band crushes

from this weekend.

(Kele Okereke from Bloc Party - he seriously has the most gorgeous skin color imaginable and that accent!)


(Andrew Bird - champion whistler, violin and guitar player, and hottie in his V neck t-shirt)

(Matthew Bellamy - mad skills and amazing show. Seriously. See Muse live).

freakity freak

This weekend is going to be awesome!

clever

What a clever album cover for a dance tune.
Motor - Punkture

and this too... Audion - Suckfish

the arcade fire

My (hopefully) Clinical Psychology professor told our class that 14 of his 35 clients are going to the Arcade Fire show at Thanksgiving Point. See you there!

today's weather

Thunder in the vicinity. Yeah!!

it's the last day of summer

Seriously guys, what an amazing summer. Favorite memor(y)(ies)?

Squaw Peak and the Tiggity-T's

You know you've been to some good parties when the cops keep breaking them up.

these are real

Seen in real life. And I snuck some photos at Zupas.

magnet + stars

Um, touring. At the Gothic in Denver, CO November 6th. Anyone, anyone?

highlights from last night

"You look familiar. Were you in a band or something?" guy 1 to guy 2.
"Still am," guy 2.
"What band?" guy 1.
"We're an acappella group," guy 2.
"Moosebutter!!" Hillery says joking.
"Yeah, you're totally in Moosebutter..." I say.
"Yeah," guy 2.
"You played at my high school," me.
"That dates me," guy 2.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Guy 2 is at the top. His name is Weston, and he's probably 5'0.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You look like someone. It will come to me," Weston to Hillery. He turns to me, "You look like a Catherine."
"Oh? I once wanted to be named Catherine in elementary school," me.
"You're a little on the regal, diplomatic side. But then there's this lunatic side to you," Weston.
"Lunatic?" I say.
"Yeah," Weston.
"Oh, thanks!"

Later in conversation...
"Yeah, that's the Catherine side of you," Weston.
"The lunatic?"
"No, I mean... I really meant crazy. Like the crazy side of you."
"But you said lunatic? Like crazy person, in an asylum?"
"See, as I've gotten to talk to you I believe you're a grounded person."
"Ohhh... hmmmm."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I have 31 nieces and nephews. I'm the 8th of 9 children. All my older siblings are married and have 3 or more kids. My oldest niece is 21," Weston.
"I'm 21," me.
"See, I like to date girls your age so I can relate to her," W.

ummm...

John Mayer - Heart of Life
and
Jens Lekman - Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo.

(Hypem them)

the guns of brixton

This has tons of covers of one of the Clash's best songs. So cool.

learning

I have learned that I am neither organizational nor effective. Thanks, Organizational Behavior 320!

ACL

Yes, I purchased tickets to this. Ahhhhhhhhhh!

recycling

We're getting it, and I'm thrilled! Interested? Call Provo Utilities (852-6000). It's just $5 more a month on your utilities bill.

The Daimonic of Love

In discussing theories on Personality, one of the most engaging concepts is that of Rollo May, a theorist and proponent of existential psychology/psychoanalysis. He identified the goal that all human beings have, that of integration. This integration allows us to unify the self and to confront the potential for the daimonic, which is any natural function that can take over the whole person. One daimonic that May discussed was that of Love and Sex. This excerpt is taken from my text book: Personality Theories, 7th ed. Barbara Engler, p. 388-9.

Love used to be seen as the answer to human problems. Now love itself has become the problem. The real problem is being able to love. Our world is schizoid, out of touch, unable to feel or to enter into a close relationship. Affectlessness and apathy are predominant attitudes toward life, forms of protection against the tremendous overstimulation of modern society.

May believed that our highly vaunted sexual freedom has turned out to be a new form of puritanism in which emotion is separated from reason and the body is used as a machine. Pornography and commercialization have also turned sex into a vehicle for power. We have set sex against eros, the drive to relate to another person and create new forms of life. It is now socially sanctioned to repress eros, and we rush to the sensation of sex in order to avoid the passion and responsibility that eros commands. The sexual freedom established during the 1960s and 1970 has not led to the increase in happiness that many thought would follow a freeing of sexual mores. The premature awakening of sex so prevalent in our time can lead us to dodge awakening at other levels. In the midst of wide availability of information and birth control, unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases continue. Why? The real issue is not on the level of conscious rational intentions but in the deeper realm of intentionality, where a deep defiance mocks our withdrawal of feeling.

May suggested that only the experience and rediscovery of care, the opposite of apathy, will enable us to stand against the cynicism that characterizes our day. The mythos of care points to the need to develop a new morality of authenticity in human relations.

i feel like

a snob as a lemon slice floats in my nalgene.

what an encore

Up Against the Wall - Peter, Bjorn and John (I can't find a current link for this song but listen to it on hypem if you don't know it, or even if you do; it's always a great listen)

Let me just say, that this is the cutest nerd-rock band ever.

• They dedicated Amsterdam to Kayte for her birthday
• Hillery sent a note to the guitarist (I'm not sure if he's Peter, Bjorn, or John) on our left side inviting him to the Pie.
• The band members walked up to the front of the stage multiple times and allowed us to touch them. I got the lead singers hand, and it felt like something straight out of the Beatles era - the adoring fans dancing, screaming, and hands out for touching.
• The crowd was getting crazy... pushing up to the stage, moshing, kids getting on stage and dancing (one girl - twice) and then getting shoved off the stage by security.
• Drunk old men, and I mean old, dancing with young girls in the likeness of a boy band member
  
• New friends - Emily was delightful.
  
• Realizing that Shane is in the spitting image of Jeremy (Hillery told the truth). And the guitarist in PB&J (isn't that an adorable acroynm?) a less attractive version of Chris Leppert.
  
• Dancing our little hearts away, yet again.
  
• And this is not to leave out Apostle of Hustle which was also a great band (t-shirt a little offensive, with an image of Christ getting punched in the face. Symbolic - maybe? Or just insulting?). I just love Broken Social Scene, and Andrew Whiteman, lead guitarist for both Apostle of Hustle and BSS, is really amazingly talented. You could definitely hear bits of BSS in AoH's music.
  
• Oh and the Pie. Like usual: delicious, good company, fun times of shouting, dancing, and chatting
• But still... I can't get over how fun PB&J were. So good!
  

deliberating

After much deliberation and it finally going on sale, I purchased this...

because Josh says I look good in red, and I'm in love with this coat.

Magnet.

I fear I will love very few things as much as I love Magnet.

no more

skirting around the issue. Seriously! I was empowered by the roommate confrontation about the living room, the non-putting hours in the books comment, and now... dealing with people in general. I might as well get it all out.

In our house we've been having a little trouble with something we call passive aggressiveness, what we as roommates and, dare I say, women consider the best way to channel frustration with other people into socially appropriate ways. Instead we backbite, talk about each other behind backs, say things just loud enough so others can hear our frustrations without "offending." We never really confront the issues or the little annoyances we have, hoping they'll just pass us by. Well, they don't. It would be better to mention things and make people aware (even though it takes nerve and some degree of humility) than let things build up, fester, and then explode. There are better ways. I'm sad that it's taken me 21 years to figure this out. But, here goes!

summer!

Scattered thoughts about this summer:

• There's nothing quite like a nectarine, if not for the taste then for the smell.
• My long-time addiction for egg salad sandwiches is back. It's been years!
• I'm eating sunchips that taste like churros.
  
• We're having a Christmas in July party.
  
• I've been doing so much dancing! It feels so good.
• I love love love my family of friends.
• Summer playlists. So much inspiration.
• Pleasant surprises
• Playing all day when I should be doing homework (and my guilt isn't terribly high, uh oh).
• Lots of trips to Salt Lake
• Vegetarian/vegan cuisine that is delicious: Sage's (pizza night Tuesdays and Philly Cheese Steak) and Addicted (pitas and hummus, mmmm who knew tofu everything was so good?)
• Swimming - normal hours and climbing over fences afterhours
• Parties galore
• Meeting new people
• Watching films
• Dreams of traveling
• Blackberries in the backyard
  
• Free concerts

What have you enjoyed about this summer?

introvert vs. extrovert

Am I an introvert or extrovert? What's your vote? And what are you?

shhhhhh

I can't help but giggle when I hear, "Under my umbrella, -ella, -ella, -ella, eh eh eh," from a professor's door and then "SHHHH, SHHHH, SHHHH" from the same woman who chose the ring tone.

boy drawn badly

I forgot how much I absolutely adore Badly Drawn Boy after I heard their lingering sound outside of a salon on 300 S in Salt Lake yesterday. I told Morganne I adored BDB, and she asked me about them. I realized, I haven't listened to them in ages. So I've found, there's nothing quite like rediscovering long-lost loves.

Albums:

• Born in the U.K. - I haven't given it a great listen yet, but Gap was playing Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind and I realized that I adore few musicians as much as I adore Damon Gough. Such simple melodies, simple concepts, but utterly gorgeous.
  
• Songs to hear:
  
• Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind
• Without a Kiss
  
• One Plus One Is One - The one Badly Drawn Boy concert I have seen, the band played this entire album all the way through from track 1-15 and then select songs from other albums. This album goes through a range of emotions, but every song is somehow wonderful and delicate with a little bit of an edge.
  
• Listen to:
• One Plus One Is One
• Easy Love
• This Is That New Song
• Another Devil Dies
• Four Leaf Clover
• Dang, just listen to the whole cd... it's all good!
• About A Boy Soundtrack - my introduction to this brilliant band. I love every song on the album, mostly for sentimental reasons. The instrumental music is beautiful, and the film is embodied in every song for me. It's for this very reason that I adore soundtracks from my favorite movies so much. There's more attached to the music than just the song, there's the whole meaning, nostalgia, and loveliness of the film as well.
  
• Songs to note:
  
• Something To Talk About
• Silent Sigh
• I Love NYE
• River Sea Ocean
• File Me Away
• A Minor Incident
• Again, all the rest of the songs as well!
• The Hour Of The Bewilderbeast - I fell in love with this album in the autumn of my freshman year of college. It feels like ages ago, yet so recent. The songs are so reminiscent of my favorite season, they're floating and transcendent (as Morganne would say).
  
• Listen up:
• The Shining
• Stone on the Water
• Once Around the Block
• Magic in the Air
• Pissing in the Wind
• Blistered Heart
• Have You Fed the Fish - I regret to say that I don't know much of this album. All Possibilities is one really great song. I intend to take this cd from an ex-friend. Or buy it myself. Or, if you have it... I'd like to give it a listen!

Anyway, case in point - listen to some BDB. You won't regret it.

just look at this

Owl Tea set

Also at the anthropologie store.

touch the sky

I secretly, or not so secretly, wish I could blast this song everywhere today.

In fact, I'm listening to it at my receptionist job on campus!

Kanye West (ft. Lupe Fiasco) - Touch the Sky

good company

Yesterday's events go as follows:

• Car rides with a Sonic stop, too-sugary (is it possible? yes.) drinks and tater tots, politics from Newsweek with Morganne and Adam
  
• Sneaking in restrooms, asking directions from hotel attendants (yes, in Salt Lake)
  
• Setting up blanket 5 1/2 hours before show and promptly leaving
• Catching the light-rail, which is FREE downtown
• Remembering London, the Tube, minding-the-gap
• Photographing shoes
  
• Sweating profusely because it's hotter on the windowless train than outside
• Sitting on the train for 5 mins or so because Adam thought there was another stop. Nope, we'd hit the last.
• My age forever - and the neverending search for something I love, failed.
• My department with an ie - beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Makes me want to sell a limb. AND they have This Is... books by Miroslav Sasek. Kill me now!
• Addicted - the Clash and warm pita dipped in lemon pepper and hummus, tofu cream cheese bagels, turkey sandwiches vegan-style. They really have done well with the tofu. Yum!
• Conveniently being in a location Ryan can pick us up
• Realizing the crowd has covered all locations BUT our blanket, nice...
• Allyson is back from Ohio alive and unimpregnated!
  
• Not enjoying the Fiery Furnaces except for when I'm upfront, dancing my heart away with Hillery, Morganne, Adam, Ryan
• Spotting the stoned boy that talked to us outside of Salt Lake Coffee House (or that coffee house we went to after 4th of July) about obscure musicians; he is now humping his girlfriend to the Fiery Furnaces (ack!)
  
• Heading back to the blanket, which is now covered by people
• Amy and me laying down, surrounded by heads and awkwardly dancing bodies, feeling we could get trampled any minute or have cigarette ashes flicked at our heads
  
• Megan inviting us to the gay bar, gay bar, gay bar (Electric 6 - thanks for never allowing me to say those words without that song in my head!) for her birthday
• The Pie (this deserves a post complete with pictures, all on its own) - few experiences in my lifetime have been this fun
• Singing our heads off as loud as possible to EVERY song, shouting Rage Against the Machine, Phil Collins, etc., banging on the tables, yelling every time someone in our group got their pizza, dessert, or breadsticks, knee stroking, flirting behind backs, singing across the table, competing with other tables, having our party take up half the restaurant, dancing, dancing, dancing, climbing poles, singing Gold Digger
  
• No gay bar, exhausted from the Pie
  
• Skipping back to the car, almost taking down a bicyclist
• Wonderful conversations on the way home
• Medusa hair, late night chats, demanding back rubs, and finally crashing.
  

And all the people in between: Morganne, Adam, Ryan, Hillery, Josh, Allyson, Amy, Kristi, Eleanor, Tony, Coby, Megan, Nate, Rory, Dave, Patrick, Lucia, Claire, new friends, adventure club, and all those I forgot (you're still important, blame it on the lack of sleep!)

man!

I like dance parties.

triskaidekaphobia

triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\, noun:

A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.

this

is coming in the mail
and this

this

and finally, this

Movie watching, anyone?

Oscar de la Renta

Is a brilliant man.

I think

Boy Kill Boy
Maximo Park
The Cinematics

all sound quite similar.

fortune

After stuffing our faces at PF Changs, the tray of fortune cookies came out. Everyone's said something to the effect of, "you'll be really productive", "you'll give birth to a baby," "this will be a good month for you," etc.

Mine said:
"An admirer is concealing his affection for you."

No- "he'll reveal it to you in the near future." "He'll leave you flowers on your porch." "He'll call you." "He'll ask you out." No nothing!

If you have any leads... let me know.

PS If it helps, my lucky numbers are 1 3 15 35 . 23

dang

I wouldn't mind it being fall.

pride

I used to pride myself on being the bravest, the boldest, the least likely to scream in a horror film. Well, I have since learned that the case is not so anymore. I recall laughing and smiling while the others around me had chattering teeth and were grabbing each other for comfort. That was me last night, grabbing Sara's hand, screaming at the slightest event. What happened to my wisdom, my cool, my calm?

I watched Silence of the Lambs without flinching. Now I can't watch that or Red Dragon without peeing my pants!

check it

out
Twilight Concert Series

Either Way

Wilco - Either Way

Maybe the sun will shine today
The clouds will blow away
Maybe I won’t feel so afraid
I will try to understand
Either way

Maybe you still love me
Maybe you don’t
Either you will or you won’t
Maybe you just need some time alone
I will try to understand
Everything has its plan
Either way
I’m gonna stay
Right for you

Maybe the sun will shine today
The clouds will roll away
Maybe I won’t be so afraid
I will understand everything has its plan
Either way


(Just lovely!)

concertos

I feel good about this being a summer of concerts.

I miss good shows. They seem to happen so infrequently as of late, but I did see the Cinematics and they were fantastic. We were the only four girls dancing our little hearts out, and we also got to meet the band (adorable Scottish boys- one of them actually named Scott).

Concert Possibilities:

• Tortoise (June 19th)
• Feist (as previously mentioned)
• Maximo Park (July 20th)
• Cary Brothers (July 19th)
• Bears (August 12)
  

Suggestions?

Feist

Boulder, CO June 22nd

Who's in?

immediate gratification

Our culture has evolved into one with an expectancy for immediate gratification. It seems like there was once a slow paced, patient attitude that has since disappeared. We live in an age of fast food, get a degree in a few months online, microwaves, instant hand sanitizer, internet access everywhere, CliffNotes, overnight shipping, credit cards, drive-through car washes. While these are modern conveniences that I know I appreciate, we've lost some simple beauty that one only experiences in taking time to do things, thinking, observing - not always consuming but creating. Take a minute to enjoy a slower pace or quiet reflection. It feels wonderful.

pool games are fun

"Are we having duck?"
"Delicious!"
"Delicious!"
"Delicious!"

Spoon

GaGaGaGaGa
Listen to the new tracks (Don't You Evah, in particular).

also, sometimes all a girl needs is a phone call from a cute boy

Northern Sky

Northern Sky

I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.

I've been a long time that I'm waiting
Been a long that I'm blown
I've been a long time that I've wandered
Through the people I have known
Oh, if you would and you could
Straighten my new mind's eye.

Would you love me for my money
Would you love me for my head
Would you love me through the winter
Would you love me 'til I'm dead
Oh, if you would and you could
Come blow your horn on high.

I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.

- Nick Drake

sometimes all a girl needs is a good pep talk

The Wise

I started looking for quotes from Gandhi after watching the amazing film Water. Gandhi's wisdom and influence are felt throughout the film in the beliefs and actions of a particular character, but it is not till the final scene where we finally see Gandhi in person for a brief moment and hear the sheer brilliance from his lips (well, and read it in English subtitles). Inspired by this film, I started searching for quotes by Gandhi, then President Hinckley, and finally, and especially poignant, a quote I've been paraphrasing for a good week now.

Please contribute your favorite(s). Here's what I found and liked:

Mahatma Gandhi

• "My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from god as my successes and my talents, and I lay them both at his feet."
• "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
• "Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is is very important that you do it."
• "You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."

President Gordon B. Hinckley

• “This is my prayer for all of us—'Lord, increase our faith.' Increase our faith to bridge the chasms of uncertainty and doubt. . . . Grant us faith to look beyond the problems of the moment to the miracles of the future. . . . Give us faith to do what is right and let the consequence follow.” ( “Lord, Increase Our Faith,” Ensign, Nov. 1987, 52–53.)
• "God is weaving his tapestry according to his own grand design. All flesh is in his hands. It is not our prerogative to counsel him. It is our responsibility and our opportunity to be at peace in our minds and in our hearts, and to know that he is God, that this is his work, and that he will not permit it to fail." (“He Slumbers Not, nor Sleeps,” Ensign, May 1983, 5)
• "No man's faith, no man's religion, no religion in all the world can ever rise above the truth." ("Continuing Pursuit of Truth," BYU-Hawaii Commencement, 6/18/83)
• “There is no substitute for virtue. Keep your thoughts virtuous. Rise above the filth that’s all around you in this world and stand tall in strength and virtue. You can do this, and you will be happier for it for as long as you live. God bless you in cherishing, developing, and holding on to this great gift, the quality of personal virtue." (Mission meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, 18 December 1995)
• "Be grateful. Be smart. Be clean. Be true. Be humble. Be prayerful."
• “A Prophet’s Counsel and Prayer for Youth,” New Era, Jan. 2001
• "Let us all try to stand a little taller, rise a little higher, be a little better. Make the extra effort. You will be happier."(“The Quest for Excellence,” Ensign, Sept. 1999)

President Thomas S. Monson

• “Men, take care not to make women weep, for God counts their tears.” (“That We May Touch Heaven,” Ensign, Nov. 1990, 47)

Nice Notes and Promises

I was looking through some things I've collected over the past few months, and I found this. What a pal! Maybe I'll take him up on the offer.

At Hillery's birthday party, after a good few wackings of the pinata and a few opened promises this was unwrapped. Oh dear me.

Said by J.E.C.

"Any mail?" J.E.C.
"Not much," me.
"No mail; no boyfriend," J.E.C.

it's cool, it's cool to love your family

It's funny how often it is and has been necessary for me to listen to this song. Brainwashing me a little bit anytime I'm feeling the complete opposite.

diving

more Gershwin, please.

post-finals

The post-finals nightmares have begun again.

i'm thinking

my life needs a few more photos. That's a summer goal: more photo taking.

troubled to troublesome

In light of recent events at Virginia-Tech, the media has been covering a huge range of topics dealing directly or indirectly with Cho Seung-Hui. Roommates have come forth, bringing stories of a 23-year old who was difficult to relate to, who received tutoring in English and his writing displayed hate-induced threats to an abusive father; the police received complaints about his harassing girls via instant messaging, the telephone, and in person; he was admitted to a mental hospital in 2005 because he seemed at risk for suicide. All of these behaviors meet the criteria, the checklist, if you will, for a criminal, for a depressed person who becomes a killer, taking his own life and at least 31 others students' lives. To explain just how a 23 year-old man from South Korea could commit such a heinous crime, criminologist Jack Levin from Northwestern University explained how he met the criteria, but that many adolescents and young adults meet the criteria. He concluded by saying something that should be heard by all,

There is one thing that I think is very important to emphasize. We should be caring about people who are troubled long before they become troublesome. We should reach out to people not to punish them, but to give them our concern, our caring, and then we might even prevent a murderer too in the process.
-Jack Levin (April 17, 2007)
How Disturbed People Become Killers (CNN)

Let us not be consumed by the media, by speculation, by unimportant sidenotes; let us move forward and reach out to others, as Jack Levin suggests.

I'm sorry, so sorry, so terribly, terribly sorry

But Doctor Dictionary has been really good, when I check it.

Today's word:

spoonerism \SPOO-nuh-riz-uhm\: the transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words. (I became dyslexic just trying to write that)

Ex: The Lord is a shoving leopard ("loving shepherd").

Guilty!

Doctor Dictionary

provided such a great word for the word of today!

abecedarian \ay-bee-see-DAIR-ee-uhn\ noun
1. A person who is learning the letters of the alphabet
2. One engaged in teaching the alphabet
3. Pertaining to the letters of the alphabet
4. Arranged alphabetically
5. Rudimentary; elementary

creep!

I don't care if you're wearing sunglasses. I can still see that you're staring at me.

see it in color

(Thanks Dre - stolen!)

so excited

throat

"Uh oh, my throat is starting to hurt," me.
"Have you been kissing boys?" Evie.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

titles

My most brilliant thoughts come at night, when I rotate positions in my little bed every five seconds, when the sounds on the road once muted are now sounds in my ears, when thoughts are swimming in my head and I'm turning them over and over in completely illogical succession. The house is silent; no one is about in the house, moving chairs, laughing loudly at nextdoor neighbors, or playing video games at ridiculous volumes, because daylight savings didn't affect others the way it did me (and we don't have an extra guitar anymore for Guitar Hero - thank you, Coby). I jolt. These are my thoughts.

Why oh why do we pronounce:

• Mr. = miss-ter
  
• Mrs. = mizzes, so why the 'r'?
• Ms. (my favorite, it clouds the singularity), mizz
• Miss = this one is easy

Think about that one for a minute.

Or

This is what my research tells me (thanks wikipedia)

• Mr. = abbreviation for 'mister,' though the original form is seldom used. Mr. is a term for an older man under the rank of knight who can no longer be called master. The plural form is Messrs - shortened for messieurs (the French form).
  
• Mrs., Ms., Miss = all variants of mistress (French word, again).
  
• Mrs. is now used exclusively for married women. But it once was a title for women who did not qualify for 'dame' or 'lady.'
• Ms. is an ambiguous term, well in terms of marriage. It's pretty clear that she's a woman if she's using Ms. (at least we hope).
  
• Miss indicates that a woman is not married; she is not entitled to a higher title (ha!

So if this interests you at all, there's a plethora of information on wikipedia (and I'm sure a number of other sources).

elephant

This makes me giggle.

spring fever!

jokes are

so much funnier when you get them. Even if it is 7 months later.

Think: tennis balls, John McEnroe, Park City, Sundance, Brokeback Mountain

this is my weakness

Every year these little morsels of delight make an appearance on the shelves my local grocery store, and what can I do? Nothing. I am a victim to their charm, good looks, and smoooooth coercison. Mmmm.

deep smit

Mike Meyers said it best: "I'm smitten. I'm in deep smit."

I don't think

I'll ever get over this.

Especially since Hillery put it all over my desktop.

I get confused

by words like:

• broach

• encroach

• approach

• reproach

and when to use them. Forgive me if I commit such as crime as to misuse them.

Wake Up!

I set my alarm for 7:00AM every weekday for 8AM work or class. My clock is set 10 minutes faster than the real time, so in actuality it goes off at 6:50AM. I do this not to annoy Heidi, although she might think so, but I do it as a little trick to myself. Look at me, I can sleep 40 minutes longer if I like. So I do, in nine minute increments at which point I'm forced to remember to hit the snooze button in my lethargic state.

This morning, the static/classical music radio alarm started going off at some ridiculous hour as Heidi had high-hopes of waking early and studying Arabic. Her actually waking up to do so really only lasted for the first week of school. The three of us that occupied the room the past 6 hours were wriggling and complaining about the alarm.

Back to sleep.

"Heather, turn off your alarm!" Heidi moans.

Back to sleep.

Fur Elise begins sounding from my cellular phone, next to my bed. "Why is she calling at 7AM?" I don't answer.

The Royal Tenenbaum opening theme song (for lack of the official name), begins sounding from Hillery's blue, "toy" phone. "Don't call me for at least an hour!" she says. I can hear my mom yelling, "Well you can just walk home!"

I close my eyes.

Heidi's phone is vibrating loudly. "No, mom. I'm not coming into the office today. I have hour of homework and I'm working at the MPS."

7:20, Fur Elise again. "Mom, I have work and class. I can not pick up your coat from the cleaners till after those things." pause. "No, not before work."

Hillery is buried in her nest of a make-shift bed on the floor, blankets covering the floor and also covering her head. Heidi accidentally kicks her on her way to the bathroom. "Ow!" "I'm so, so, sorry!" she says to Hillery. "I kicked her head," she whispers to me.

Ok. I'm up.

Grocery Shopping

When my dad goes grocery shopping, what he piles onto the counter from his Day's Market run goes something like this:
1. Tomatoes ("I got those tomatoes you asked for.")
2. Spinach
3. About 3 Yoplait yogurts
4. 3 boxes of butter
5. 2 containers of gummy o's - peach and apple flavored ("I thought you might like these." My mom shakes her head.)
6. 4 liters of Soda
7. Berries ("Those are expensive," my mom says.)

"I didn't get very much, just a few things to put in your salad. They were on sale."
"Yeah I'm sure they were really cheap," my mother retorts.

"These were like 69 cents a pound!" my dad says, pulling out a bag of about 20 tomatoes.

5 minutes later
"These were like 69 cents a pound!" he says as he pulls out a bag of 15 apples.

I love

Feist. New album, what what? and sample of a new song. myspace/feist

I Would Recommend

A few songs in the likeness (sort of) of the Beatles:
Of Montreal - City Bird
The Magic Numbers - This Love
Franz Ferdinand - Eleanor Put Your Boots On
Of Montreal - Miss Blonde, Your Papa Is Failing
Elliott Smith - Color Bars

Please, contribute! I'm working on a playlist.

-isms

"What is it that I actually put into a digital camera and the photos are stored?" Dr. Crandall
"A memory card," I respond.
"Oh..." and he walks off, wiggling his fingers, baffled by this bit of information.

local shows

I might be done with most local shows for a long time. The glitter isn't there anymore, just a bunch of high schoolers wearing chest-baring V-neck t-shirts, skinny jeans, leggings, and ugly boots. I have no desire to spend $5 every time I want to be sociable.

why is it

That everytime you mention to a guy that you might be going on a mission they get taken aback. You can see them physically jolt. Any reason?

The Most Important Artists & Albums of My College Life/Or Life in General

Nate Barnes, after having mega-death rock or something of the like on his facebook profile, began updating his Music list with albums that have had a major influence on him. He inspired this blog.

The Most Important Artists & Albums of My College Life/Or Life in General (in no particular order)

1. Coldplay - Parachutes, Rush of Blood to the Head

2. Feist - Let It Die, Monarch

3. Doves - Some Cities, Lost Souls, The Last Broadcast

4. Spoon - Gimme Fiction

5. Aqualung - Strange & Beautiful

6. Aimee Mann - Lost in Space

7. Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene

8. Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism, The Photo Album, We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes, Plans (though I somewhat regret to say so)

9. Dido - No Angel, Life for Rent

10. Elbow - Leaders of the Free World, Asleep in the Back

11. The Postal Service - Give Up

12. Radiohead - Ok Computer, The Bends

13. Stars - heart, Set Yourself On Fire (a good chunk of it)

14. Sufjan Stevens - Come On, Feel the Illinoise!

15. Of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins

16. Youth Group - Skeleton Jar

17. Magnet - On Your Side, The Tourniquet

18. Kings of Convenience - Riot On An Empty Street, Quiet is the New Loud

19. Sigur Ros - ( )

20. The Arcade Fire - Funeral

21. Band of Horses - Everything All The Time

22. Beck - Odelay, Guero, The Information

Tell me your favorite albums and why you like them or why they're important to you.

everyday

everyday feels like sunday, baby. everydady feels so good.

West Indian Girl

I think this band might like drugs. Their name is the same as a type of acid that was popular in the 1960s. These are their song titles on their self titled album from 2004

1. Trip
2. What Are You Afraid Of
3. Hollywood
4. Miles From Monterey
5. Dream
6. Northern Sky
7. Visions
8. Still Lost
9. Leave Tonight
10. Green
11. Lay Down

But the music is fantastic. Give it a listen.

Happy Youth Group Album Release Date

think I'm in love

but it makes me kind of nervous to say so.

mysterious samurai

something out of a comic book.

it's much too cold

when your snot is freezing on your way up to campus.

just say no

i am a man

the chupacabra says:
are you a man or a monkey?
heathen says:
debatable
heathen says:
what do you think?
the chupacabra says:
give me three for the argument and three against, and i will reckon and reason, and tell you the judgement
heathen says:
1. I like human beings. None of this monkey-attraction business.
2. I can't do sign language.
3. My nose and mouth are not combined into one mound.
-----------------------------------------------------------
For:
1. My ears are somewhat detached from my head.
2. I'd like to learn sign language.
3. I do think monkeys are cute.
the chupacabra says:
number one from the against list and number 3 from the for list cancel eachother out
liking to learn is overpowered by not being able to learn
so you are up one on the against
heathen says:
hm
the chupacabra says:
your mouth and nose are un-monkey like, while your ears are quite monkey like
so overall, you are a man.

trash bin

If you were to examine the contents of my trash bin at work you would find the following:

1. Kleenex - in an abundance too! Blast holiday/wintertime/recurring colds and possibly bronchitis.
2. The World's Best Chocolates' Wrappers - yes'm, my mother bought an entire container of these delicious chocolates from all over the world from Costco. So good.
3. Remnants of out-dated or uninteresting lists of things that I make at work on 1/4 size sheets of paper in hot pink, dirty-sky blue, and white.
4. Part four of throwing away the remnants of a salad Amy's mom brought her at 10:30am which she could not eat then because it was too early to eat a salad. Thus, she put the salad on top of the hard drive tower for later; though later came the next day when I discovered the Wendy's salad had rotted overnight. (In the trash is only the bags the salad came in, thank goodness)
   
5. Oh and strands of hair that I apparently shed in every possible location.
   

Aren't you glad you don't have to find these items years later and wonder who this person was, what they did, why they were eating all of this stuff, and when? It's all catalogued on blogger.com. Ha, ha you lucky archaeologists!

in transit

1. An OK Ikumi Song
2. Everyone I know (including myself)
3. The package that is supposed to arrive with Christmas presents

this deserves a post all of its own

PS Listen to Sufjan Stevens' - "Holy, Holy, Holy" and "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" in the Christmas EP Set

does anybody else extremely dislike

the new ads on websites that blowup when you accidentally run your cursor over them or that make ridiculously loud dance music? Advertising has hit a new low.

walks to campus

It's amazing who you might meet.

Nice Guys Don't Finish Last

"There is a widely held stereotype that, in the interpersonal attraction sweepstakes, 'nice guys finish last' with women. Supposedly, women want a man who will take charge and be dominant; they are less interested in someone who is kind, caring, and gentle. According to one group of researchers, nothing could be further from the truth. In three successive studies, they found that men who expressed altruism or who were described as considerate, cooperative, kind, and sympathetic were rated by weomen as more physically and sexually attractive, socially desirable, and desirable as dates than were men who appeared less caring or agreeable. By contrast, men's dominance alone did not affect women's attraction to them, although dominance did interact with men's prosocial qualities to increase attraction under some conditions (p432 Hilary M. Lips - Sex & Gender: An Introduction 5th ed)."

oh look, double blog. happy days are here again!

As an ode to the last day of class being over, here's a list of things I like:

• Friends (new and old; returning, staying, and leaving)
• Caitie is back! She's got me snapping again, and Amy and me back to our usual routine.
• Rachel VanWagoner- distant relative and smoothie friend. Good times in the past week, but leaving soon :(

• My family- goodness, I like my family.

• My mother brings me a plastic bag full of oranges, clementines, cookies, rice pudding, and echinachea, now she's talking about a family orchestra for Christmas and singing hymns before every meal. She bought Heidi a new clarinet- an instrument she hasn't touched since she was 13- for the family orchestra so Heidi can't say she doesn't have anything to play.
• My dad- "Well, she can't take it back now." regarding the Clarinet.Heidi- "This is a Christmas surprise like finding out I have cancer!"

------------------------------------------------------------------

• I have seen Scott, Amy-sister-in-law, and baby Abby more often than I probably deserve, and I think they're fantastic and oh so cute. Abby is massive and growing like crazy. She's wearing 12 month clothing at 8 months, and she smiles like heaven.
• Sisters- we're essentially the same person in a little bit of an altered form
• Heidi, the uber chic, wears earrings that look like pasta
• Hillery, the uber grandma, vintage, crazy-thing

• Little-boy-Ben who's not so little anymore, picks up Hillery and me in Heidi's car, though he's ridiculously sick and takes us to Jamba Juice even though he doesn't want anything. That boy is a speed demon.
• Extended family- ridiculously quirky but darling and know how to play some mad games.

• Foreign films and Film Series- man, I'm getting giddy just thinking of all the ones I get to watch this break.
• The new house- I'm planning all sorts of parties and festivities.
• New Years Eve: Scott's birthday and Great Gatsby/1920s/ PLUS Dance Party

• All the gifts that will be coming in the mail to distribute (or that won't because a ton of them aren't coming till after Christmas).
• New winter coat (but it's for Christmas, so I have no knowledge of it- except that I paid for half of it.)
• Christmas- even though I feel like I've lost the glimmer and glam and sometimes even the whole spirit of it, Thanksgiving was fantastic. What a lovely break. I plan on making this holiday just as grand. Thank goodness for family and even family craziness. It wouldn't be a holiday without some huge fight, makeup, then playing games.
• Reading and not feeling guilty about it (ie realizing I should be doing homework).
• Music I like (Christmas- only the good stuff, and otherwise- Neko Case is so hot right now).
• Two and a half weeks of playing (and a little working!)
  

how many quotes can we get from his mouth?

"If I'd stared at her face a little earlier in the semester I'd be macking on her after class today," guy in qotd and pointers to a friend of mine.

quote of the day

"I like when you wear blue jeans because they match your blue eyes," guy addressed in Pointers.

one thing I do like

Space Age Songs:
Beck - Soldier Jane (The Information)
Radiohead - Subterranean Homesick Alien (Ok Computer)
Beck - Movie Theme (The Information)
Earth Then Titan - Alvin
Aimee Mann - Today's the Day (Lost in Space)

In fact, a lot of the new Beck album sounds like Space, which I think is cool.

And I'm not quite sure what this is, but I stumbled upon it in my search for a space age picture. It seems like it might cool: Space Age Pop a go-go

If you have an wonderful suggestions (or even mediocre) for cool spaceage songs, please... leave one.

it turns out

that bad posture might be good posture.

Slouching

aren't you glad

when the stars align for someone else. And that someone happens to be someone whose phone calls you've been avoiding.

milk

I am by no means a guitar player. But I've been messing around with Andrea's, and I started plucking out this song on Sunday that I could not identify. Despite my questions to roommates, I came no closer to finding out what it was. I assumed I would forget the song, but yesterday when I picked up the guitar it came out again.

And, I remembered what it was. So now I can play this song along to my stereo.

Kings of Leon - Milk

thinking, acting. whoops.

Checking facebook at 8:10 this morning I reviewed the past day/night's activities on stalker-feed. Two of my guy friends had just added a guy I'd met over the weekend. One with whom I had an extensive conversation about music. I quickly clicked on his profile, scrolled to his music taste to see if what he had told me was true. Listed were bands I considered good: The White Stripes, Muse, Gosling (eh, don't know them), the Sounds, Gnarls Barkley. Nothing like the Panic! At the Disco and My Chemical Romance that this same boy had claimed he liked before. I automatically clicked on, send message. "Lies!" I wrote and sent immediately. A thought at the back of my mind surfaced, maybe this was not the very same guy I met on Saturday night that accused me of being a neo-Goth for my music taste. But I promptly shoved it back down.

Your message was sent, highlighted in yellow. I was a little thrilled with myself for making a quick decision, but decided to examine his profile nonetheless. Clicking on the link to his pictures I scrolled through each. A familiar face entered them. The same girl whose profile I visited once or twice on myspace when my ex-boyfriend told me his girl-woes. This guy was the ex-boyfriend of my ex-boyfriend's current love interest, not the same guy I "agreed to disagree with" for a few hours and throughout Oliver Twist. Return to send message: "Whoops! Scratch that."

There's something to that thinking before you act. Or looking at facebook photos before you send people messages.