Life!

It's been a while.

Just checking in to say : Life is good, life is grand. Life is crazy.

Some of my new favorite things are:

A beautiful green scarf my sister was going to throw away, which I resurrected. Turns out it is from Lebanon and is completely gorgeous. I wear it way too often, but I don't care, because we are in love.

Ehow. They have everything you could ever want to learn on there, from how to conceive twins, to how to make a video game. It amazes me every time.

This cat video

Chocolate Mint Soy Milk!!! I bought four at the store just because I love it so much.

Anything and everything minty.

Glee Christmas Album-- I know, I know.

Life! Life is good. I've got rhythm, I've got music, who could ask for anything more?

No Way Jose

Fellow friends and readers, I have been severely humbled.

I am a pretty confident girl, and I was feeling pretty good about my intelligence and my ability to get into grad school. And then I was reminded of this little thing that I need to do.

It's called...the GRE. But I feel like its taunting me all of the time, saying "Get Real, Emotional wreck!" I can't do it. I'm not that smart. All I do is make crap up, support it with big words and random sentences, and then act intelligent when I say it.

I was feeling pretty good about myself until the panic ensued. Yes, I know it's not that big of a deal, but it is to me! I want a good score to prove to myself that I can do this!!

I should be studying right now, but I'm not!! Ahhhh!!!

I bought a GRE book and the one reason I chose that book is because the first word in the entire book, in big letters is "Relax"! It was exactly what I needed.



Look at that girl!! Why is she so calm?? That's definitely not fair! Or REALISTIC!!

Ok, freak out over. :)

Obsessed

You know that Obsessed song by Mariah Carey?

First, I love it.

Second, here is a list of things I am currently mild to moderately obsessed with:

TOMS - I want every color. My next purchase will be red. Then some boots. I just want every kind, they are so comfortable!

Lady Gaga - I just can't get enough of her cd. Seriously, I blame Lauren for this one for sending it to me. I mean, I did ask her for it, but it is just so good! Plus, she is fierce.

Harry Potter - This isn't recent. Just everlasting.

My blog stats.

ALL TIME WHO HAS LOOKED AT MY BLOG:
United States 1,069
Canada 31
United Kingdom 20
Australia 12
Mongolia 10
Germany 9
Poland 6
Saudi Arabia 6
China 4
France 3

Cool, right? I mean, I had no idea people in other countries saw this! Here's to you all you people in Mongolia! (Yes averyl, this is inspired by your russia blog) Also, those stats have to be wrong, because one of my blogs only got 3 views, but has 6 comments?? How is that possible? AND the blog that the most people viewed, was also the blog with ZERO comments! What's up with that people? I was ashamed of that blog for so long because I thought no one liked it, but alas! You did! Tell me when you like something next time, ok? Thanks ;)

Tom Hanks' Voice - It is just so nice and pleasant to listen to, right? Not only that, I just really like Tom Hanks.

Joe Jonas allegedly getting rid of his purity ring because he is dating Ashley Greene from Twilight - Seriously. I always knew Joe would be the wild one. No wonder Nick has recently become my favorite Jonas ;) Also, listen to this " 'When they’re not traveling, they’re basically living together,' a Jonas camp snitch told Life & Style Weekly last Wednesday" See, hard evidence right??

Justin Timberlake - also forever lasting. But especially renewed since The Social Network, which I have yet to see but have heard amazing things about! And allegedly JT might be up for an OSCAR NOMINATION! How incredible would that be? I mean, I want to dance again, but go JT!



The End. <3

LOVE

Hi.

All I want to talk about today is one person.

They are very near and dear to my heart, even though others may find them strange.

That person is AUSTIN SCARLETT

Austin was on the first season of Project Runway and got fourth place, but he should have won.

I love Austin because:

He is always classy and eloquent

He is always put together



He has impeccable taste

He is not over bearing, even though it looks like he would be



He is so nice

He is kind - which is so different than nice



He is an amazing designer

He is funny


Look at this dress he made out of corn husks! It was the first PR challenge ever and he was disappointed with how it turned out, but he won the challenge anyway.

He is crazy passionate

He has tons of charisma



He is eccentric

He is so pretty

He has so much confidence



He is FABULOUS

I just want to hug him

He is the cutest thing I've ever seen

And the number one reason I love him is that he is always one hundred percent himself. He wears outrageous clothing, he wears makeup, he dresses a little bit like an older woman, and he is more well-groomed than any woman I have ever seen, and he doesn't care. He is so real it is invigorating.

Also, he is on this show with this guy: Santino, who was on PR season 2. And they get along even though they literally look like salt and pepper.

Long Time Gone

It's been soo long! Sorry. Mostly to Rachel because you said you wanted me to blog :)

I don't have a lot of time, but I want to talk about GLEE!!!

As most of you know, the new season started last night and I had the privilege to watch it tonight with a favorite sister wife of mine ;)

Anyways, mostly I just wanted to talk about how happy it makes me. It is so super funny and hilarious and I just want to dance and sing and be happy all day long.

This season guest stars are Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and John Stamos! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Basically I cannot explain my love for Glee.

The end.

Liminal Spaces

I love synthesis, amalgamation, the yin-yang, basically anything that has two contrasting ideas and plays them against each other to create something profound and better than the two existing halves on their own.

What I do NOT like however, is liminal spaces. The no mans land between ideas, places, thoughts, etc. There is no synthesis in liminal spaces, it physically cannot be. Being on the threshold nothing is real anymore. (At least thats how it feels to me). Grooms typically carry their bride through the first threshold because it is a myth that devils hang out in doorways. I definitely agree that devils stay in liminal spaces. Hit you while you're alone and trapped kind of a deal. I feel like for SO long I have been in this liminal space, I'm a post-grad living in an undergrad world, I know what I want to do with my life but have made no recordable progress made to achieving my goals, I have lost two of my roommates and now am waiting for the others to get here, I have a job, but am anxiously awaiting other and better opportunities. I used to love liminal spaces, I thought they were the in-between area before you move on to a world of possibilities. But now I feel like Winnie the Pooh, half way in Rabbits house and half way in the outside world - completely and utterly stuck.


Look at his face, clearly liminal spaces are not a fun place to stay.

Once I called liminal spaces "scary and exciting". But now I have lost all of my excitement and fear has taken over completely. I feel exactly like this: "One's sense of identity dissolves to some extent, bringing about disorientation." Thank you wikipedia for that.

Lastly, I do LOVE thinking, writing, and reading about liminal spaces, as long as I do not have to face my own. :)

Fear

Why is it that every time I kill a bug in the shower or down a drain I am filled with fear and panic that it will come back up and seek its revenge against me? I hardly ever feel bad when I squish a bug, but sending it down the drain gives me the creeps. If I have to take a shower after I send the dastardly spider down to the depths of its death, I can't take my eyes off of the drain the whole time I'm in there. And if I have to turn around, I whip back really fast, just to make sure he hasn't snuck up on me. Sometimes I let the water run for a few minutes before I get in just to make sure he's really dead and gone. And I get all paranoid and I feel like bugs are crawling all over me. Its a very unsettled feeling and its the worst in the world. Is this the work of bug ghosts? Are they tormenting me for hurting their friends and loved ones? Probably. Goodness knows I'd do the same thing if someone sent my mom hurtling to her death down a drain, and drowning her in the process.

Conclusion:
Spiders and other bugs,
Stay out of my sink, toilet and shower. PLEASE. I will send you down the drain, and I don't want to have that unsettled feeling all because of a little thing like you. Thank you.
Best regards,
Dana

How do I love thee?

Hi, my name is Dana, and I'm an addict.

What am I addicted to you ask?
Harry Potter.

I can't help it. There was a time in my life when I could answer the most ridiculous question about HP. Now I have mellowed a little bit, but my love has not lessened an ounce. J.K. Rowling is a genius and the more I study the more of her genius I discover.

To be fair, the movies are nothing special. They are amazing and fun, yes, but in comparison to the books they fall flat every time. Especially Ginny in the movies, yuck, who would want to kiss her? Shes not even funny or a real person. Anyways. The new trailer came out fairly recently, and I can't wait! I really have a great feeling about this one. And you know what makes me even more excited??? They're showing it in 3D. You know how I feel about 3D. This movie is going to change my life (hopefully).

In true HP trailer fashion, the trailer doesn't show anything explicitly, so if you haven't read the book you have no idea what they're showing, but it still looks exciting! And sometimes even the most seasoned reader gets excited by the prospect of a new interpretation!!

Here it is folks, this is one you'll want to watch full screen, and hit repeat multiple times. All in all, its going to be EPIC (and I don't use that word lightly).

Findings

I am frantically (lie) working on my second to last paper of my undergrad career (more on this later) when I happen to come across this comic during my research (also a lie, really would anyone even believe that?). Never mind the lies and fabrications, I think this is hilarious, and hopefully its not just me in my crazy sleep-deprived state (truth!)

By the way, a line in my paper says "This is where Hemingway refused to stop, collaborate and listen"...a little too much? Do I care if it is? Nope, because I think it is just about THE funniest thing ever. I'm so glad I'm hilarious.

Black and Brown Make a Frown

I consider myself progressive. Yet there has always been one thing which I could never handle. Black and Brown. Together. In an outfit. YUCK. It would send shivers down my spine. It also didn't help that I hate the color brown more than anything. Then, the winds started to change in September when I bought these fabulous brownish shoes to wear with an outfit that...had....black...in...it. Before I would have refused to let those brown shoes go anywhere near my feet, let alone with some black! Then a few weeks ago I bought this fantastic bag at Target. It is BROWN. Weird, right? And now I wear my brown bag with everything, and I LOVE it with my black clothes. I am now semi-over my fear of black and brown. I still hold some prejudice for dark brown paired with black, but light brown is in my good graces.

Here is a picture of me in a black and brown outfit.

Dear Frank from the Bachelorette,

I love you. If Ali breaks your heart, I'm also a blonde from California. :)

HEY ITS MAY!!!

So last year I wasn't able to post a blog under that title in May, and I realized today is the last day of May and I don't want to wait another whole full year to use it.

MAY. Where have you gone?!?!?!

This is what I have spent May doing:

Reading
Singing
Waiting Tables (at Joe Vera's Mexican Restaurant on Center Street, come in and see me!)
Going to classes
Studying (not)
Watching Prison Break
Eating Otter Pops
Basking in the temperamental sun
Fantasizing about actual nice weather
Shopping
Hot Tubbing
Getting ready and excited for all of my adventures to come this summer (like Rachel and Jason's wedding in July and Rose and Douglas' Wedding in August and Disneyland in August with the 5!)
Trying not to think about life post-college

This MAY (get it, May? Like the month?) seem like a lot, but I have a pretty relaxed schedule which is super nice.

Oh! My little sister Lauren came into town for EFY so on Sunday we went up to Temple Square, it was her first time being there which is weird. But she is fantastic and I get to spend more time with her after EFY so I'm looking forward to that!

More

Apparently I am on a Top Five kick. This post I will be sharing my Top Five movies that I love right now. Translation, these are not my ALL TIME favorite movies, although some may make the leap there, rather these are my I LOVE these movies right now. Plus, if you know me I have a million favorites of everything.

(Oh, and also, just a little comment out of vanity, I always judge my posts based on the number of comments, and last post was a record high of 7! WOO! Seriously though, if a post gets zero I feel like I failed and like I have to step it up for the next post. K. Now I'm embarrassed I said that.)

So on to my....

Top Five Favorite Movies Right Now

1. Bella. 2006. I don't really know how to explain this one because every time I try to say what its about, it doesn't convey the right feeling. So. There is this cook and a waitress, they skip work and spend the day together in New York. Kinda. I mean, they do, but you just have to see it. It is VERY good. Funny, sentimental, beautiful. Everything. Plus it won Peoples Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, and if I know anything about Toronto, its that they have great taste in cinema. Plus the main guy has BEAUTIFUL eyes. Seriously, he should be a soap star. Or my husband. Just saying.



2. Synecdoche, New York. 2008. If you know me in school, you know how much I love simulation and simulacrum. If you know me outside of school, I'm telling you now. Simuacrum = my favorite thing EVER. Really, I'm salivating just talking about it. Baudrillard is my hero. So, needless to say I love this movie. There is this play director, played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who is so brilliant he gets a grant to write and direct a play, so he decides to write a play about New York, so he builds a life size New York inside of a warehouse as his stage. He wants everything to be exactly true to life, so he hires an actor to play him, and everyone else in his life, and in New York. The same conversations happen in each life, so the fake life begins to get realer than his real life. OOOOH. SOOOOO GOOOOOD. There is a few objectionable parts, so watch it edited or on one of those fancy pants DVD players that edits. I could talk about this movie ALL DAY. Although, I feel like you might have to be someone like me to enjoy it. But maybe not, I only know one other person who has seen it.



3. Rebel Without A Cause. 1955. James Dean. It was released a month after he died, which adds a lot of weight to the movie. Basically I love it. Its about James Dean, who is a rebel, and he doesn't have a cause. Deep analysis, I know. But really, it feels like a non-musical West Side Story. It has all the essential elements of a good movie: whiney kids, fast cars, death, planetariums, famous red jackets, and knife fights. What more could you want? Oh, Natalie Wood is in it, you know, Maria from West Side Story! Yeah, the one who one an Oscar for playing a Puerto Rican, when she is most definitely white. Ridiculous, right? Right.



4. 8 1/2. 1963. Frederico Fellini. This is about a famous director with writers block. As he is starting to direct a film with no script, we see the different influences of the women in his life, wives, lovers, friends, prostitues etc. This was Fellini's 8 1/2 film he ever directed, thus the name. The recent film 9 (2009) with Daniel Day Lewis and Nicole Kidman is based on this movie. I saw them both, and true to originals versus remakes, 8 1/2 is better.



5. Brief Encounter. 1945. Laura and Alec meet by chance one Thursday in town. Each succeeding Thursday they meet and a love interest begins (they are both married with children). They only meet a few Thursdays but the encounter changes each of their lives. Its really really moving and it raises a lot of questions, which I'm all about in film.



Enjoy!!!

Number One

So, I have this list of my top five favorite male celebrities, based on hottness, because what else would be a worthy qualification, talent? Pshhh. But seriously, these guys have it all, and I am going to share this list with you tonight...never has a blog been so fun to write.

(PS if Calista can blog about her love affair with her TV, I believe I am perfectly justified in blogging about this...)

1. Lee Pace: I don't even have to say anything, do I? Just look at him. I first saw him in Pushing Daisies as The Pie Maker, who could bring people back from the dead, but only for one minute. Never have I wanted to kiss someone so badly through saran wrap...



2. Adam Brody: he is intelligent, witty and all around a good guy...on The O.C. that is, but I'm sure hes the same way in real life. Seriously, I am sure because I stalk him. Plus, his smile is adorable.



3. Heath Ledger: He's not further at the top of this list because usually he's my number one for dead celebrities, but I love him so much he goes here. Plus, he's crazy crazy talented. RIP you lovely man.



4. Justin Timberlake: funny, great golfer, sexy singer, pretty bad actor, but I'll let that one slide JT, just because you're so cute.



5. Wentworth Miller: He looks good in prison clothes. Nuff said. Plus, he broke in to prison then out again to save his brother. Then he broke out of a different prison in Panama. Talk about skills. Mad ones. Never before has prison looked so appealing.




Oh Happy Day!

Publicity

So I did it.

I went "public" with my blog.

I put it on facebook. I am still not too sure if this was a good idea or not. Now I am even more worried about trying not to sound like an idiot on here.

On other notes, I am going up to Ogden tonight for the weekend with Ashley, because she is presenting at the Weber State National Literary Conference!!! YAY Ashley!

I will leave you with a frontispiece of Aphra Behn, who was the first woman to earn a living by her pen :) She also wrote Oroonoko which was recently adapted into a play, which I am aching to see.

:)

Dear Readers,

I am a happy happy girl right now. I have a lot of love for a lot of things. Here are some good quotes for you from some of my favorite people:

"May you live all the days of your life!" --Jonathan Swift

"Our truest life is when we are in our dreams awake." -- Henry David Thoreau

"It is not length of life, but depth of life." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." -- Gandhi

Sorry if I am especially sappy right now (this will be the only time I promise), but I believe every one of those quotes, and I hope to live up to them. I recently discovered how beautiful passion can render its connoisseur, and I was deeply inspired.

Because I can never have a blog sans photo, I tried to find a perfectly blissful picture to show one of my happiest moments, but while looking through my stuff, I couldn't find just one to express my joie de vivre. It seems I have a pretty fantastic life. Hence I give you a picture which I think perfectly exemplifies the celebration of living.

Obsession

So, I am obsessed with a boy.

His name is Blake Mycoskie.

I have never met him. I first saw him on the Amazing Race, (season 2) with his sister Paige. I liked him, but soon forgot all about him. These TV crushes of mine (un)fortunately don't stand the test of time.

Fast forward a few years. I see a man on Oprah, he is definitely attractive and he has started his own company called Toms Shoes, where for every pair you buy they give a pair to a child in Argentina. Rad, I think, an attractive and socially conscious man! SCORE! So I buy a pair. Then I buy another pair. Then I become a little umm...interested in him. I do some research using good ol Google, and realize he is Blake from Blake and Paige! Then I read that he was in a Man Pageant ahem...a "Bachelor of the Year" program which appeared on Fox in 2000. I was sad because I missed that boat. As luck would have it, I happened to see this program this summer. Yes, I watched it. It was terribly painful and Blake did not make it very far.

But the reason for this blog was to share something he wrote on his blog back in January which I love...

"A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. he simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both."

- Francois Auguste Rene Chateaubriand

Well, to close this blog up, here is a picture of Blake from his Man Pageant days:


And now a recent photo of him with his shoes:


whoever said men don't get better with age was seriously disturbed. (not true in all cases)

My Conversion Story

This is my conversion story, and it's very personal to me.

Last Saturday I decided that I was converted to the church of 3-D Movies.

Ok, maybe that was a little irreverent.

But seriously.

I have always been a skeptic of the third dimension, especially remembering that horrific 3-D Movie with Michael Jackson at Disneyland. Sorry Mike, I am not a fan. And there are always too many tricks they play with the audience that I do not like. Period. They are fun the first time, but after that they are annoying and downright disturbing. I apparently have remnant issues from my childhood from that Michael Jackson movie...

But ever since then I have avoided the hype. Avatar. Sorry folks, but I don't give a damn. And all the critics who say that 3D is the new future for movies. False.

So what changed my mind, on 3D at least? (I still believe what I said in the paragraph above)

ALICE IN WONDERLAND.

I haven't always been the biggest Alice fan, mostly because the movie creeped me out as a child (why I liked Pinocchio I'll never know), but I was way excited to see it because its Tim Burton! And he can't go wrong. (Rumor is he's directing Sleeping Beauty next!!!). So I go to the theatre, put on my 3D glasses and watch a Friskies commercial in 3D. It was weird. Then we see all the previews in 3D!! COOL! Seriously, most of the previews I had seen before, but 3D made them all soo much cooler! And it made me way more interested to see them!

So then, the moment of truth. The movie started. From the get go it was beautiful, visually stimulating and just a trip. (Not a drug trip which Jessie thought I was referring to, but like a vacation trip) I was transported to Tim Burton's magical fairy land, full of drugged caterpillars and the over-sized head of Helena Bonham Carter. It was fabulous.

I loved every minute of its 3D bliss. It was sooo amazing. Bravo Timmy, Bravo.

Go see it.

P.S. Johnny Depp is always a treat. Always.

Rain Rain Go Away

Dear Bloggers,

Before I tell you my story for today, I need to precede this blog with some information about myself. I remember outfits that I wore on specific dates. Not like September 17, but like that day we went to the beach and saw that fat man. I remember I was wearing my blue shirt with the ruffles and my black flip flops. Ok, that was a fictional example, but you get the point.

So on to my story.

Lets travel back in time to my first semester at BYU, Fall 2006. I had my World Religions class right after a theatre class. If you know BYU campus at all, this means I had to walk from the HFAC to the JSB, this is all the way across campus, folks. So on this particular day I wore my pink shirt from Nordstrom with puffyish stuff on the shoulders. As I left the HFAC -- I had been in the basement all day and didn't know what was going on outside-- it was POURING. POURING. POURING. So. I went to class. And got drenched. I remember opening up the door to my class, and seeing Vanessa and Matt's faces, they looked at me and then proceeded to laugh. Yup. Laugh. At my pain! haha. I would've laughed too, so I forgive them.

Now lets fast forward to today, March 5, 2010. It was a super sun shiney day in the morning, so I left the house with the same pink shirt on (foreshadowing), and a cardigan over it. I was in the basement of the JFSB in classes all day, so I had no idea the chaos which was ensuing outside. I climb up the stairs and am greeted by SNOW. LOTS and LOTS of snow. Big snow. Not little snow. Big ones. Same shirt. Same sucky Utah weather. I do not forgive the weather.

Moral of the story : I am never wearing that shirt again.

I included a picture of me in said shirt from high school. Yeah, its time to get new clothes.



AND I had vowed never to wear a coat ever again, and it looks like today ruined that for me. Ugh.

HAPPY ONE YEAR BLOGAVERSARY!!!!!!!!

Happy birthday to my dearest blog!!!!!

It has been a long journey, and apparently since I have only blogged 27 times, I give you all the gift of my blog about once every two weeks, which is quite impressive due to my lack of commitment to the blog this summer. Zero in July. ZERO. Sorry July, I will do better this year. Maybe.

One year ago today I titled my blog Sunshine, because it was a super sunshiney day and I hadn't seen the sun in a loooong time (MUCH different than today has turned out to be, curse you snow!) Little did I know, "Sunshine" was the name of my blog forever. I just thought it was a name of a post or something, I guess. But, the name stuck and I am happy with it. And as a side note, my cousins wife has a blog called "Glenn Family Sunshine" so apparently the Glenn's like the sunshine.

My blog hasn't been through much this year, it used to be pink, and once I made a quiz. I started out with just a few friends and now I have 16!!! That's a lot! Granted, some are not as avid bloggers as the rest, but still. I am proud of that. I have put a picture on every blog, or at least a video. Maybe at times I've been a little picture happy. But I am not about to stop now. Haha.

My first blog post consisted of things about me, so I will recreate that just as an update for y'all.

I am 21 years old and I am not sure about the color of my hair. I guess its dirty blonde.
I still have a severe blonde complex, and without being blonde you will never understand.
I love to smile, smiling's my favorite!
I like to color, especially in the shower.
I love to sing, but I am not good, so don't expect anything.
I love to make pizza.
I love to rhyme, all the time.
My favorite books are "Gone With the Wind" and "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close".
I love Heath Ledger.
I love Dallas Clayton. (Thanks to Carolyn for him, and for this too)

Alright...so not too much has changed. I deliberately modified some just so it would seem like things have changed. Yikes. Alright, I guess I am the same person I was a year ago. Digest that readers.

Happy Birthday Blog and Take Care!!!

Your MOM

This post is dedicated to Vanessa's Mom. Seriously.




Well, not seriously. That was a joke. Sorry Vanessa, I know how great she is and all but....what I really want to talk about is frozen yogurt. Yes, if you do not happen to live in the Utah Valley, you might not realize the phenomena that frozen yogurt has become (but I seriously doubt this). Just to give you a taste of the insanity, I will now list all of the frozen yogurt places in Provo I can name off the top of my head:

1. Fro Yo
2. Red Mango
3. Spoon Me
4. Hello Yogurt
5. Spoon It Up
6. Sub Zero
7. Yo Zone
8. TCBY
9. Fusion Yogurt
10. Hogi Yogi
11. Frogurt
12. Yogurt Stop
13. Big's Frozen Yogurt
14. Yoasis
15. Yogurt Bliss
16. Luna Berry

And countless others. Ok, so I could only name like 10 of those, and I cheated and googled frozen yogurt in provo. But STILL. When will the madness stop??? Don't get me wrong, Frozen Yogurt has its moments, but does it need this many moments??? I'm just sayin.

Here is your moment of zen for today:



Yes, that is Hugh Hefner and yes, we are in bed with him.

Dreams

Last night I had a dream. It was freaky/weird. Let me tell you about it. But first let me give you some background information.

1. I make fun of my sister Erin for being afraid of whales
2. I am reading Moby Dick
3. I am researching opium for a paper

So, first I am in a church building, and there are lots of people there, no one I know, but I am friends with everyone. We have split up into two teams and are playing some sort of competitive game. I run away into an empty room and start planting opium. This is NOT part of the game. They grow surprisingly fast. I take some, and think, I shouldn't be eating this, but I do. I feel WEIRD, like WEIRD. Some people find me in the room, and they are from the other team so I serenade one of the boys by sitting on his lap and rubbing his head. It works. I develop a crush on said boy.

All of a sudden I am on a boat. There are a few stories and I am working at a store that IS the boat. There is a huge hole in one of the stories and its freaky. I go downstairs after taking care of some people upstairs, and I wonder where is that boy I serenaded? He was cute and had a beardy. Then I talk to the manager, who is my friend and Captain Ahab's wife. Ahab is standing next to us when we hear from an unidentified person "Your husband is gone!" Well...we turn around and he IS gone. All of a sudden the boat starts jostling around and I say, This is where I stopped the movie last time. (But it wasn't a movie, it was a dream) Then we are all on deck and my serenaded beardy man is eaten :( by Moby Dick, who is FREAKY. He jostles our boat, and then leaves and then comes back and almost eats us. A lot of times. Then, the boat is a rockin and you know what that means? Yup, I fall into the water. Moby Dick is coming toward me, I am freaking, like I am going to die. Then all of a sudden, the second before I am eaten he turns into one of the amoeba people from Little Mermaid. You know the people Ursula sucks the soul out of? Moby Dick is now one of them, and I am saved! I get back on the boat. The End.

Now, I am definitely scared of whales.

And if the boy in my dream looked anything like him, I would like to go back and change my dream, so he would still be alive.


PS I forgot to post a tribute on his 2 year anniversary on the 22nd :(

Oldies but Goodies

I love used books. The reasons are obvious, you get to see what others highlighted or underlined, oft times you get some old notes, or long forgotten receipts. But if you're really lucky you get to read their marginal writing (writing in the margins, not writing that is marginal). I buy most of my school books on Amazon, thus I have encountered some good stuff. I recently bought a book called "We: Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love" for my Literature and Film class, which first of all, is a fantastic book, and just a little bit of a prelude for what it contains, it is listed as a self-help book. Now for the fun part. In the front cover it says:

"To my fair son, Owen, in his fourtieth year ~ so the wisdom of 'true love' shall be his.
January, 2000
with much 'true love', Mom" (there is a flourish after "Mom")

I wish I knew these people, I want to know what happened to Owen to cause his mom to give him this. Was he divorced? Unlucky in love? Or was his mom just crazy? Now that Owen is 50, (and never read this book by the looks of it) where is he? Did his mom ever ask how he liked this book, only to have him awkwardly lie?

A few summers ago I found a book at home which belonged to a "Glen N. Petersen" Which is funny, if you consider my last name is Glenn, and my best friend's last name is Petersen.

Now I have my moms old copy of Jane Eyre, "Donna Lallatin" is in the front cover, and it is astonishing how little her handwriting has changed in over 30 years. And also sad, because I was hoping my handwriting would mature as I did. Not likely I guess.

After reading "The Crying of Lot 49", in which the main character sees the recurring symbol of the Trystero --

I bought a used book with the Trystero symbol in the front cover. Needless to say, I was shocked and delighted. Now I resolve to draw the Trystero in every book I sell.

Anyways, I just love having glimpses into other people's lives.

Christmas!!!

This Christmas I went home and had a blast! So here are my favorite stories from my vacation...

The first Sunday home we had a Christmas fireside in the Young Single Adult Ward. I didn't really want to go because I thought it would be in the chapel and it would be all serious. But I went and it turned out to be in the cultural hall and it was riot. We all got programs, which included a few "surprise" items from people. After a few funny numbers, a couple of girls get up and sang "What child is this". After them, two more girls get up and sing a different version of "what child is this". After them two boys got up and sang a folksy version of "what child is this". Needless to say by the end of the night, we all knew what child that was.

Christmas Eve we have a family tradition to go out and look at Christmas lights. As we were out and about all around town we remembered that we were having the missionaries over the next morning for breakfast and games, and we decided to get them presents. So we hopped over to our local 99 cent store (we only buy super classy presents) and my dad, Erin and Lauren got out to find them stuff. They came back a while later with stuff for the missionaries and a Jonas Brothers calendar (for Lauren). She was very proud of herself because there was a sticker on it that said it was originally ten dollars, so she got a good deal. My mom was kind of upset and I didn't think anything of it. When we got home my mom pulled me aside to tell me that she bought Lauren the EXACT same Jonas Brothers calendar. For 10 dollars. A long time ago, and she didn't know where the receipt was. So Christmas morning, Lauren opened it up, and we all had a good laugh. I'm not sure if either were ever returned.

The next story is also about Lauren, but it doesn't mean I love her any less. She was planning on crocheting my mom two scarves for Christmas, my mom had even picked out the yarn for them. So Lauren kept on telling me she was getting around to it, but she hadn't started yet. Christmas morning came and I forgot all about it. Traditionally, we open our Santa presents first, then gifts from Lauren, me, Erin, Molli, etc starting with the youngest going up. So its time for us to find Laurens gifts, when she bolts upstairs and tells us all to wait for her. So we're talking, thinking that she just forgot to wrap something. She comes back downstairs with a box and hands it to my mom. My mom then opens it and its a piece of paper which says "Good for two scarves." We laughed for a LONG time after that, which made it by far my favorite moment over the break.

This one is also about Lauren..shes just very entertaining :) All my sisters and I were sitting around talking, and Molli asked if we thought of Lego (our dog) as our brother. And Lauren says, in a very serious voice that reminds me of the Lion King, "No....he is my son"

Other highlights from the break:
Playing Uno Flash with the elders, our cousins, our aunts and uncles, friends, friends of friends, close family, and just about every body.
We got a "just dance" game for the Wii which is the funnest thing since blogging.
Gingerbread House making contest.
Visiting Mount Diablo and being above the clouds. And seeing the pacific ocean.
Going to my grandparents house on Christmas and seeing all of my funny family!


Us with the Elders on Christmas. Pfaffroth(Pfaffy) and Hortman.


Gingerbread Houses!