Amazing things.

Lindsey posted this on her blog for Whitney and me, and I just had to post it too. It's amazing. 



Also, here's an xkcd that is mostly for Treb and Clark, but the rest of you can enjoy it too.

Someday, I will be that cool.

So yesterday I was emailing the lovely people who did my recommendations for grad school to ask them to do one more, because I'm applying for a scholarship. When I emailed Dr. Tate, from whom I took the most incredible class about WWI, I mentioned that I had just gone to see Lawrence of Arabia at International Cinema because I wanted to see it on the big(ish) screen. Although I first saw Lawrence when I was 15, talking about it in Dr. Tate's class added all kinds of understanding for me, so I knew he'd appreciate it.

He told me that he had gone to see it too, hoping for something akin to his first experience with it - in 72 mm. No such luck, but hey, it's better than a 30" television. Then he wrote this: "I don't know if I told you that Karen, Andrew, and I were in the Near East this last May and June.  While in Jordan, we visited Wadi Rum, just north and east of Akaba, where most of the desert scenes were filmed.  We had a wonderful Howeitat guide who took us out in a 4-wheel drive to many of the Lawrence sites: Auda's camp, Lawrence's cave, spring, etc., as well as the formation he named the Seven Pillars of Wisdom.  It was fun to see some of the formations again in the film."

Um, someday I want to be cool enough to have a reason to go and see Lawrence sites. With a Howeitat guide.

Weekend Update

This was a nice weekend. Last night I hit International Cinema with some friends to see The Counterfeiters and The Band's Visit, both of which were excellent, and I went again tonight (no one took me up on the Morning Benders concert - oh well) to see 'Round Midnight. All of them were excellent, but by the end of the third one I was really sick of sitting in the uncomfortable theater. Sometimes I miss the days when it was in the Varsity and smelled like Jamba Juice. 

Today, my mom and I went to the ballet to see Madama Butterfly. It was interesting to hear the music without the singing, but it was truly excellent. I don't know when I've enjoyed a ballet so much, and I even got some souvenir chopsticks. 

I've been missing people lately - people I talk to but don't get to see, like Miri, Lindsey, and Jonathan, people I neither talk to nor see, like Jennie and most of my married friends. It's part of the reason that moving so far away for grad school seems bearable - I'm really feeling the need for a change for awhile so that I can feel out of place for real reasons (like the fact that I'm new) rather than because I feel like I've outgrown my place here. I love my roommates and the friends I still see, but I'm looking forward to something completely different - even though I feel homesick already. 

I think I'm getting good at my job, and I'm enjoying it more as I'm finding new things to do, like rewriting Conrad's articles for the newsletter, and learning how to import contacts into Outlook from Excel. It's more fulfilling to actually feel like I'm doing something besides answering phones. 

Today one of my former students commented on the blog. We used to have philosophical chats after school while she waited to talk to my cooperating teacher. Hearing from her reminded me of the things I loved about teaching - talking to people who were figuring things out, getting new perspectives on life, building relationships with really special people. It's so strange to think about where I was last year and what my plans were then in light of how drastically they've changed now. It's comforting to have a great big envelope with my Michigan acceptance in it to help me feel like all of this is a good idea. 

This is a very random post. Happy weekend, and be sure to check out my new playlist in progress, which is going to be music for spring - light, cheerful, springy stuff. It's going to be good.

Okay. I'll do it.

I've seen these a few times, and now I think I'm going to do it because I want to comment on my sister-in-law's blog and see what she comes up with. Besides, I'm feeling the creative juices flowing, and I haven't made anything since Christmas. Here's the original post: 

fun for you and fun for me...

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it's going to be.

The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!!!

The Happy SAD playlist for 2009

After a couple of weeks (and minutes) of building it, I'm happy to present the official 2009 playlist for this snowy Valentine's day. It's all purpose - songs for people who are in love, songs for people who are bitter about love, songs for people who want to be in love . . . whatever suits your fancy or situation. So.
(drumroll)

• "Not About Love" - Fiona Apple. This song is perfect because it is part love song, part love-hating song. Take the line, "I miss that stupid ape." She both misses him and thinks he's or dork. Fab.
• "North" - Chris Merritt (or "Tower of Sand" - both are sweet love songs that are also piano rock masterpieces.)
• "I Do It For Your Love" - Paul Simon, specifically the version with Herbie Hancock. I've always thought this song was beautiful, and I think the part I love the most is the realism. "We were married on a rainy day, the sky was yellow and the grass was gray . . . the rooms were musty and the pipes were old, all that winter we shared a cold, drank all the orange juice that we could hold, I do it for your love." It takes some of the stars out of it, but isn't love more about those times when you're trying to get through the ickiness that pops up in life anyway, but it's better now because you're together? Am I wrong about this?
• "Made Up Love Song #43" - Guillemots. I just adore this song. "Now there's poetry in an empty coke can." Awesome.
• "I Don't Know" - Lisa Hannigan. This song just came out on her CD a few weeks ago, and it's great - it's more about waiting to meet someone exciting than it is about love that's already in existence, and how you don't know anything about what they like or are like when you first meet someone, and it may turn out that there's no compatibility, but you still want to meet them.
• "Haze of Love" - Cake. This one is kind of the compliment to last year's "Songs of Love" by Ben Folds. It's kind of an eyes-wide-open approach to love (once you cut through the haze).
• "The Dumbing Down of Love" - Frou Frou. Need I say more? "Love underwhelms you, no box of chocolates . . ." Yeah.
• "Crown of Love" - Arcade Fire. One of the truly fabulous "I want you back" songs - "If you still want me, please forgive me; the crown of love is still upon me." The instrumentation is probably my favorite part of this song.
• "Honestly" - Cary Brothers. This is just a straight up beautiful song about being over someone (but I think he's lying).
• "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" - Bob Dylan. I think this one is especially appropriate if you got to read this post by a friend of a friend (I stalk his blog because he's hilarious, and if I've met him once I figure it isn't too creepy. But I almost applied.)
• "Love Me Like the World Is Ending" - Ben Lee. One of the few really cheesy love songs that I just can't help but adore.
• "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" - Muse. Lots of people have done this song, but Muse's cover is pure awesome.
• "Falling In Love In A Coffee Shop" - Landon Pigg. Lindsey sent me this song awhile ago - it's very sweet. "I think that possibly, maybe I'm falling for you." Ain't that the truth?
• "Taylor the Latte Boy" - Kristin Chenoweth. I just feel like we need to finish the coffee motif here. "Taylor the Latte Boy, bring me java, bring me joy." Also, "Who knew that love could be so caffinated?"
• "Falling" - Ben Kweller. It's just a grand song. Enjoy.
• "You Turn Me Around" - Aqualung. I'm always surprised by Aqualung - somehow I discover their songs one at a time, and whenever I do my mouth hangs open a bit. I can also recommend "Pressure Suit."
• "21 Things I Want in a Lover" - Alanis Morrisette. Treb sent this one to me a little while ago, and it's really kind of awesome for me. I think I have to boil it down to a song about not settling. Alanis and I aren't super close, but I felt this one.
• "Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken" - Camera Obscura. A lovely song about the sublime shortsightedness of love, and how that's not always a bad thing.
• "Human Hands" - Sondre Lerche. A jazzy little number that will make you smile on the darkest of Valentine's days.
• "Gotta Have You" - The Weepies. Something about this song feels sad, but the words really aren't - it's just a sort of realization that you can't always wallow away love. "No amount of coffee, no amount of cryin', no amount of whisky, no amount of wine, no, nothing else will do, I've gotta have you."
• "There Cannot Be a Close Second" - Copeland. One of the nicer love songs out there, and I especially like the lines, "You've got an extra special heart, a perfect light that shines through, and it seems the hardest part is shining back at you . . . I've got a perfectly normal heart, bruised and broken from within, at times I don't know how to start to let you in here." Nice.
• "Hymne a l'amour" - Edith Piaf. I don't know what she's saying through most of it, but it's gorgeous, and it's the way I think love should sound. With dancing goats and everything.
• "Black Metal Valentine" - Califone. I feel like there should be at least one song with the word "Valentine" in it, and I used up the rest last year.
• "History of Lovers" - Calexico and Iron & Wine. This song is awesome.
• "Eyes on the Prize" - M. Ward. "With my eyes on the prize and my mind on you, I put my pride on the line and my whole life too." It's groovy and chill - a more relaxed version of love than the frenzied version I see sometimes.
• "Heavy Hearts" - The Morning Benders. This song has a classic fallacy that any economist would catch. "I've put too much in to turn away now." Sunk costs don't matter! Run away!!
• "Lucky You" - The National. I can't ever decide whether this song is sweet or stalkery. "Every time you get a drink, and every time you go to sleep . . . every where you'll be, you're never getting rid of me. You own me - nothing you can do; you own me - lucky you." It's a little bit like "Every breath you take in its quasi-freakiness. Which makes it perfect for this playlist. :)
• "Bye Bye Blackbird" - Peggy Lee. This is another song with many versions, but this is undoubtedly my favorite. "Pack up all my cares and woe, here I go, singin' low . . . no one here can love or understand me, all those hard luck stories they all hand me . . ." It's very nice, and I consider the discovery of this version to be the one redeeming thing I got out of Peter Jackson's King Kong. That, and the pleasure of seeing Adrian Brody in a fedora.
• "Full of Life" - John Gorka. The credit for this one goes to Treb, and it's especially good for the bitterly disappointed out there. "Life is full of disappointments, and I am full of life . . . it could be the life I've chosen don't have room for someone else, or the woman who could stand me, is keeping to herself . . . when love is worse than being lonely, it leaves you twisted up inside." I think my favorite line is the one that reminds me of Woody Allen - "You see couples who seem happy and wonder how they got that way. Are the blind and kind of stupid, or are they having a good day?" hahaha. Please see the Woody Allen quote in my sidebar.
• "This Time the Dream's On Me" - Ella Fitzgerald or Harry Connick Jr. I love both versions, and it's the perfect song for anyone who's hoping for better Valentine's Days to come. "Somewhere, someday, we'll be close together - wait and see. Oh, by the way, this time the dream's on me." 
• "Let's Get It On" - Marvin Gaye. I was never a huge fan of this song until I saw High Fidelity, and now it just makes me think of all kinds of funny things. Also, the line, "We're all sensitive people with so much to give - understand me sugar." Yes. However, I think we should also address the "Giving yourself to me is never wrong as long as we love each other." I feel like that line is straight out of a sex education class. Either way, it's classic.

So maybe it isn't a completely balanced playlist, but it does give you some alternatives to "I Honestly Love You" and "I Could Be Your Hero." Enjoy!

Yes.

I just saw this on Tiffany's blog. It warmed the cockles of my heart. (I hate that expression, by the way. I don't know what cockles are, but it they sound gross.) 

Happy Valentine's Day. :)

Also, I pulled this off Julie's blog today. Maddux is getting sweeter by the day. Maybe he'll be my Valentine. 

Aw. 

A Foggy Day

This morning there was a lot of thick fog (creepily enough, on Friday the 13th!) on my way to work (at 5:45 am. I feel like I should mention that every once in awhile so that you can feel good and sorry for me. haha.) It was so thick that I had to be about 15 feet away from the signs on the freeway to be able to see them, and I was terrified that I would miss my exit. (Also, run out of gas - I need some, and I didn't really have time to get some since I was already running a little late. I'll be getting some before I get back on the freeway today.) I was watching very carefully for signs and breaks in the line (because that's where I was going to find my exit), and when I got to the road where my building is, I was counting driveways so I'd know where to turn in. (Good thing I'm practically Sherlock Holmes and pay attention to such things.)

It was a little bit freaky driving through the fog, and not just because it was hard to see, but also because it made everything look different. I feel like I was driving through a forest - like that one Batman drives through in the Tim Burton Batman. You know what I mean? Curves in the road made it feel like the whole road was curvy, like if I didn't pay attention and jerk my wheel back and forth like Doris Day I was going to fly off a cliff.

Situations like that always make me wax metaphorical - usually with bad results, and this probably isn't an exception - about how my life is like this. Right now, more than any other time in my life, I feel like I'm taking things one tiny step at a time. For a long time now it's been, "Well, I'm just waiting to see if I get into grad school. I'm just filling out grad school applications. I'm just trying to get a job. I'm just studying to take the GRE." They're all such tiny steps, and it's hard to feel like I'm getting anywhere. (I was talking to Whitney last night about how, while I'm grateful to have a job and like my job just fine, I sometimes feel silly being a college graduate in a job like this. When my supervisors tell me I'm doing a good job, I kind of think, "Well, it's not as if it's rocket science to answer phones. I understand Shakespeare and T.S. Eliot - do you really think answering a few phone calls is going to throw me for a loop?" But I digress. Except that yes, I did just compare the understanding of Shakespeare and T.S. Eliot to rocket science. Sue me.) Actually getting into a grad school gives me a tremendous sense of relief, but I realized almost as soon as it happened that I'm still going to be taking babysteps. "Oh, I'm just trying to decide which grad school to attend (assuming I get into more than one). I'm just trying to figure out where to live. I'm just trying to decide what my focus is in the School of Information. I'm just trying to learn my way around a new city. I'm just trying to find a place to work during school. I'm just trying to get a job." Really, the only thing that this step provides is a little glimpse of a road sign in the fog so that I know where I'm headed right now. It doesn't give me a better sense of how long it will take to get there (ever notice how fog completely kills your sense of time?) or what the rest of the road looks like.

I'm happy to have a road sign. It's comforting to know that I have somewhere to go in the fall - sometimes I think being in school is a little like being inside for awhile while it's foggy. Even though you haven't figured out exactly what you'll do when you get outside, at least you can see what's going on inside the walls.

I shouldn't write this early in the morning, and I apologize if this is rubbishy or boring, but I still can't see out the windows here, and I want to remember the foggy feeling while it's still here, because I'm sure it will go away when the sun comes up.

Three lovely things.

Today was a good day.

First, we got a piano in our apartment. Amanda had one and we finally managed to get it down here. I can't wait to get some of my music from home so that I can more fully enjoy it. 

Second, I got my first pay stub from Five Star, and the president of the company told me I was doing a great job on the phones. True, I then felt very self conscious about him listening in on all of my calls, but it was still good to know that I'm doing a good job.

Thirdly (just because I want to say thirdly), I got my first grad school acceptance today! I got into the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and although at the moment the cold there sounds very unappealing, it does have some added allure in that I could hang out with Katherine back there and wouldn't have to find my way around on my own. In any case, it relieves some stress to get accepted to one - that way at least I know my grad school dreams are one step closer to being realities. I'm very excited (even if my mother is not). 

Be My Friend?

Concerts I would like to attend during the rest of this semster:

• The Morning Benders/The Submarines - Feb. 21 at Kilby Court. ($8!!!) I'm going to a ballet earlier that day with my mom, but if I can find anyone who wants to go to this one, I'd love to see them. They're fabulous. 
  
• Andrew Bird - Feb. 25 at the Murray Theater. I just bought tickets to this one and plan to tag along with Sydney. 
• Brett Dennen - April 4 at the Murray Theater. 

If anyone has any desire to go to any of these, let me know. (And if you think you might want to go and want to be introduced to the band/artist, that can be arranged.) Also, there's a PostSecret event in Logan at the beginning of April (I think the 1st or the 2nd?) that I would love to hit, so those of you who are loyal readers of Sunday Secrets might want to consider coming with me, because I for sure won't go to Logan alone, but I think it would be really cool to go. 

In the mean time, I still need to look into student tickets for the opera next month. (Tiffany! I keep forgetting!) Good thing I have a job now, because even though none of my tastes are too expensive, they do add up. (But since I missed Coldplay and didn't pay $90 for a ticket, I do feel somewhat justified spending $8 for The Morning Benders. Just saying.) 

The Plan

Okay, here's the deal. I know that not all of you have hot plans for Valentine's Day, or maybe you have a date but you don't know what to do.

Here's what you do.

At 8:30 on Saturday night, in SWKT 250, they're showing À la folie... pas du tout,  or in English, He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not. I have never seen a more perfect Valentine's Day movie, and I mean that from the bottom of my usually cynical heart. (If you aren't in Utah, rent it. Really.)

(Don't investigate the plot of this movie too much, by the way. Not knowing what it's about is the best part.) 

Happy movie watching!

Cotton Candy, etc.

Last week I went to the circus with some of the fam. The circus itself was entertaining, but I think this was everyone's favorite part.








Ah, the simple joys of childhood. 

Fine. Here it is.

Okay, about five million people have tagged me in their 25 things notes on facebook, and even though I don't really like posting notes on facebook, I kind of want to make one. (I hate the whole idea of posting notes on facebook - no particular reason, so you all just go ahead, but I'd rather keep everything here.) In any case, the more I read other people's notes, the more I want to make a list, even though I feel like I won't have anything too random to say because I make lists all the time. If you already know it all, you can just ignore it. :)

1. I have major anxiety about making phone calls to people I don't know (and sometimes to people I do know, depending on how well I know them or why I have to call them). I'm trying to get over that right now with my new job, because making outgoing calls kind of freaks me out, and we're supposed to make them daily. 
2. I don't just love my brothers because I'm related to them. I genuinely like them as people too.  I love talking to them and swapping music with them and hitting the movies with them and watching how they interact with their kids, and I hope that someday I end up with someone who lives up to the standard of awesomeness they have set. 
3. I don't really care for most romantic comedies, (and actually lots of comedies - I hate bathroom humor and sexual humor with a burning purple passion because it seems like such a cop out - which is funny, because Shakespeare uses some of both and it doesn't bother me there) but I really love the ones I love, and I'm a complete sucker for long BBC adaptations of romantic novels. I get giddy in certain parts of certain movies every time I watch them, and I feel a little let down when it's over, also every time. 
4. I feel a little lost if I'm not really into a good book - but I also sometimes feel lost when I finish a book I really love because I'm sad I don't get to read more about the characters. This is part of the reason that non-fiction is sometimes hard for me. 
5. I'm a very visual person. I always understand something better if I can see it while I'm hearing it. This is why I take really detailed notes when I'm in a class where the professor doesn't use the chalkboard or power points, and why I draw a lot of things out when I'm planning. There are some things that I actually cannot figure out unless I can physically move things around. 
6. I'm thoroughly in love with yogurt. My favorite kind is Western Family - it has the best consistency, and there's nothing better than a good tub of boysenberry yogurt with fruit that you have to stir in. I also miss British yogurt with the delicious fruit or chocolate mix-ins. (And the rice pudding. Man, do I ever miss the rice pudding!) The Yoplait custard style is also pretty decent.
7. At my new job I have my own desk, and I kind of love that. It makes me feel more like an adult than most of the other jobs I've had. Also, even though I don't really love having to be to work by 6, I do love those two hours when I have the office to myself. 
8. Related to that last one, I've always loved the times when I've had my apartment or house to myself. When I was 12 or 13 I used to love it when my parents would go out and leave me alone - I'd watch Princess Bride or dance to Paul Simon in the living room and just love the time that I had all to myself. I think that's why I've always liked to stay up late too - I like those hours when everyone else asleep and it's just me and a book and a reading lamp.
9. I'm something of an insomniac. I think this is why I stay up late reading or watching things on Hulu or blogging - sometimes I just don't want to face the time it will take for me to fall asleep. Sometimes listening to music helps me to get there faster, but sometimes I concentrate on the lyrics and it doesn't help at all. (That's something I've done since I stopped listening to storybook tapes - Simon and Garfunkle every night, sometimes both sides of the tape with me mouthing the words to every song, and then I'd go to sleep.) 
10. Without contacts or glasses, I'm probably legally blind. I am grateful for corrective lenses (and especially my 30 day and night contacts that make me feel like I'm not blind) almost daily. 
11. I really like surprises when it comes to presents, especially when the person knows me well. It's nice to get what you wanted, but I think it's nicer when someone knows you well enough to know what you would like. I have many wonderful people in my life who are stellar gift givers, and I think it's partially because they just pay attention. I also really love to give gifts when I know that the person receiving will like it, and it stresses me out when I feel like someone should get a gift from me and I don't know what to give them. 
12. I didn't use to dislike winter as much as I do now. I think it has to do with how completely petrified I am of driving in the snow, although there comes a point in winter when I get fed up with having to plan my footwear around ice and puddles and mud. I feel a very literal lifting of my spirits when spring starts to show up (and am always so disappointed when winter pops up a few more times before spring stays, no matter how often I tell myself its going to happen.)
13. I love to tie quilts - always with my mom, in the family room, watching movies. This may be how I developed that love of the BBC miniseries that I always talk about. It's so much easier when you don't have to change movies as often. 
14. I have a thing for biopics. They're almost invariably depressing (apparently you only make movies about people whose lives are depressing) and full of drugs or womanizing or abuse or other unpleasant things (especially when it's a movie about a musician), but there's still something so fascinating about seeing stories about people's lives and seeing actors try to step into the role of someone everyone knows so well. 
15. I still sleep with stuffed animals - two dogs named Humphrey and Ingrid. Ingrid has a rice bag in her stomach that you can heat up or cool down. which is nice when I can't get my feet to warm up at night.
16. I still get homesick sometimes. It makes me really nervous to move away to another state for grad school, but I really feel like it's what I'm supposed to do, and I think it'll be good for me. But that doesn't mean I don't feel sick about it. 
17. Sometimes I feel like the feminist in me is fighting with the part of me that likes to make pies and buy purses. Then I decide that's called balance, and it's fine. 
18. As many CDs, artists, genres, etc. as I love, I think that, weirdly enough, my very favorite CD may actually be the soundtrack to The Mission. Something about Ennio Morricone's score to that movie really gets to me, and not just because it brings back images from a wonderful movie (which it is, and which is what usually happens with soundtracks) but because it's just amazing. I wish I could articulate why I think it's so beautiful, but you'll probably just have to listen to it. 
19. One of my favorite things to do when I moved to my current apartment was to walk up the hill to the park with a book. I think missing that is one of the reasons I so desperately want winter to be over. I know the park and the walk are still there, but it just isn't the same when you have to slip on ice all the way up and know that the perfect spot under the tree is all soggy and brown now. 
20. I absolutely love to watch What Not To Wear, even though it isn't as much fun without Miri. I invoke Stacey London and Clinton Kelly constantly when I'm shopping, and my roommates have now learned that if I say "Ooh! That's a What Not to Wear after outfit!" that it's a big compliment. I feel a little silly about how entertaining I find that show, but I own yellow shoes because of it, so. . .
21. I own a cowboy hat, and it's actually pretty cute. I have never found an opportunity to wear it. I think I would feel like a poser if it wasn't Halloween or a barn dance or something. 
22. I hate turning people down for dates or just letting people know I'm not interested - especially if the guy is nice and a friend (and not a "creeper"). There have been times when I actually left my phone in my room because I knew someone was going to call and didn't want to feel guilty for not answering the phone - which actually made things worse, because calling someone back is ten times as bad when you know you're going to say no. I wish I didn't feel so awkward about things like this, but it makes me physically ill. 
23. I have a really overactive imagination. When I was little, I would go down to the basement for something, and then after I turned the light off to go back upstairs I'd imagine that something was behind me, and I'd always run up the stairs two at a time. I still do this sometimes, especially at night. For the same reason, being the first one in my building in the morning freaks me out a little, and I never take the garbage out at night.
24. I think the thing I mind the most about being single is the fear that someday all of my friends will be married and I won't be able to find any single ones. The singleness itself isn't really that bad, but the idea of third-wheeling it for the rest of my life totally is. 
25. I will always be grateful that I decided to live away from home for college, even if I wasn't that far away. Having roommates who liked to talk about boys and share clothes and do hair was just what I thought having sisters would be like, and a lot of those roommates are the reasons I know how to do my makeup and my hair. I've loved them all. 

There's the list (two days after I started it). I hope it isn't all stuff you've read on this blog a hundred times before. And yikes. I need to be in bed 3 hours ago. 

No. This is not a good way to raise money.

Today I saw an ad on the facebook sidebar, and I just had to click on it. It was for mypetbarock.com, a website that sells - you guessed it - pet rocks with our 44th president's face on them. 

What? You didn't guess that? I'm surprised that you didn't think up this genius way to make money yourselves! I mean, the demand was there, people were clambering for Barocks, and you just didn't hear the swell of the masses.

I just have one question for you.

Will you be my Barockentine?