Aha Moment

Today I recognized for the first time that Bob Dylan sings backup vocals on one of my favorite U2 songs, Love Rescue Me.

(lyrics to Love Rescue Me)

Something WICKED this way comes

Today I had the opportunity to see several of the costumes from the Broadway musical "Wicked" on display at the City Creek Mall in downtown Salt Lake. To say that I am in love with Elphaba's dress would be a complete understatement! (Seriously though, check out those ruffles!) 

Every Little Bit Counts

So far I've helped with the indexing of 21 States! I had hoped to help on all 50, but I missed out on a few states that were already finished (but 21 out of the first 25 isn't too bad!) I've been indexing mostly for fun so I wasn't keeping track of what I'd done until today when I got an email showing my "Accomplishments"! It's kind of fun to see how many states I've helped on!

Inspiration

The other day I was inspired by something as simple as a notebook.

It’s simple really, made of recycled paper and banana fibers. I was drawn to it (and his two sisters) by the fun birds on the front (two of them have owls on them, and I’ve a minor obsession with owls these days). When I saw them at the store I had to have them, so now they are mine.

I grabbed one the other night to take notes on at a Relief Society meeting about finances and though I hesitated a little at the thought of starting yet another notebook of notes I’ll probably never look at again, I thought what the heck and I cracked the cover and started taking notes. We were about halfway through the presentation when my mind wandered a bit and I started to contemplate the inky colored fleck throughout the pages of this recycled notebook and began wondering what this notebook had been before…

Had it in fact been someone else’s notebook where he or she jotted down brilliant thoughts and crazy ideas. As I chewed on that thought this very cool notebook became something more – perhaps a little like Tom Riddle’s diary, only far less nefarious (hopefully). What secrets might these recycled pages hold and what might I be able to offer to these not-so-empty pages?

There’s just something about adding ink to a blank page that makes me feel a little freer --- I don’t know how to explain it and the wonderful thing about writing is that I’m not obligated to explain it to anyone!

What inspires you?

Is it looking at beautiful wedding photographs taken by someone else’s camera? Is it reading poetry that you could only pretend to have written? Is it picking up a piece of sidewalk chalk and just letting yourself go? Is it watching your nieces and nephews grow into remarkable people? Is it discovering an ancestor you never knew you had? What is it?

25 Things --

this has been kicking around awhile, but i finally found the inspiration this morning thanks to an old friend...she had this posted on her "about me" portion of her website...i have obviously changed her responses to mine. i found it so much easier to have a starting point, i had a hard time coming up with 25 things about myself, then there are those who are already up to 50! here goes, in no particular order...

I AM in love with the idea of being in love. Not just the silly boyfriend/girlfriend type love, but the deep romantic, worthy of a Jane Austin novel type love.

I WANT to wake up one morning and realize I don’t have to get up and go to work ever again.

I HAVE a cat that sleeps on my bed every night, a best friend who loves me no matter how crazy I get and a family that loves me (at least I think they do).

I KEEP just about everything: Sand from beaches I’ve been to, crayon drawings from my nieces and nephews, stuffed animals from my childhood, fortune cookie fortunes, favorite clothes that don’t fit anymore...

I WISH I COULD paint like VanGogh.

I HATE making decisions especially about what to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I FEAR that some of my perceptions of reality have been clouded by the number of movies and television programs I’ve seen (take bowling for example, I’ve seen it on TV dozens of times, therefore because of the time spent watching other people bowl I should be able to do it without any help).

I HEAR that the Pineapple whips at Disneyland are “to die for” but I’ve never had one.

I DON’T THINK people “get” me.

I REGRET that I don’t write in my journal like I should, that I sold my VW Beetle and that I didn’t get a stamp in my passport when I went to France.

I LOVE rainstorms, butterflies, chocolate cake, Scottish accents, napping in the sunshine, baking cinnamon rolls, gum, men's eyelashes and sleeping babies.

I AM NOT the shy person people tend to think of me as being. It takes a while for me to warm up to people—most of them are surprised to discover I’m a rather witty and delightful person.

I DANCE when no one is watching. Mostly in the kitchen, usually to Norah Jones, Michael Bublé, or some random 80’s super hit.

I SING rather well actually, but I only do it around the house or in the car. I get self conscious with an audience. I love singing along with Wicked, Little Women and Aida at the moment.

I NEVER remember nephew #1’s birthday is it on the 3rd or on the 6th?

I RARELY enjoy eating seafood, unless it’s that delicious sea bass I had at Chez Diego on the seashore in France.

I CRY WHEN I WATCH just about anything. Spirit : Stallion of the Cimarron, Eight Below, (any movie with any animal in it), LOST, Any movie where there’s a happy ending, a romantic storyline, you name it I probably cried at some point while watching it.

I AM NOT ALWAYS the nicest person. As they say in the South sometimes I can be downright “ugly” – have you seen me on a Saturday morning before 9:00am?

I HATE THAT school takes up so much of my life. There are so many other things I’d rather be doing--Like photography or even just breathing normally would be nice.

I’M CONFUSED ABOUT the whole dating thing. I’ve been told that I give off “negative dating signs.” I don’t know what that means.

I NEED to take bowling lessons. I love bowling, but I’ve seen 5 year olds who bowl better than I do.

I SHOULD visit my grandmother more often, call my sisters once in a while and eat more vegetables.

I THINK LL Cool J is completely adorable. (Have you seen Last Holiday?)

I KNOW I am an emotional eater. When I'm frustrated or stressed all I want is chocolate cake, when I'm depressed, eating is my last priority.

I BELIEVE that one day everything will make perfect sense.

Did You Know...?

Lisa Loeb Loves Libraries.

http://www.pio.ala.org/visibility/?p=158

And who doesn't love Lisa Loeb?

No Earthquake For Me

Apparently there was an earthquake this morning at 7:16am. It registered a 6.0 on the scale, but I didn't feel it.

if the scientist part of you want some useless facts about the earthquake try this link:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/us2008nsa9.php

Now That's BIG

This post was inspired by an article I read in the local paper. One of the sections has unique things in different states--this week's entry for Idaho was The Dog Bark Park Inn located in Cottonwood, Idaho. A quaint little B&B (bed & breakfast, for those not up with the lingo) that is shaped like a beagle, yes a beagle.

The giant beagle got me thinking of a postcard my sister had on her fridge last year of a building shaped like a basket...so for my google search of the day I looked up Basket shaped building and found this on a website dedicate to BIG things: The World's Largest Basket Building (TM).

There are a lot of other crazy BIG things on this website as well...you should check it out if you're looking for BIG fun. The Big List of What's Large Where. Said list even includes the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota of Weird Al fame, yes, the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota.

(Unfortunately some of the links don't work any longer, but it's still an amusing way to waste some time.)

just so's you's knows

I've created a new blog for my pictures. Anyone interested can look. It's a little sparse right now, but more will come, i promise.

See "it's worth a shot" on the sidebar.

Me and the Wii

My oldest brother and his wife acquired a Wii earlier this year (by earlier I mean, in November) It was a birthday present to my sister in law. Since its adoption I have had a couple of opportunities to play with it. And I have to say it's REALLY fun!

Last night, as we gathered together as a partial family to celebrate Christmas, I say partial because my second brother and my third sister live out of state and couldn't with us for the holidays--I can't blame them though, even buying gas to drive the less than 20 miles to visit for me can be a nightmare, out came the Wii.

I was early and as we waited for mom and dad to arrive I picked up the controllers and started boxing, taking on any and all competitors. I must admit that I had been longing to try out the Wii Boxing ever since the Christmas episode of Psych where Lassiter was playing it with Juliette's nephews. I can't remember who my first victim was, but let's just say I took down every competitor I had...and about had a heart attack in the process (kudos to the guy who decided it would be cool to get a cardio workout and play video games at the same time. :) I had so much fun--and I think I scared my family in the process. As I was riveted to the screen boxing my heart out (and my arms off) the competitive, aggressive side of myself started to show--most of my family had never seen this side of me before--as I have a certain image to maintain.

Things were going great and I was undefeated until Karl came along. (Before you get any ideas, no Karl is not my boyfriend, nor is Karl even a boy (I don't think--it's hard to tell). Karl is a very odd looking person with the hair of a woman and a beard. Karl has eyebrows so high up on his head that he looks like some sort of weird insect and his blue eyeshadow is a sight to behold). In the world of Wii -- every player gets to create a virtual doppelganger of themselves called a "Mii" to make the game more personal, i guess. Most people try to make their Mii resemble themselves as best they can but such is not the case with Karl. Karl is the alter ego of a 6-year old girl with a very funny imagination, who we'll call Marley, because it rhymes with her real name. :) Marley has more fun changing her Wii character than playing the games sometimes...in Karl's first incarnation I swear she spent 30 minutes getting him just perfect...but that's another story.

To make a long story short my reign of terror came to an end as Marley's creation Karl kicked my butt at boxing. I can't even say I took it easy on her because she's a little kid. She totally kicked my butt--it's a little humiliating getting beat by a six year old...but I'll get over it and I will beat her next time the Wii comes out to play. :)

"Magic Legs" and other lessons

In my opinion Forrest Gump is one of those movies that if you've seen it once, you never need to see if again. however there are a few memorable lines that have remained in the recesses of my mind, for example when Gary Sinese's character Lt. Dan has to have his legs amputated and get fake legs Forrest says to him something like "Lieutenant Dan, you've got magic legs."

With that segway -- I heard the funniest thing this week: This is one of those mental picture things, but it's priceless. My brother-in-law (whom we like to call Brother John) works with a guy, who has "magic legs", we'll call this guy Lt. Dan. Lt. Dan apparently owns several pair of fake legs...five to be exact.

Interestingly enough each pair is a different length (ranging from five-ten to six-ten in height). so Lt. Dan can wake up each morning and choose how tall he wants to be that day. Imagine the thoughts in Lt. Dan's brain....Hmmm...Today I need to change the lightbulbs at work, better wear the tall legs or "I've got to work in the crawl space today-looks like a short leg day." Just imagine the fun one could have with five pair of legs!

In Other news, I've learned a couple of things this week that will help in later life:

#1 - If a kitten shows up on your doorstep, just ignore it, no matter how cute it is otherwise you will have to become its mother. Case in Point: a fluffy brownish-gray tabby shows up on the doorstep mewing, The door was opened and we were instantly snookered by the tiny mewing creature. There was no way out--so now Millie sleeps in our extra laundry basket and bites our toes as she welcomes us home each night.

Which leads me to wonder...why is it so easy to pretend a salesman is not at your door when it is impossible to ignore the mewing of a small kitty?

#2 - You cannot use a verb to write a sentence (in any language) if you don't know what that verb means. Case in Point: I was less than prepared for the bi-weekly Spanish test and was faced with the challenge of writing a sentence using the verb "poder" (pronounced: poe-dare). Entirely unsure of the definition (which was later found to be "to be able to) I improvised--it'll probably cost me 2 points, but a the time I had no clue.

Guys on Bikes

Like many I am an observer of the world around me. I like to look at the people while I'm riding (or driving) in my car. For instance, the past couple of days I've noticed this older guy riding a motorcycle--now whether he's coming or going I'm not sure--but he's unique in his own little way.

For one, he wears a helmet (please note: there are a lot of guys on motorcycles that don't do this). But his helmet is cool. It's one of those half helmets that looks like a military helmet, only his is black with silver flames on it...it's a pretty sweet helmet. Secondly, he's wearing cowboy boots...not biker boots...plain old cowboy boots. And to top it all off he's dressed in slacks and a button-down.

It makes me happy to see this guy with his unique style living his life. You kinda have to wonder if he knows he's making people happy just by being himself.