the politics of life

I am officially sick of politics. Luckily most of the drama will be over shortly…well, for now. I read a lot about the issues and different people’s opinions, and frankly I’m frustrated. I hate the judgments. I hate the generalizations. I hate that people turn against one another.

Everyone has their own reasons to support whomever they want to support. Some are more openly passionate than others, but that in no way means someone makes a decision lightly, uneducated, or without much thought. Granted, yes there are some people who may do this but ultimately something, somewhere, at some point in their life has shaped what their decision is. Whether that decision changes based on circumstances, whether they are open to re-evaluating…well that’s their decision and criticizing, name calling, and any type of demeaning them and their decision is low and unnecessary. Make your own decisions, support it when you can, answer questions, and be open to nonjudgmental, educational and civilized types of conversation and discussion. If someone cannot accept that others don’t completely agree with him or her, how can they not be described as egotistical, closed-minded, or even prehistoric?

Cultivating new ideas is how we improve and how advancement in our society comes. I’m not saying new ideas are always the best thing, but if we don’t learn to think outside the box and encourage exploration of thought, we would never get anywhere. Don’t disrespect ideas. In my life I’ve found that the best educational opportunities are those where you can sit down and try to understand a different point of view and likewise help someone else try to understand yours. Whether for religion, politics, or even relationships, both sides will likely come out better. You don’t have to agree with each other, but I think respect is essential.

I’m frustrated that people will automatically make assumptions about someone’s decision without recognizing that that person has probably personally weighed the pros and cons and decided based on the things they personally deem most important. Maybe I’m stretching here, but I don’t think its unreasonable in the political world to assume people recognize that things might not be 100 percent perfect, or that a candidate might not have 100 percent of the “perfect” political history and beliefs. Even when people share the same beliefs and values, they may rank importance and evaluate outcomes differently. We live in an imperfect world—take it or leave it.

In the LDS context, oh how sick I am of people saying you can’t be a good member of the church if you support this candidate or that candidate. How sick I am of the degrading comments that someone “knows nothing about anything,” that the young people are jumping on a trendy bandwagon they will later regret, that one decision will ultimately lead to 4 years of doom and destruction.

Make a decision for the right reasons for you personally. Respect that others may agree or disagree.

costumes costumes costumes

It's Halloween Eve and I'm scrambling...I have no costume and am facing some awkward peer pressure to dress up at work tomorrow. I haven't really thought about a costume at all because I didn't even think about dressing up this year. But alas, here it is the night before and I shoould have something but I don't.

So I'm sitting on the floor in front of my closet. Hoping that if I stare long enough, something will pop out at me and I will know what to wear tomorrow. So far nothings happened.

In the meantime, I think of some of my costumes from past years...maybe I can pull a repeat right? Unfortunately anything simple and easy isn't coming. Anything I might have been able to pull off a while ago requires some prominent article of clothing that I no longer have.

I do remember some of my favorite costumes and ideas. Interestingly enough, those costumes were never for me!! Somehow...who knows...I always got pulled into creating the perfect costume for my little sister. So I'd spend weeks on end (ok ok it was probably just a couple days) mastering the perfect costume....only to see it on my sister on the night of nights.

The best one probably has to be the wizard. This is simply because I was able to use it a few times in the next couple years. So my hard work eventually paid of for myself. This costume was made entirely out of purple felt. I made this cool, jaggedy skirt, an awesome cape with a bit of silver lining and glued (or somehow stuck) shiny starts all over it, and I ashioned a tall pointy hat and also covered it with the purple felt and silver stars. We found some great tights for her to wear and Susie was set that year. I made good use of the costume for a Halloween or two plus it was great to use for spirit week at Riverton High School (purple, black and silver baby!!)

The next best was the skunk! I don't think I ever repeated this myself but it was a great costume for Susie. We dressed her all in black. I got some white fuzzy fabric and created a stripe down her back. Then I used a bunch of black material (this also had a white stripe down it) to create a tube-like tail which we stuffed with old newspapers so it was sticking out. It really is unfortunate that I don't still have boxes full of unused fabric at my disposal.

OK...I'm back to staring at my closet.

a little too early...

I know, I know…it is way too early to be listening to Christmas music. And it doesn’t make it any better that I started listening at the beginning of this month. HALLOWEEN was still a month away. ACK!

I don’t usually do this, but I just randomly started craving some Christmas tunes. In fact, right now I’m listening to The Christmas Song by Michael Buble. For some reason I’m just really excited for the holidays this year. I’m not sure why though…everything is gonna be completely different this year but that’s OK. I’m really excited for what it will be. Right now I’m not planning on going back to Virginia but will probably go to Christy’s in Ogden. So I will get to play with my nephews! And holidays are so much more fun for little kids so that will be exciting.

Anyways, my one justification (the only one I can possibly have) for my early music listening, is to find the BEST Christmas music so that when the time comes that I can more regularly and more openly listen to it, I will have the best selection around! I also will probably send Susie a Christmas mix since she will be in Spain all by herself. So I need to get that ready relatively soon.

So let me know if you have any great holiday music suggestions. There are so many out there sung by so many different people. I’m also trying to find some holiday stuff by unknown artists so that’d be cool too.

The songs I’ve been listening to:
(These have players so you can listen if you wish!)

Taylor Swift’s Sounds of the Season
My ABSOLUTE favorite is her version of Silent Night. I actually don’t like the regular version of this song much. I think the melody is boring and you are forced to sing it way too often. So this song mixes it up a little and makes this probably my current No. 1 Christmas song.



Michael Buble’s Let it Snow
I’m only just starting listening to this, but it’s Michael Buble—the perfect voice for some of our classic Christmas songs.



N’Sync’s Home for Christmas
For years, I’ve always heard how great their Christmas CD is. There are a few good ones but I’m realizing that I’m actually not entirely impressed.



Jars of Clay: Drummer Boy
Barenaked Ladies: Jingle Bells
Death Cab for Cutie: Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Mariah Carey: All I Want For Christmas is You
Matt Wertz: What Child Is This
Hem: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

My Heroes Post...

"Who would have thought little **(name) would grow up to change the world? When he was a kid, his dad gave him a pocket watch. ** liked the watch, but he didn't use it to learn about telling time—he used it to learn about how watches work inside. Soon, ** was taking watches apart left and right. Friends and neighbors gave him their watches to take apart and put back together and soon ** had a fair reputation as a watch repairman."

If you are a Heroes watcher and thought that paragraph was talking about Sylar, the show's villian, well, you'd be wrong. But I definitely recognized the connection the first time I read it. Instead, the paragraph is actually about Henry Ford. I thought that was interesting.... (And yes, this is me bringing my work into my blog with me.) Who knows, had Sylar not become evil with all his powers and what not, maybe he would in all actuality be the next Henry Ford...except this time with flying cars and other ideas and processes that dramatically influence the generations to come. Or maybe that's where the writer's are heading...

After all, anyone who's watching the current season was probably baffled when the writer's started spinning Sylar as a good guy. Can he ever really leave his history of the past two seasons behind? But maybe they are really just trying to create some room for Sylar to "grow up to change the world" but in a good, not villian, type of way.

Speaking of random thing's going on in Heroes...well this season has kinda been disappointing. Some friends and I get together every Monday evening, after recording the show, to watch. And until last week, I have to say I was kinda hating the show and secretly counting down the days until Lost comes back on. Now that would be worth my time!

But last week did make me like it some more. But still, the show is having problems. I read this article today, "Heroes Need Help," by Scott D. Pierce at the Deseret News. He talks about the season too and notes some major flaws.

"I'm hesitant to nitpick. But specific problems with Season 3 speak to larger issues.

Hiro and Ando have become buffoons. Mohinder's transformation into a spider-like man is dumb. Parkman's vision quest — and his turtle — are booooooring.

Trying to turn Sylar from villain into hero can't work. The guy killed dozens of people in horrific fashion. It's like bad soap-opera writing to redeem him.

Speaking of bad soap-opera writing, keeping Ali Larter on the show by having her portray a twin (triplet, actually) of her original character is something right out of "General Hospital."

And how about the twist that has Sylar turning out to be Nathan and Peter's brother? Maybe that came from "Days of Our Lives."

All of the time-jumping and alternate futures are confusing, and viewers can never be sure that what they're seeing is real. And if it is real, they're not sure if it will change or not."

--

I love the references to the soap operas because my friends and I use that all the time to explain the show. It really is crazy all the connections, relationships and things that are going on. Hiro is a complete idiot. Parkman, one of my usual favorite characters, has had no point this season. Peter's halfway evil all the time, and Mohinder is crazy and obsessed. At least I'm kinda starting to like Sylar ;). And it really is annoying how you never know if anything has actually happened, was supposed to happen in the future, or what each episode accomplished. I'm pretty sure there was one episode a couple weeks ago that was entirely a dream and none of the things really happened....arg. Anyways, last week did slightly restore my hope in the show. So tonight we will see what the newest episode brings. Otherwise, I'm back to my Lost countdown.

time

Sometimes I think back in time and wish I were back at a certain place or that I could even change how I acted. I'm not talking about big regrets here...just little things like how you feel about life.

*I just started writing this blog just to write one and didn't really have much of a direction for it. But after I typed that first paragraph, a song popped into my mind. This song is by one of my recent finds, and by far one of my favorites. I actually really relate to a lot of her songs and it really surprises me how many similarities I see in me and my life to the stories and lyrics of her songs. One of the things I've come to love is those connections--finding somethings that you can personally relate to, all in someone else's creative work. So I love finding those songs. I found one a while ago that really reminded me of the situation of one of my friends. I shared it but I don't think that friend appreciated it much. lol. But one thing I also take for granted when I find these "connection songs" is that not everything has to be perfectly compatible. For me to love a song in that way, I don't have to think that every line relates to me. Really, one line can do the job. Also I can relate one line to one situation or experience, the next line to a different thing, and so on. I think why I'm explaining this is because I don't want people to think they know exactly what I'm relating to or that sharing a song I connect to reveals some inner thoughts or meaning. It's not typically always like that..haha. But I do connect to this song for several reasons and it reminded me of some of the thoughts that my intro paragraph led me to. *I actually was able to post the song...yay!



Lyrics from Debra Arlyn's "The Letter"

Today I found one of your letters
You used to write the nicest things to me
Like how you thought I was an independent woman
And you couldn't tear your eyes away when I speak

And words reminded me how goods things were
But things were good, and I only focused on what wasn't right
Now and then I kick myself for not doing what I knew I should
Three years ago that night,
Should've never let you outta my sight

And it's too late to call you this evening
And it's too late to ask if you miss me
And it's too late to tell you I'm sorry
But I know that I'm to blame for making you wait
And now it's too late

I won't deny that we had problems near the end
But I couldn't let you go, as my friend
Oh, and I know you met someone
And you finally moved on
And you're living happily and you hold nothing against me
But everyone deserves closure
Especially when your first real love is over

And it's too late to call you this evening
And it's too late to ask if you miss me
And it's too late to tell you I'm sorry
But I know that I'm to blame for making you wait
And now it's too late

You were so sad for such a long time
And I just moved on with my life
I was so blind, so blind to your feelings
But now I'm missing you tonight
And I can't turn back the hands of time

And it's too late to call you this evening
And it's too late to ask if you miss me
And it's too late to tell you I'm sorry
But I know that I'm to blame for making you wait
And now it's too late

Today I found one of your letters
You used to write the nicest things to me
---

I think now I might find some old letters. Not to live in the past, but to appreciate where I came from, the experiences I've had, and everything I have to look forward to.

Thriving Ivory Concert

Hello everyone! Last night I went to my third concert! Exciting, I know...especially when they've all been in a few months of one another. It was a lot of fun and I'm so glad I got to go. The band is Thriving Ivory...I blogged about them a little while ago. It was their first time coming to Salt Lake and considering the success they've had here, I'm pretty sure they will be coming back and fairly soon...although I don't know if tickets will be $5 again. It was actually cool because they also filmed the concert to use for official stuff...like music videos, performance DVDs and the such. So maybe...just maybe you can catch a glimpse of me in one someday. But we weren't right in the middle so I'm not sure if that's likely. ;)

This pic is when the main singer dude came over to sing on the stage/balcony right by us. So, while our view was pretty good the whole time (even though I stood like 5 feet away from the rest of my group to avoid the signature tall people that stand right in front of short people like me)..uh were was I? Oh yea, while the view was pretty good the entire night, it was especially good for these couple songs.

Also, since the band was recording stuff for a video they had to play their song Angels on the Moon twice in a row. Which was actually pretty awesome. These guys were great in person and I think it's really cool that I got to see them before they get big.

Another really cool thing about the night (aside from getting to hang out with my good friend Paul, who I don't see much, Marisa and Jeremiah, newly deemed J) was that the concert was completely put together just for the listeners of the radio station, 101.9 the end. As I mentioned in my last post about them, I ran across the band online somehow and started listening to their stuff and shortly after heard the radio DJs start talking about them. Well, the DJs heard so many good things back from the listeners that they arranged this whole concert and brought Thriving Ivory to Salt Lake for the first time specifically for this purpose. It's not like they were driving through or anything.

And guess what? The concert sold out.

And this isn't even a big band yet.

So that was pretty cool to be a part of. Enjoy the pics, (they will hopefully be up soon) and hopefully you'll check the band out! If I can't get the pics up on here feel free to check out more that are available via facebook at this link!

P.S. While looking for an official picture of the band to post, I stumbled upon this blog from about them two years ago. Kinda gives another person's review of them and seems to have more put-together information about where to go to find out more. *Oh I just stumbled onto another blog about the very same concert. This girl waited around to get pictures with the band and also mentioned how this was the biggest concert Thriving Ivory has ever done so it was exciting for them as well.

Oh, but they, meaning Thriving Ivory do have a pretty cool Web site.

writing the words

I wonder if I am increasingly becoming addicted to blogging, or more specifically writing about my life, thoughts, and experiences. Today at work, I was distracted from work because of, well, the lack of distractions. So while my minds wanders away from the pile of teacher resource books I'm editing, and my eyes stray from the exciting pages of the AP Stylebook and Webster's Dictionary, I think about life and writing.

I love writing about things I experience and am passionate about. Sometimes that is the key that is missing in journalistic writing. I look over page after page of my portfolio and there are only a handful of articles that I actually care about. So for those of you who have read any or, for you dedicated people, all of my articles published in the Daily Universe, Marriott Alumni magazine or Web site, or for the News of the Church, I understand that they may not always be the most exciting things out there.

*Sidenote: I have yet to see it but I believe my True to the Faith article featuring VA's very own Paul Epperson is in the newest Ensign.

**Also: I also haven't gotten around to personally obtaining copies of the past several months of issues of the Ensign or Liahona with my articles in them. Sooo, if you have any that you will probably be getting rid of, let me know and I'll gladly take them. This includes copies of the Liahona in different languages cuz I think that would be awesome to include in my portfolio.

Focusing Again.

Sometimes I admit I get caught in the habit of writing about things I want and hope to do someday rather than actually getting out and doing them. So I will spare you some of those details. But in short, I'm hoping to generate the motivation to step up and actually accomplish or work on some of those things I've been thinking about. In the past couple years, I'm happy to say that I've accomplished a lot of things that I'm proud of. I also managed to stay really busy and take on new challenges and opportunities whenever they came along. Right now I'm in a place where those same experiences don't present themselves as readily but, at the same time, I am now in the position to pursue some of my own ideas and things on my own. And I want to do that.

I'm the kind of person who tends to need everything in order and right before I can agree to take on a new responsibility or task. This is something that tends to hold me back. I’m never going to be perfect in the things I’m already doing and I can’t keep that imperfection from keeping me from new things. That’s one thing I’m trying to work on myself—to accept where I am on certain things and to be happy with that place, all the while recognizing my efforts to improve when I can. If I focus on the negative, I will be overwhelmed and never improve.

With that in mind, I’m dedicated to start pushing forward on some of these things I want to accomplish.

positive thoughts

Every week my dad sends out a letter to all of us and usually includes some sort of thought or quote at the end. I really liked the one from this week so I thought I'd share.

"You can change the course of events in your life just by having a positive attitude and being optimistic. If you are positive and optimistic, people like being around you. Your positive energy brings out positive energy in others. This creates a cycle that attracts more positive energy. Your relationships improve because your positive energy rubs off on those you are close to. You are more forgiving and kind and your kindness and forgiveness is returned by others. The things that you want to make happen in your life begin to come about because the resources and people who can help you come into your life and they want to contribute and participate with you in your ideas and goals. Because your mind is open and positive, flashes of inspiration come to you and help you move toward your goals. In this way, the world becomes a different and a better place because you are here."

I've found that this is so important in my life. And I have seen the difference that it can make. I know that as I am working on various goals and towards certain accomplishments or working to "change the course" of my life in general, those positive thoughts and encouragement both from myself and from friends and family are the main things that get me going. I'm not so much of a self-motivated person....well, actually I am, but it varies and depends on the extent and situation..haha. So maybe I'm just not a consistently self-motivated person. But there are still certain levels of things that do provide motivation.

I know positive thoughts are so important because the things that are the hardest for me to overcome when I'm working towards something or even just moving forward in life are the thoughts that are not positive but in fact, negative and self-doubting.

I can have good plans, intentions and even starts towards something, but the minute I let my perspective falter, I have a much harder time getting back on track. My self doubts are definitely some of the hardest things I have to work through. Because these are the hardest, I know the most important, for me at least, are keeping and maintaining the positive thoughts.

And I've really been trying lately to focus more on the positives than the negatives, and it makes me so much happier. I focus on the things I have, rather than the things I don't. On the things I love and enjoy, rather than the things I dislike. On the things that I've accomplished, rather than where I've fallen short. On great friendships and relationships, rather than ones I've lost. On accomplishments and progress, rather than shortcomings and downfalls.

While I know there is so much more for me to work towards and improve on, I know that by focusing on the positive, I will better equip myself to be able to step up and tackle the things that might not be as easy for me. That is so much more productive than saying, perhaps, I am so bad at this and I need to focus on just that and working on just that. This mindset is one that will just lead me to feel overwhelmed and will not help me move forward. Instead, I can recognize the positive things that I can do and that I have accomplished and then recognize my strengths and cultivate the positive thoughts I need to continue moving forward and improving.

T.G.I. FRIDAY!

I’ve decided there is a definite need for a somewhat normal post to distract each of you from the apparent weirdness I’ve displayed in my last several posts.

But, with that it mind, I have to tell those of you who have said something either to me personally or as a comment that somewhat recognized the humorous nature of these posts…well, I appreciate knowing that the humorous side was recognized. I wasn’t ever really worried that it wouldn’t, but a couple things of feedback kinda led me to doubt. I’m not seriously a psycho stalker…afterall, I probably would have not shared any of these stories had I seriously been personally concerned. While the thoughts briefly stepped into my mind, they were not serious and really the aftermath of my “humor” which finds joy in picking out what could be the potentially best awkward situation. (Really, most of the times I find things to laugh at are times when something happens and then I think haha…what if this happened too…or what if he had done this. This also kinda reminds me of the situations my sister and I deemed TWI moments. By definition, these situations are things that would seem really odd, strange, or simply funny if someone who didn’t know what was going on happened to walk in at that very moment: what if “They Walked In” moments.

And now with that, a change of subject…now, I rejoice in the greatness that is FRIDAYS. I have to tell ya, I used to count down to, wish for, and pretty much despise every day before Fridays. (JK on the despise use) I mean, when you are balancing a crazy schedule consisting of a full school load, three or four jobs, a social life, etc., or even just long hours at a job that seems to drag by, Friday is of course the most sought-after day. (Sought-after meaning that if everybody were a day, a whole lot more would want to be Friday over, say, Tuesday.) Fridays brings a feeling of accomplishment: you still have things to do and finish, but once those are done, you can take (hopefully) a little time to relax from your normal to-do list. Fridays bring a change from the rest of the week: typically ones schedule on Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays largely differ from other days. Fridays bring fun: Everyone always asks what your plans for the weekend are. Fridays mark growth and passing time: That’s right, another week has already passed by but look at everything you did. Congrats, you have successfully survived another week.

Lately I have, on several occasions, found that Fridays have been sneaking up on me. I’m not complaining, but I am simply amazed at how fast the weeks have been going by, how fast each day of the week comes, goes and moves aside. And this is amazing because I can’t recall this happening with so much consistency ever before. Every week flies by and every week I find myself thinking, “Is it Friday already?”

One thing about this is that I’ve realized I’m pretty happy and content with where I am right now. I mean, I never planned on staying and working in Utah, much less Utah County, but when I started planning on trying to move out east again in a year or so, I found hesitance as I realized that I really like and enjoy my job. This contributes a lot to the weeks going by so quickly. I hate jobs where the clock just slowly ticks by every day, every hour, every minute. But here the time goes by so quickly. I’m enjoying everything I’m doing. I have a full plate of responsibilities and am increasingly getting more as I’m here longer. Plus there’s so much to learn. I honestly only have a small understanding of how everything here at my job works together and know that over time, I’ll better grasp every aspect and be able to be so much more productive and beneficial as an employee. Not to mention, I am soo brushing up on my skills to compete in “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?”. And I get off work early enough that I can generally take a little hour or so break to relax before I embark on a couple hours of other activities that I choose. I find time and schedule hangouts and activities with friends, sometimes actually cook and am developing a list of other things I want/need to accomplish.

But yes, I love Fridays. And the weekends that follow. And the weekdays that fly by and precede it. Yes, life is good. So we’ll see what I decide about the future.

my last stalking comments...i promise

My stalking impulses have to stop. I realized that tonight when a brief--and I mean, ever so brief--comment crossed through my head. Perhaps my joking mannerisms and thoughts are starting to seep their way into my "normal" thoughts and actions. Perhaps it will only be a matter of time before I can no longer separate the two from one another. For these reasons, I have to stop.

My regular visit to the Facebook homepage once again revealed, as I mentioned, this secret crush's status right up there on the top of my mini-feed. After days and days ;) of resisting looking at his profile, I finally gave in and clicked on that little blue link next to that little red heart. Once I stumbled onto his profile, I decided to look at his pictures. After all, it has been a while since I've seen him, remember.

As I'm doing this I'm thinking about how my sister Susie has said, "I really don't think he's that cute." Obviously I disagree with her, and I was confirming my opinion as I clicked on each picture. In fact, at one picture I thought, "What is she talking about, he's so cute!"

It was at the immediately following moment that I realized my impulses must be stopped, and they must be stopped now.

My somewhat innocent notice of his cuteness made me think that I should take that picture and crop it to be just him so I could prove to Susie his cuteness. After all, I know from experience that she won't venture to his profile to look for herself.

From there, I experienced a brief series of thoughts. One picture would not be enough. Shouldn't I gather all of the exceptional pictures and compile them for a more accurate viewing. And then...well, then I pictured my entire wall covered with creepy stalker pictures of this kid....

I knew my stalking impulses had run their course and would must now end.

So I may be going through withdrawals. I may cut out Facebook. I may not even seem like myself. But I will smother these impulses once and for all...well, at least the unhealthy, creepy ones.

classifying humor: ... interesting?

*I started writing this post a couple days ago, but my internet went out and I lost the whole thing. So this is a reconstruction of that same info and is related to my secret crush post :)

After my last post I started thinking about the last time I talked to this little crush of mine. (And for clarification, this crush IS a different person than the married, pretend crush…just fyi.) This led me to start talking to the friend through whom I know this crush. And the conversation that followed pretty much exemplifies the joking manner I mentioned that always comes up between me and my friends. So I thought I'd share this conversation with you for two reasons: 1) to show a firsthand example of the joking manner I explained and 2) to ask you to define the type of humor this is. I was trying to figure it out because, I admit, at times it's really weird. So any thoughts just may help shed some light. Enjoy.

(* names have been changed for security reasons)

Karianne: Hey! So...do you at all remember who I had one of my crazy crushes on a while ago...like where I get obsessed and weird?

*Bob: Are you refering to *Mr. X.

Karianne: Lol wow Bob, you are pretty good....Yes I was. Lol facebook said he and his girlfriend broke up and I was reminded of all that once again...

Bob: Did they break up? That's sad. Mr. X's sister was happy about their relationship.

Karianne: Yea, according to facebook they did. Yes, sad day...but now maybe there's room for me! Um, I mean, just kidding.

Karianne: P.S. Do you think Mr. X's sister would be happy about our (meaning me and Mr. X) relationship?

Bob: Probably. I think she was happy for the fact that he was in a serious relationship.

Karianne: OK, whew....I do hope she likes me too once Mr. X and I start dating. :) Do you ever see him by the way?

Bob: Nope. Never.

Karianne: Darn it. You are useless to me, Bob. Simply Useless. . . . OK I really need to stop this madness. So fyi, I do hope you know I'm not serious. Well, about the methods and drama. I totally wouldn't mind dating the kid.

Bob: I think you are sane. No worries.

Karianne: Good. I think you are too! So do you know how you would categorize this type of humor? I can't figure it out..

Bob: Interesting?

mini feed

Isn't the mini feed supposed to change and update? Well, in connection with the last post, every time I sign on to Facebook, this kid's single status has been, and still is, like the 3rd thing listed and continues to be one of the first things I see.

Maybe that's a sign ;)

Really, I'm kidding

Embarrassing thoughts are to follow:

Since my sophomore year in college, a couple of my friends and I have often had what we call “pretend crushes.” Now these “crushes” develop in a variety of ways. Sometimes they come because roommates or friends thinks we would go well with them or if that we would look cute together. (Of course, there isn’t really interest on either side of the actual parties) Sometimes they come because we think someone is cute but have never (and will likely never in the future) talked to them and don’t really know them besides the occasional salutation. Typically, these are people we never see anything truly happening with and thus feel comfortable joking about the potential our lives together would bear. And always, these “crushes” are people we see or encounter often enough to feed our search for amusement and laughs.

The main way our pretend crushes (from here on out, a pretend crush is officially deemed a PC) work is we expand, exaggerate and freak out (in a pretend fashion, of course) about any potential that could possible exist….although it usually and almost certainly does not. Say someone has a PC on a guy in the ward. If we are outside of our apartment making some noise and this PC (yes, it’s a noun and a verb) walks by and glances over, we would undoubtedly talk about it later, for a brief 5 seconds, about how he totally looked over and totally thinks she’s adorably cute. If a PC starts dating someone else (how dare they) we always offer sympathy to our girlfriend and convince her that he’s out of his mind and will come running back to her soon.

My favorite PC story is about one that was somehow developed for me with this kid who was in our ward my sophomore year…and junior year??? Hmm. Anyways, this kid happened to be in the same marriage prep class as me and Grace. Yes, he was dating someone and had no problem sharing his thoughts and experiences about this relationship in our class. Grace and I would throw comments at each other: she to me about how hard this must be for me, and I to her about how I just have to grin and bear it. Well, the highlight of the relationship (sure, I can call it a relationship) was actually on my birthday when I took the day off from class. About mid-day I receive a text from Grace wishing me happy birthday and saying this really must be my lucky day. Why? Well it looks like this PC just had a breakup with his girlfriend! My response: Really? Wow this is like the best birthday ever! I love life! Do you think it’s too soon to make my move?

This particular PC actually got married a little later and I just had to shrug and snap my fingers. But I actually ended up being dance partners with him about a year later. Despite their happy marriage, I do admit there were a few family wrecker possibilities and comments thrown around. But remember—it was all in jest.

And now the reason I bring this up….I’ve actually had a secret crush (secret not pretend) on this kid for a couple years now. I’ve honestly only talked to him like once in the past couple years and know him through friends who I don’t see much so the likelihood of ever running into him is slim….very slim. But today on facebook and my mini-feed I read that, guess what, he and his gf broke up and they are both facebook-officially single. Who knows, maybe our chance is coming! Lol….. ;)

sidenote

I noticed the mp3 players posted on my blog don’t show up in Google Reader. I’ll have to fix that. But, fyi, the previous post should let you listen to those songs directly from my site. Thanks!

P.S. Sometimes I feel like I’m blogging all the time. But in September I only posted 11 times. And while that’s more than my somewhat slow period in May-July, it doesn’t even reach my max from February, which is the shortest month of them all!!

a little music

My personal trainer thingy ended officially this past Tuesday when we did our last arm workout together. So yesterday when I went to the gym for my normal cardio class, I stayed around to do my leg workout on my own. But I needed a little break between the two so I walked over to the newly-opened Kohl’s store next door and browsed for about 20 min while I gave my body a little rest. And, while I was browsing in the shoe section, I heard Donavon Frankenreiter’s song, “Life, Love, and Laughter” on the store radio/music. I have no idea how I found this artist or his music…actually, I think it was on the site that posts samples of new albums coming out. I wasn't thaaat impressed, but I was really surprised to hear it played somewhere. This song was briefly considered for this year’s Summer Songs but didn’t make the cut. I was however, thinking about making it a theme song for my very own blog. See the connection: Live, Laugh, Love/Life, Love, and Laughter…it’s like it was totally meant to be! ;)



On another note, I’m excited about the band Thriving Ivory. You know how when you first hear about or see something and all of the sudden you find it EVERYWHERE around you? That’s kinda how this was with me. What’s interesting is I stumbled onto this band’s stuff and then, about a week later, I heard the radio station I listen to start mentioning this upcoming band, Thriving Ivory. I was like, “Hey, I just found them like last week!” Anyways, the DJs on this show really liked them, have reviewed their new album on the air twice in the past several weeks and on Tuesday even had the lead singer, Clayton Stroope, call in for an interview. And apparently Utah is loooving the band. In fact, after they reviewed the cd, most stores in the area sold out of it. This response is pretty phenomenal. The radio station wanted to set up a concert specifically for their listeners and hopefully wanted it to be free. And when Stroope called in, they announced that Thriving Ivory would be coming to play for their first time in Utah on Oct. 18, and would just be $5. (This was all set up by the station and they had to charge something so they could give something back to the band.) Stroope said they would have loved to do it for free, but hey, that just makes you want to make sure they get something doesn’t it? Anyways, I’m excited. Tickets go on sale this Friday at noon and are available at Graywhale locations...but apparently only in Salt Lake. You can also buy tickets at the door, but they aren’t sure what the response will be ahead of time. It could be small, it could be like 1,000 people! Anyways, I want to go...let me know if you are interested in coming too!!!

Have a listen to their song, Angels on the Moon (Yes, it's on Summer Songs 2008). The guy's voice is a little interesting at first, so you probably either love it or hate it. I think it grows on ya and is pretty unique and cool. In an interview in 2007, they report that this song "was inspired by the tragic events of 9/11, and it was obvious from the incredible response over the track that the compelling message and intelligent lyrics resonated with fans."