and planning for.

Just to be clear, there are other plans. I'm not just going to continually kiss her all summer long. That would be silly. But gentlemen: as far as two-word plans go, "kiss her" is pretty far up there in the rankings.

–Anonymous

Dear Snuff,

My summer plans... Let's see: working, travelling, hiking, turning... older than 22, apparently receiving a visit from MSJ, and maybe I'll even go on my biannual date (but don't count on it)! Yup. That pretty much covers it. 

-Azriel

Dear Igor,

I would keep my eyes. Here's why. They're my best feature. They proffer me the ability to read, see, communicate (via writing, if needs be), etc. Also, you don't actually need ears to hear, just your eardrums. Plus I have long hair, so. Easy to cover that one up. A nose is nice and quite a blessing, but, again, you don't need one to function. Also, if I didn't have a nose, the smell of the fermenting tofu that was in my fridge wouldn't bother me, and I could spend my entire life without suffering the various stenches that surround us.

-Azriel

Dear Igor,

Eyes, for most of the same reasons as Azriel.

~Professor Kirke

Dear Igor,

For a brief moment I considered keeping my nose in order to hold my glasses up. Then I realized there wouldn't be any point without eyes.

I definitely want to keep my sight. I need my eyes to read, cross the street, watch made-for-TV movies, and keep me from accidentally putting rat poison in the soup. There's really no substitute for eyes, whereas to replace my ears I could just attach some fake ones to a headband, or go around wearing headphones to hide the fact that there's nothing there. Same with my nose—I could wear a false one, or just always drink out of one of these cups:

That way I'll get a reputation as someone who loves listening to music and drinking. Think of all the parties I'll be invited to! 

-Genuine Article

Dear Ygor,

Looks like the eyes have it.

Har har har. (Okay, don't punch me.)

But really, I'd keep my eyes. I like seeing and I dabble a bit in the visual arts; you can't draw based on scent. Unless you use Mr. Sketch markers. 

–Concealocanth

Dear Magpie,

Both are displaying photochromism, "the reversible transformation of a chemical species between two forms by the absorption of electromagnetic radiation, where the two forms have different absorption spectra." This is the same phenomena responsible for Transitions lenses that are clear inside but darken outside. That link has a lot more info if you're actually interested in the in-depth chemistry.

It's quite possible that the beads and the nail polish use the same pigment: I'd bet yes, though you'd need to talk to the manufacturers or run some lab tests to be sure. Interestingly, you can actually buy this kind of pigment online for around $500/kilo. You can also get the beads at perhaps $25 per thousand (Google "energy beads"). 

~Professor Kirke