babe report

boo!

2011-10-29T11:55:00.001-06:00

last night i had a dream that i moved into an apartment and it was haunted. like really obviously and freakily haunted. only sometimes when you'd walk in it was just normal (so, you know, no one would believe me). but i always knew it was going to be haunted when i'd approach my front door and Julia Roberts would walk out. yeah, Julia Roberts. she'd always walk out saying the exact same thing. and i'd know when i walked in there'd be something under the covers making monster noises and the mirror would show the back of my body instead of the front.

spooooky

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0

mother's day

2011-05-06T15:13:00.001-06:00

how stinking cute is my mom?

that is all.

2011-03-22T11:34:00.006-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "helicopter," by deerhunter

why hasn't anyone invented internet hypnosis yet? wait, has somebody? it just seems like that would be a way easy way to become hypnotized. or wait, do you have to have your eyes closed to get hypnotized? because if so, how are you supposed to look at the dangling watch the person saying "you are getting very sleepy" is holding? or wait, is that an old practice?

i just asked google if that is an old practice and i got tons of hits for "how to hypnotize someone without them knowing (4 easy steps)". really? is that considered socially acceptable to do these days? because if so, that ties right into my question about internet hypnosis. what percentage of the population sits and stares at a computer all day long? that wasn't a question leading to an

answer from me. i want to know. because if it's a lot, which i assume it is, then people could hypnotize you without you knowing it (in 4 easy steps) all the time and then have their way with you (hot). employers, news sites, H&M, people with blogs...

wait. look right here:

you are getting very sleepy...

like a restless leaf in the autumn breeze, once, i was a tumbleweed...

2011-03-17T11:58:00.003-06:00

yesterday i had to stop my car to let a top hat pass. a top hat. it danced in the wind, stumbling across the parking lot. like a tumbleweed.

i just had to type those words out because when will they ever be said again?

look...

2011-02-22T20:58:00.008-07:00

the South Dakota legislature is considering a bill that would make it legal to kill doctors performing abortions.

The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Phil Jensen, a committed foe of abortion rights, alters the state's legal definition of justifiable homicide by adding language stating that a homicide is permissible if committed by a person "while resisting an attempt to harm" that person's unborn child or the unborn child of that person's spouse, partner, parent, or child.

if South Dakota is going to go completely crazy, i have some way better ideas about who it should be legal to murder. My suggestions:

1. people who drive below the speed limit

2. people who talk to me when i'm peeing

3. people who like to pop other people's zits (or at least tell me about it)

4. people who are assholes

5. Brad Womack

6. people who awkwardly over-share on their facebook walls

7. people who think "your" is "you're"

8. this guy (seriously, die)

9. the girls on You're Cut Off! or at least their parents

10. me for watching You're Cut Off!

i'm going to do you a favor this valentine's day...

2011-02-14T23:56:00.006-07:00

do you know every word to Air Supply's Making Love Out of Nothing at All? if not, i can help you. trust me, you are going to want to know every word when you turn this song on in your car with the volume at eleven (or more realistically at something like 42.) i mean, just look at these lyrics from two climactic moments in the song:

The beating of my heart is a drum
and it's lost and it's looking for a rhythm like you
You can take the darkness from the pit of the night and turn into a beacon burning endlessly bright
I've got to follow it
'cause ev'rything I know
Well it's nothing till I give it to you

I can make the run or stumble
I can make the final block
And I can make every tackle
at the sound of the whistle
I can make all the stadiums rock

have you ever in your life seen lyrics better than these? no way. he can make every tackle at the sound of the whistle! who doesn't want a lover like that? the beating of his heart is a drum and it's lost and it's looking for a rhythm like you! so smooth! swoon.

the last verse is a little guilt-trippy so we'll just skip over that for now. learn this song. and then belt it out. your life will never be the same.

if you're interested in more news about high-quality musicians and art, let me remind you that a new Radiohead album was announced today (you too?) and Arcade Fire won best album at the Grammy's last night. here is something delightful a friend sent me: http://whoisarcadefire.tumblr.com/

here are some highlights:

and my favorite:

oh molly. do the Grammy's have something to do with real life? you just watched a performance of Gwyneth Paltrow and muppets. muppets, molly.

seriously, see you next january

2011-01-15T13:06:00.006-07:00

favorite movies of 2011. i've got two animated films on my list this year! i'm linking trailers for a lot of them. but not for all because do you really need to watch the trailer for Toy Story 3 or Inception? you know what, eff it, trailers are fun.

the order of most of these was pretty much a toss-up (including #1)

10. Winter's Bone
man, this movie was so so well-done. but, oh geez, it was difficult to watch. not in the Black Swan sense, but could things be more bleak than this movie? nonetheless, so good.

9. Mother
in my opinion, Hye-ja Kim made this movie. it's dark and funny and tense. and keeps you in tight the whole way through. loved.

8. The Secret in Their Eyes
murder mystery and love story (with excellent acting.) win/win(/win)

7. Get Low
i think i adored this movie more than a lot of people but i can't help myself. Bill Murray and Robert Duvall? duh. this movie was funny and interesting and had Robert Duvall in. also, it may or may not have made me bawl my eyes out (all the way to my car) which made Keck lol. but what do you expect with a movie focused on an old person?

6. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
i kinda felt like i was on speed the whole time. or drank too much coffee. but i loved it.

5. Toy Story 3
yeah, i cried

although, look, i cannot hear Randy Newman without thinking of this:

Family Guy - Randy Newman

4. The Secret of Kells
you maybe haven't seen this movie yet. i only have because Netflix recommended it to me. it's about enlightenment through art and writing and it's about courage and it is so so cute. the animation is all hand-drawn and it is honestly magical. that, along with the music and the story is just so charming.

3. A Prophet
i guess the foreign films win for me this year. this movie was !!! i'm not going to lie, it nearly had me in the fetal position a few times. but it's worth it.

2. True Grit
i mean...do i really need to say anything about this one?

1. Inception
or this one?

honorable mentions:

Never Let Me Go
Shutter Island
Catfish
Harry Potter and the blah blah blah (what, I loved it)
The Social Network
Black Swan (although it is highly likely i will never watch this movie again)

also, there are a lot of supposedly great movies from 2010 that i have yet to see, so who knows, this whole list could be totally different in a month. #noncommittal #icannotbelieveijustusedahashtaginmyblog

i practically only come around once a year at this point

2011-01-06T21:27:00.020-07:00

oh, hai

i have put together a list of my favorite albums of 2010. not because i think anyone cares. i did it partly because i like lists, partly because i feel like my grandchildren will swoon over this, and mostly in order to avoid a really stressful fiasco in january of 2020 such as i experienced last year [planning ahead]. it was a little tricky trying to narrow it down to 10 because 2010 was, in my opinion, a phenomenal year for music.

notice i said "favorite albums" and not "the best." that's because there are some runners up that, while i consider them to be superior quality overall, they still didn't make my favorite 10. for example, i think This is Happening and Swim are both better albums than The ArchAndroid, but Janelle Monáe got way more play time because i just had more fun with her album.

i came up with my favorite ten by using an extremely complicated algorithm that i developed involving number of song/album plays, quality and strength of emotions the album evoked, how often it was put on repeat, how long before the magic of the first listen wore off, etc (this is so that in 10 years, when i think The Wild Hunt is terrible and wonder what i was thinking i will know exactly what i was thinking [this is just an example, i do not actually anticipate that happening in any way. however, i probably didn't think that about One More Try by Timmy T in 1991 either when i'd sit obsessively by the radio waiting for it to come on so i could tape it.)

so, anyway, here they are. in order. i have included one track from each album should you like to have a listen.

10. The ArchAndroid - Janelle Monáe
Here is Come Alive (War of the Roses)
favorite line: "that's when I come alive like a schizo running wild, that's when I come alive now let's go wild"

9. The Head and the Heart - The Head and the Heart
here is Down in The Valley
favorite line: "Lord have mercy on my rough and rowdy ways"

8. The Wild Hunt - The Tallest Man on Earth
here is Love is All (one of my most repeated songs of the year)
favorite line: "love is all from what i've heard but my heart's learned to kill"

7. Heartland - Owen Pallett
here is Lewis Takes Off His Shirt
favorite line: "my senses are bedazzled by the parallax of the road"

6. How I Got Over - The Roots
here is Right On (feat. Joanna Newsome)
favorite line(s):
"It's the Orion of the Hop, the new star of the Hip
I shine a light for the future so my presence a gift
It's evident I'm heaven sent with Thomas Edison elements"

5. Halcyon Digest - Deerhunter
here is Helicopter
favorite line: "could you pray for us? we know he loves you the best"

4. High Violet - The National
here is Lemonworld
favorite line: "I gave my heart to the Army, the only sentimental thing I could think of"

3. Teen Dream - Beach House
here is Better Times
favorite line: "been a fool for weeks 'cause my heart stands for nothing and your soul's too weak"

2. The Age of Adz - Sufjan Stevens
here is Age of Adz
favorite line(s):
"When I die, when I die, I'll rot
But when I live, when I live
I'll give it all I've got"

1. The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
here is Suburban War
favorite line(s):

"And my old friends
I can remember when
You cut your hair
We never saw you again
Now the cities we live in
Could be distant stars
And I search for you
In every passing car"

seriously that is the best album. you should listen to it millions of times.

some runners up that brought much pleasure to my 2010:

Plastic Beach - Gorillaz
Winter of Mixed Drinks - Frightened Rabbit
Big Echo - The Morning Benders
The Ladder - Andrew Belle
Contra - Vampire Weekend
Swim - Caribou
This Is Happening - LCD Soundsystem

next: movies...

2010-12-04T18:15:00.002-07:00

today this happened, making today my favorite day this week:

location: FedEx warehouse on the west side

players: Tracy (T), FedEx Guy (FG), Becky (B)

T: hi, I'm here to pick up a package
FG: sorry, no packages today
T: ......
FG: ... *smile*
T: oh! i thought maybe you were serious! i was not going to take that joke well. good delivery, though.
B: ..... ..... .... good DELIVERY?

get ready, cuz this ain't funny

2010-11-06T08:57:00.005-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "Paul Revere," by the Beastie Boys

this morning i woke up at like 6:30 with my first conscious thought being "riding across the land, kicking up sand, Sherrif's posse on my tail cuz i'm in demand." to which i immediately followed with "one lonely Beastie i be, all by myself without nobody" as if i woke up mid-Paul Revere jam. what in the? what was i dreaming about? this is when i also learned that once you memorize every word to Paul Revere, you never forget them. it's like the alphabet or happy birthday. or any Wilson Phillips song.

sometimes i'll wake up in the middle of night with some "brilliant" idea to blog about and type it into the "notes" in my phone so i won't forget it and then immediately fall back asleep. i don't know what i must be dreaming about to one, give me the idea and two, make me think it's going to be amazing, but the majority of the time i've completely forgotten about them when i wake up the next morning. then i find my note weeks later. here's the latest one. i have no idea when i put this into my phone.

"angry hobos. hobos these days aren't care-free like they once were. etc."

the best part of that idea is "etc."

roll with it Bryton.

at last...my love has come along

2010-11-02T21:11:00.013-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "home," by edward sharp & the magnetic zeros

is this the longest i've gone without blogging since the beginning of time (my blog)?

kind of recently, i went to my beloved Huntington Beach for the wedding of one of my favorite people who has ever existed (this isn't an exaggeration. this includes past and present. and most likely future.) i went for this!

it was so beautiful and whimsical and romantic and perfectly her and i loved every minute of it. i'm so glad i got to be there for her day. also there was cotton candy.

However, there was one ambitious man in the area named Harry Ballard, an Englishman, who had plans of grandeur...

2010-09-11T16:25:00.012-06:00

instead of blogging about my camping trip, i made a collage that sums it up nicely

camping is certified fraysh

2010-09-03T14:17:00.012-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "suburban war," by arcade fire

when setting out on a camping adventure, it's important to have the appropriate equipment.

lets see:

yes, tents. of course. a standard piece of camping equipment. what's next...

sleeping bags! gotta keep the cold and the snakes out, right? next:

a possible necessity should it rain and you don't want to mess up the gobs of mascara you wore to the wilderness.

duh. for the drive down. probably also include these. what else?

i guess. if you're that type of camper.

yes. if you want to make a mountain man breakfast. or peach cobbler. mmmm...peach cobbler...

what else?

WThuh? machetes? what kind of camping involves machetes? are we traveling from the Others's camp to the Beach? is there the possibility of ninja invasion? if the answer to both of these questions is "no," then leave the machetes at home.

we were standin'...standin' by peaceful waters, standin' by peaceful waters...

2010-08-21T16:05:00.003-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "lake marie," by john prine

on a bike ride during my recent trip to visit one of the best towns ever and see two of the best girls ever, i passed this place:

this is sad.

but also, there is definitely some comedy gold going on in there on a daily basis.

JUST what i was hoping for

2010-08-04T00:00:00.003-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "crown of love," by arcade fire

HAVE YOU BEEN DYING TO KNOW THE RESULTS OF THE FOUR-LEAF CLOVER POLL?!

well here they are (calm down)

i know what you're thinking: "geez, becky, aren't you disappointed and embarrassed that only seven people responded to your poll?"

shut up! i am just happy when one person views my blog, asshole.

thank you for deciding that i should just keep not going to the dentist because that's what i was going to do anyway.

below the ground's the only place to be cause in this life you spend time running from depravity

2010-07-31T23:59:00.004-06:00

i'm sure most people have seen this by now (cuz it's awesome):

but you should just get the album so you can listen to this over and over like i have:

also many other great songs. the end.

you...si since that magic day

2010-07-25T17:12:00.006-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "faster," by janelle monáe

i recently spent the weekend with my family at my aunt's cabin. the majority of it consisted of this:

DID I MENTION I FOUND A FOUR LEAF CLOVER?

so now i need some advice because obviously my luck runneth over. you can select more than one option.

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

i was looking up. it was the nearest thing to heaven.

2010-07-06T10:23:00.003-06:00

summer in the city has begun.

what a bowla!

2010-07-04T23:52:00.003-06:00

tonight, to celebrate the day we declared in one voice "we will not go quietly into the night!", i did the most patriotic thing i could think of: i went bowling. three.games. microsuede tweeted from the alley (probably right after his turkey) "King George would be so pissed if he knew what I was doing right now. But do you think I even give a shit?" and it got me thinking - how pissed off is England every 4th of july? they obviously have to hate our freedom even more that al qaeda does. and what symbolizes american freedom more than knocking down 10 pins with a ball? nothing. the Brits hate bowling so so much!

or do they? after some quiet moments of reflection, i remembered an important lesson i learned back in 1991 from King Ralph. and that is that even the stuffiest of Englishmen can be won over by our obnoxious outbursts and endearing shenanigans. yes, just as it was proven that Napoleon enjoys water slides, bowling and ice cream sundaes, i believe King George III would enjoy three games, some hot wings and a pitcher of beer just like us revolutionists.

six o'clock already I was just in the middle of a dream

2010-06-28T21:48:00.010-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "drive," by incubus

today my morning was made when i turned my radio from NPR to some other station (which i never do [hi i'm becky i'm such a huge radio snob i only go to the radio for my npr fix]) and this song was just coming on.

1. i have not heard that song in forev!
2. it was, in fact, MONDAY (this doubles as both a reason this song put a smile on my face and a reason the radio is stupid)!

instant cheeriness! i gear up to start singing along.

right off the bat it becomes obvious that the Bangles and i do not have the same life experiences to draw from when writing songs (you know, if i were to write songs.) let's break this down:

Six o'clock already
I was just in the middle of a dream

while it is true that in the sleep cycle there is more REM sleep toward morning and therefore a higher likelihood of being "in the middle of a dream," it is not likely you would find me awake at six o'clock on a monday morning.

I was kissin' Valentino
By a crystal blue Italian stream

based on the year this was written we can only assume she is singing about the sexy, british violinist

and while i do love a healthy coat of manly body hair, i'm more likely to be kissin' brandon boyd by a awe-inspiring norwegian fjord.

But I can't be late
'Cause then I guess I just won't get paid
These are the days
When you wish your bed was already made

1. i can be late
2. i will still get paid
3. i never make my bed

It's just another manic Monday
I wish it were a Sunday
'Cause that's my funday
My I don't have to runday
It's just another manic Monday

1. on any given monday, i never wish it was sunday. it is not my funday. sundays are horrible because that is when the depression of knowing tomorrow is monday sets in.
2. however, i don't often run on sundays so i will give them that.

Have to catch an early train
Got to be to work by nine
And if I had an air-o-plane
I still couldn't make it on time

1. i don't catch any trains
2. 9:00am was only the time anybody started work back when dolly was singin about it.
3. come on this is just ridiculous. a plane? of course you could not make it to work on time taking an air-o-plane. not even if you were only doing carr-y-0n

'Cause it takes me so long
Just to figure out what I'm gonna wear
Blame it on the train
But the boss is already there

1. i have like 3 work outfits on heavy rotation
2. look, UTA bus passes are not really that cheap
3. obv (common ground susanna!)

All of the nights
Why did my lover have to pick last night
To get down
Doesn't it matter
That I have to feed the both of us
Employment's down
He tells me in his bedroom voice
C'mon honey, let's go make some noise
Time it goes so fast
When you're having fun

1. what?
2. you cannot expect a violinist to be that regularly employed, susanna hoffs
3. no one has ever said to me "c'mon honey, let's go make some noise." my life is sad
4. time does go by so fast when you're makin' some noise. that'swhatshesaidzing!

it appears that my version of the song would suck. plus, despite our differing opinions as to why mondays may be manic, my desire to be susanna hoffs has not waned since i was 10 years old

wait...

2010-05-31T21:57:00.000-06:00

even more awesome if it were THIS

2010-05-30T13:40:00.003-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "found out," by caribou

my dad gave me this and said "don't get lost."

he's so awesome.

wouldn't it have also been awesome if it was this

with, like, thistucked inside somewhere (but not tucked too far inside, because what if i don't open that atlas for like 2 months)?

not an ideal way to start my day but i'm rolling with it...

2010-04-29T10:52:00.004-06:00

RIP grandpa jackson

2010-04-16T15:22:00.002-06:00

my grandpa died today. on wed, my dad called me to tell me "you should probably come see grandpa. like, today." grandpa was 94. "it is his time." i feel like, when someone is in their 90's, you talk about their approaching death pretty casually because, hey, they're way old. but, yet, i think every time you forget how sad it still feels when it's here. he's not sad about it, though. his favorite response to "how are you grandpa?" the past several years has been "can't die for the life of me!" he and my grandma were married for 65 years. 65 years. do you even remember what being alone is like after that much time? it's amazing how much more quickly someone ages when the love of their life dies.

he's been pretty lucky overall i think, though. he's always been healthy. he's just been getting old. one of the many unfortunate things about aging is that when you're that old, your body starts shutting down. the problem is that it doesn't all shut down at once, which seems preferable. things shut down one at a time making things super inconvenient for you and probably your self esteem. but, i guess, who said getting old and dying was ever convenient?

when i was visiting with him wed night, he didn't see me. he didn't hear me. i like to think he knew i was there, but i know he didn't. i hope he was lying there dreaming of peaceful and happy things. maybe of his beautiful little Hazel whom he had missed desperately the past few years.

he doesn't really look much like grandpa j anymore. when i first walked into the room, i had a moment of shock seeing him lying there. much thinner than before. not wearing his glasses. mouth open trying to breath. it's hard to see someone, whose face has been in your head since you had memories, look totally unlike themselves. but then i came around to his side and i saw his beautiful white hair. oh, i have always loved his hair! for the majority of my knowing him, he's not had the teensiest bit of gray. just white. gorgeous white man hair. i ran my fingers through it. i twisted it around and around (i possibly made it into a mohawk.) i kissed his forehead. i touched the side of his face. it was a little scratchy. suddenly i had a memory of myself as a little girl, standing in his kitchen as he stood there shaving his face with an electric razor. i used to love watching him do that. because i was so intrigued by the electric razor. i'd say "i want to feel" and he'd run it along a little part of my arm. i loved it because it tickled ever so slightly.

then, standing there by his bed thinking about he and i in the kitchen, i suddenly smelled pancakes. Grandpa's Pancakes. the best pancakes in.the.universe. and that made me think of breakfast at grandma and grandpa's. he'd make us (the best ever) pancakes, and he'd eat a half a grapefruit. he'd take his glasses off and set them by his plate so the delicious squirts of grapefruit juice wouldn't get on his lenses. and grandma's canary would be singing to us.

i think my very favorite grandpa activity was puzzles. the day after christmas every year, i'd climb up the steepest stairs in the universe from the basement (the smell of which i don't think will ever leave me) and go sit at the card table with him to help him with whatever puzzle he was working on. i always felt like his special little puzzle helper. i doubt i actually was, but that's okay because he always made me feel like i was.

he was a talented architect and a very talented wood craftsman. he used to make us gifts and my grandmother (who was an artist) would paint them. but on top of everything else he was just a sweet, loveable, caring person, a beyond adoring husband and to me the best grandpa a girl could have. i'm really going to miss him.

this picture pretty much sums up how it always feels being around grandpa

167 posts later...

2010-03-10T21:28:00.007-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "the boys are leaving town," by japandroids

in just a few short hours it will be the 3rd anniversary of the babe report. if you google "happy birthday babe report," here are a few pictures that come up:

those first four seem pretty cool. i'm not sure what to say about those last two except that i don't want them at my birthday party.

we have come so far since the retirement community!

i have moved twice, i have changed celebrity crushes, i have read a bunch of books and watched a bunch of movies and listened to loads of music. i have gone on trips, i have been laid off, i have done fun things, i have given birth to at least three illegitimate children. i have seen new places, i have met new people, i have fallen in and out of love, i have hated my job, i have loved my job. i have gotten a new nephew, i have witnessed a burglary, i have gotten in a car accident, i have said goodbye to people and things. i have seen people i love get married, i have seen people i love move too far away, i have been hurt by people, i have hurt people. i have become a trustee, i have desperately missed the beach, i have desperately missed my Philly friends, i have seen my natural hair color for the first time in....??

i have gone on the best road trips ever and seen the worst motel ever, i have made the best new friends, i have become an internet addict, i have become way more political. i have had bed bugs, i have had shingles, i have been shown mugshots of my neighbors by a US Marshall. i have camped, i have gotten road rage, i have gotten a new nickname (ohmyheckbeck), i have watched a lot of 30 Rock, i have gone to lots of plays. i have been stung 5 times in 1.5 seconds, i have baked cakes, i have watched a lot of Lost, i have seen great concerts, i have watched too much reality t.v. i have purchased a lot of boots, i have gotten too much free music, i have gotten the best gym buddy, i have purchased a piece of original art by a new friend.

i have learned that i need close friends, i have learned that i do not, in fact, need diet coke, i have learned that salt lake city is so much better than i ever thought it was, i have learned that i need mexico in my life. i have changed, i have grown, i have regressed, i have learned.

i have blog blog blog blog blogged.

your smile makes me want to misbehave

2010-02-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

happy valentine's day

but now, as tears subside, i find it all so amusing

2010-02-10T23:33:00.004-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "always something there to remind me," by naked eyes

here's the thing. old people always make me sad. always. the only time i am not completely depressed by the aged (two syllables) is when it is two 85+ year olds walking along and tenderly holding hands or when it is two old people dying at practically the exact same time.

it's just that i find aging horribly depressing. it's not the appearance thing. i mean, yeah, getting all wrinkly and saggy and translucent (skin) is not something i'm aching to get to more quickly, but that is the least of my gripes against oldness. i just don't find any charm in the mind slowly ceasing to function properly, the body operating at 50% capacity or everyone you've ever known dying around you at alarming rates. i mean have you heard old people talk about their friends dropping off?? "edith next door went today and miriam accross the street went two days ago!" as if they were talking about their friends going to a new grocery chain that opened up in the neighborhood.

calling old age the golden years is bullshit.

some things that people find "cute" about old people make me want to die. when i see a little old man, of course i find him adorable. but that feeling is almost immediately overshadowed by a sudden, suffocating depression and sadness. but not for me. for this little old man. let me clarify, i found both of my grandmothers so stinking ADROABLE in every way. that's because it's harder to get all depressed about someone when you are their family and you surround them. but aside from my two grandmothers, i assume every old person is desperately alone and sad (because they are.)

it was the july 3rd and i was on my way up the canyon to bbq with some friends. part way up the canyon road there was an old folks residence. it was probably 6:30 or so in the evening. which in july means still totally light outside. there, in the front of the old folks home, in the parking lot area where those big vans drop people off, were about 4 or 5 seniors in wheelchairs watching members of the staff setting off fireworks that you purchase in a grocery store--fountains, those spinny things and hopefully not those really smokey things. oh man, it depressed me so much on the spot. these people apparently had no family that wanted to spend the holiday with them so instead they were stuck in an old folks parking lot (in their wheelchairs) watching people they probably barely know lighting screamers. waaah!

some people i have told that story to reacted with "oh cute they were celebrating the 4th!" what? am i just really cynical or do the majority of people find that cute and not really really depressing?

okay, but incident i witnessed that made want to bawl even more than that happened a few years ago. i was in philadelphia for one of my semi routine work trips. a few friends and i met up at this bar after work in bensalem township (they still have townships there!) there was going to be karaoke! there was a projector screen pulled down from the ceiling so that everyone in the bar could see the lyrics that the person singing was seeing on the little tv screen (you know, to sing along if they wanted?) towards the end, this small old old man went up to sing. he was in the bar by himself (because all old people are alone!) and then he proceeded to sing this song by old blue eyes:

this is a long song. especially a long song to listen to a lonely old man sing by himself in a bar. waaaah. i wanted to run out of the bar and cry in my car. alone.

this church sounds way more fun

2010-02-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

and i watched from my window, always felt i was outside looking in on you

2010-01-30T07:26:00.003-07:00

song i am listening to while typing this post: "walk in the park," by beach house

this morning i was woken up at 7:11am by this song playing more loudly than you could possibly imagine somewhere in my neighborhood. it was clearly not coming from inside anyone's home or car. it was out.side. so very very loudly (but great sound quality.) i was so amused that it was THAT song, that i couldn't even be pissed that it had woken me up so early. on a saturday. instead, i laughed out loud, jumped off my couch where i had crashed, and ran to the window to see if i could see some action. nothing. but foolish games by jewel? WHO WOULD BE PLAYING THIS SO LOUDLY AT 7:11am?! i was convinced that some misbehaving husband was amidst pulling a lloyd dobler. but then the song ended and ANOTHER one started! if you are lloyed doblerring, you don't use a 2nd song, man!

when i realized what the second song was, i knew exactly what was going on. why else would you pick this very playlist? my gay neighbor has been dumped, i thought. i ran to my bedroom window to confirm my suspisions. yep. gay neighbor has a fabulous back patio that faces my apartment. i mean, it's really nice and in warmer weather he is constantly having patio parties (that i will someday be invited to [when we go from being neighbors who wave and say "hey!" to neighbors who stop and chat and invite each other in for lemonade.])

anyway, sure enough, the music was coming right from the back patio. i imagined him turning his sound system up to 11 to have a good cry and mistakenly turning on the outdoor speakers as well. i LOL'd again. because the outdoor speakers were very clearly on. but after out loud laughing, i felt sad for him because he's so sweet and he probably just got dumped! anyway, at this point i noticed a man from my own building stepping off gay neighbor's porch grumbling loudly to himself and lighting up a cigarette. this is also the point where the music shut right off. this guy from my building had walked a block around the corner in his pajama bottoms to tell this guy to S.T.F.U. i don't know if you've ever seen anyone really pissed off in their pajama bottoms, but it is not something you can take seriously.

this is going to be a great saturday.

pardon me while i get political

2010-01-29T15:15:00.014-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "zebra," by beach house

sometimes, maybe once a year or so, i just have to go on a political rant (and do some bolding and underlining.)

remember when that one guy won an election and then he said this?

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were...
...In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long...
...And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

and then on wednesday night he said this:

Of course, none of these reforms will even happen if we don't also reform how we work with one another. Now, I'm not naïve. I never thought that the mere fact of my election would usher in peace and harmony and some post-partisan era. I knew that both parties have fed divisions that are deeply entrenched. And on some issues, there are simply philosophical differences that will always cause us to part ways...But what frustrates the American people is a Washington where every day is Election Day. We can't wage a perpetual campaign where the only goal is to see who can get the most embarrassing headlines about the other side -– a belief that if you lose, I win. Neither party should delay or obstruct every single bill just because they can...Washington may think that saying anything about the other side, no matter how false, no matter how malicious, is just part of the game. But it's precisely such politics that has stopped either party from helping the American people. Worse yet, it's sowing further division among our citizens, further distrust in our government.

So, no, I will not give up on trying to change the tone of our politics. I know it's an election year. And after last week, it's clear that campaign fever has come even earlier than usual. But we still need to govern...To Democrats, I would remind you that we still have the largest majority in decades, and the people expect us to solve problems, not run for the hills. And if the Republican leadership is going to insist that 60 votes in the Senate are required to do any business at all in this town -- a supermajority -- then the responsibility to govern is now yours as well. Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it's not leadership. We were sent here to serve our citizens, not our ambitions.

what do people not understand here? does anyone in washington want anything to change ever? or is everyone too content with their high paying jobs, ridiculous pension plans (that we pay for with our taxes,) great health and life insurance (again, largely paid for by US), and the thousands of other financial perks that come from being a congressperson?

health care reform has been shelved every administration for years because no one can come to a compromise on anything and because special interest groups have been allowed to hinder a lot of shit. how is ANYONE ok with 46 million americans not having health insurance? and that is just people who don't have any. what about the millions of others who have really shitty, yet expensive health insurance (like me)? oh, i guess if you have really great health insurance (paid for by the taxes of people who DON'T) you can just sit back and not risk your political reputation with special interest groups by trying to make it better for anyone else in america. you know, those people who elected you to serve them.

you don't have to be a socialist to get behind healthcare reform. healthcare reform does not equal universal socialized healthcare. that is just one end of the spectrum. there are a million things that can be improved upon in the system but NONE of it is happening because of political games. and of course, this is just one example of legislation that is stagnant because of this. there are many many others.

let me first say, that i have not been thrilled with how this past year went. little campaign promises that were not kept really bother me. remember how obama promised that when he got elected he'd have negotiations for health care legislation broadcast on C-SPAN "so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies"? yeahhhh, THAT never happened. instead, everyone has conducted the same private negotiations behind closed doors, making multibillion-dollar deals with pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and other stakeholders as i'm sure they have every time healthcare has come up in washington. wtf, man? shouldn't we have a right to know what is being negotiated "on our behalf?"

but mostly the disappointment of the year is that NOTHING HAS HAPPENED. there is not one person or party to blame for this. the Republicans aren't to blame for stopping everything from being passed. the Democrats are just as unwilling to compromise on their plans. we have seen the complete watering down of most of obama's ideas and proposals. until anything that gets passed is going to be completely toothless. i just keep telling myself, maybe this can be baby steps to something different. who knows. obama is obviously sincere in wanting to create partisan amnity. i mean, to the point that his own party is pissed at him because of it. but i think what he's said over and over is true. we will not achieve anything without it. which should be obvious at this point. i mean, if both sides do not budge, and will not find a common ground and then try to move forward with that, nothing happens, right? i'm sure there is a mathematical equation that can show this simple principle. both parties need to get over themselves (is that a political term?)

i like what chez pazienza said about this, and i agree with him (even though he is largely an asshole)

As it stands now, the Republicans, who've turned obstinate group-think into a kind of art form, are never going to concede even an inch to Barack Obama. It's just that simple. Meanwhile, some on the progressive side continue to, ironically, take the same tack -- slamming the president over and over again because they feel he's somehow betrayed their Utopian ideals by not being liberal enough. One of the things I respect most about Barack Obama is what perpetually infuriates the extreme elements within both parties: They call him a centrist who, in trying to please everyone, can't please anyone. While I fully understand the dangers of taking the middle road, especially when your political enemies in the opposition party will always attack you because that's what they're programmed to do, deep-down most Americans want a president willing to represent all Americans. Granted, those who hate Barack Obama, the true lunatic fringe given a resonant voice by Fox News and talk radio, will likely never change their minds about him; the guy could reanimate the dessicated corpse of Ronald Reagan and together they could save a busload of unborn Christian fetuses from going over a cliff while singing I Love This Bar in two-part harmony and the Palin Nation still wouldn't stop calling him a socialist, Marxist, foreign, terrorist-loving whatever-the-hell. But the fact is that -- and how many times can I say this -- pipe dream or not, this country cannot rebound from its current crisis without some form of bipartisanship. It just can't be done.

of course, just working together isn't going to solve everything. they've got to work together to actually come up with something good. but it is the 1st step.

let me go back to lobbyists. i love what obama's administration has done with lobbyists--excluding them from policymaking jobs and other influential positions. actually, i don't LOVE it. i like it. i don't love it because there have already been several exceptions made in that regard and that annoys me. and i love that he wants to require them to have to disclose each contact they make with congress (even though i'm not sure how you enforce something like that.) for the most part, i really dislike ridiculously large and powerful lobbyists. i read this book once that was all about politicians whose political careers were destroyed by lobbyist groups because they opposed legislation that these groups were pushing (and throwing millions of dollars at) and they refused to be bought and back down. our representatives should not be bullied into making national and foreign policy decisions by powerful special interest groups with deep pockets or influenced to vote a certain way because they will get a huge donation for it. shouldn't they be making decisions based on what is good for the country and it's citizens? am i too much of a dreamer to expect that? which leads me to...

WTF SUPREME COURT!?! what is wrong with you? CORPORATIONS ARE NOT INDIVIDUALS. some people think this isn't going to change anything. and maybe they are right. corporations were just using PACs to get their money to campaigns anyway. i guess this will just cut out the middle man. but what really bothers me about this is that i feel like all americans should have a voice in their own politics. i mean, that is the idea behind having local officials represent us in washington, is it not? i think this is just going to widen the gap that is already in place when it comes to influence. do you think the lower class, minority groups have big representation in giant corporations? hardly. this money represents the rich white people who already have the most political influence in this country. how can you be so against a bloated government, but not alarmed at the idea of corporations influencing legislation in that bloated government? corporations exist to make a profit. bottom line. that is all. they serve their interests, not the interest of the people or even the country for that matter.

sigh. i see people on the news talking about the current administration and it drives me crazy. people want the economy fixed now. i get that. i was affected by the economic crash too and although i was able to find another job, i still have not fully come back from the amount of money i lost from that. and i don't know when i will. but people say "this unemployment problem needs to be fixed. now." "this bank/housing/mortgage disaster needs to be fixed. now." "we need to get rid of the deficit. now." "etc. etc." "now." people realize there isn't a light switch you can just turn on and fix everything right? the economy didn't crumble over a summer. everything can't be fixed in a day or even a year. "i'm still unemployed. why is obama making our economy worse?! there are way more panhandlers outside of my favorite red robin (at the woodfield mall in schaumburg, IL) obama is a liar!! i KNEW the democrats would only make things worse! SARAH PALIN WILL MAKE A MUCH BETTER PRESIDENT IN 2012. I'M GOING TO GO WATCH GLENN BECK NOW AND GET SCARED ABOUT MARXISM AND FASCISM BECAUSE THEY ARE THE SAME THING AND OBAMA IS PUSHING BOTH OF THEM."

whoa. sorry. i forgot i wasn't in the comments section of a huffington post article.

i'm not saying people don't have legitimate gripes with what's going on. clearly everyone does. no one is kicked back and satisfied with the state this country is in. people in washington could make people feel a lot better and a lot more hopeful if they'd at LEAST act like they are willing to work together to DO SOMETHING.

anyway, overall i liked the state of the union address. it was filled with optimism and he talked about some good plans he has like the jobs bill and tax cuts for small businesses who will start hiring again. and that made me hopeful that some of the things he's brought up could actually happen. but then i thought about reality and how everyone goes back to their offices and starts thinking about how their campaigning is going to go this summer and what corporations they should hook up with so they can get short films made about their opponents. so basically, i felt really pretty skeptical that anyone over there is going to get anything done.

and then this happened and i got excited all over again. we should see these open, candid conversations way more often.

look...it's time to move on

2010-01-15T09:57:00.001-07:00

there is this colonial-style home that that looks very similar to this one that i drive by a lot. it's lovely. right now it has a small pine tree on either side of its front door and a christmas wreath in the space above the door. all three are lit with white christmas lights. still. every night when i drive by it, i think "okay, i get that maybe you are just too lazy to have taken your christmas lights down by now. but why do you keep turning them on? why are you illuminating your shame?" that's like accidentally getting knocked up at age 16 and wearing a belly shirt every day for the rest of sophomore year.

homeboy wore combat boots to the beach. i know you don’t want to call that your boyfriend. i know you don’t.

2010-01-12T20:30:00.003-07:00

i think people like the hills so much because everyone and every thing is so relatable. like, the other day i was watching it and audrina met kristin for lunch and audrina was all "i hate it when i wear eyeliner and..." and kristin interjected "and it gets in your crease!" and audrina was like "YES!" and then they had a good laugh. and i was like "totally."

goodbye and hello

2010-01-04T19:31:00.015-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: TEN BILLION

i have spent weeks slaving over what my best ______ of 2009 lists. you might think "weeks" is an exaggeration, but it's not. weeks. and then i thought, eff it, i don't even put this much thought and effort into my life in general, why am i obsessing over lists? but mostly my problem is that i couldn't come up with 10 movies from 2009 that i loved enough to put in my top 10. i could only come up with eight. eight really great movies that i felt i could really commit to and call favorites. in a top 10 sense. who is even forcing me to make my list a list of 10? ok, you know what, eff it (again [sorry mom]) i'm just going to tell you my eight (in no particular ranking or order [too much pressure]):

-500 Days of Summer
-Up In the Air
-Zombieland
-Up
-In The Loop
-District 9
-Fantastic Mr. Fox
-The Hurt Locker

okay, even within those eight, there are a few that i'm like hmmm, top 10? district 9? fantastic mr. fox? well, i mean, there aren't any other movies i want to put there, so i guess...

don't get me wrong, there were a lot of good movies in 2009. in fact, i have several runner-ups:

Adventureland
The Messenger
The Hangover
Earth
Star Trek
Taken
Inglourious Basterds

yeah yeah, i get that you all think Inglorious Basterds is like the best movie ever made. but i just feel like if i have to close my eyes more than once every five minutes and i feel a little icky when it's all over, then i'm not going to put that movie in my top 10. i loathe myself for saying icky just now. but not enough to delete.

and the rest of those were good, right? some even GREAT in their own ways, but top 10 worthy? i don't know...

lists are hard

i mean, i haven't even seen A Single Man yet. and it's supposed to be really great and plus, Colin Firth is in it. i also haven't seen Moon, The Road, or A Serious Man. any of these could possibly be added to my top ten, i don't know. how can i commit to a top 10 without having seen these?

look, you're not going to convince me to see avatar.

okay, if you think coming up with a top 10 for 2009 is hard, you should think about a top 10 for the DECADE! i tried. oh, i tried. i came up with a top 18 with an honorable mention list of 14.

I'M GOING TO NARROW IT DOWN RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!

top 10 favorite movies of the decade (in no particular ranking or order [except the first which is definitely my #1]):

-Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind - 2004

oh, this is scary. maybe i should have top 10's for the first and second halves of the decade.

no, that's too much and no one cares.

well, no one cares about this either, but here we are.

okay here are the others:

-Amelie - 2001
-No Country for Old men - 2007 (okay, i closed my eyes a lot in this. my above argument sucks)
- Synecdoche, New York - 2008
-The Royal Tenenbaums - 2001
-About A Boy - 2002
-Kill Bills I&II - 2003/2004 (what)
-In Bruges - 2008
-The Fall - 2006
-Oh Brother Where Art Thou?

i'm not really committed to everything on that list. here are some honorable mentions, though (and maybe switch-outs?):

Pan's Labyrinth - 2006
Let the Right One In - 2008
There Will be Blood - 2007
Waltz With Bashir - 2008
High Fidelity - 2000
Once - 2007
Moulin Rouge - 2001
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - 2007
Punch Drunk Love - 2002

this is getting ridiculous. i have like 10 more. i'll stop.

my favorite albums of 2009:

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
Sin Fang Bous - Clangour
Memory Tapes - Seek Magic
M. Ward - Hold Time
and a last-minute addition: The xx - XX
and then maybe:
Iron & Wine - Around The Well?
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast?
Here We Go Magic - Here We Go Magic? yeah, probably
the newest Kings of Convenience? I haven't even listened to it yet! so, no.

my attempt at picking favorite albums of the decade has been a joke (you'll see.) this has been such a good decade for music! my favorite albums of the decade aren't necessarily what i think are the best albums, but the ones that got a ton of listening time from me and hold great memories in them. and plus i just like them. so what i'm saying is i don't want to hear anyone's crap about how lame you think my choices are.

-The Honorary Title - Anything Else But The Truth - 2004
-Band of Annuals - Let Me Live - 2007
-Radiohead - In Rainbows - 2007
-Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends - 2002
-Stars - Set Yourself on Fire - 2005
-My Morning Jacket - Z - 2005
-Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - 2006
-Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise - 2005
-Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes/Sun Giant - 2008
-Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to The Head - 2002
-Wilco - Sky Blue Sky - 2007 (or Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - 2002?)

lots of runners up!

-Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago - 2008
-Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - 2007
-Norah Jones - Come Away With Me - 2002
-The Postal Service - Give Up - 2003
-The Shins - Oh, Inverted World - 2001 (or Wincing The Night Away - 2007)
-Jose Gonzalez - Veneer - 2003
-Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts Of The Great Highway - 2003 (or April - 2008)
-Arcade Fire - Funeral - 2004
-Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American - 2001
-Iron & Wine - Our Endless Summer Days - 2004
-Kings of Leon - Because of The Times - 2007
-My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade - 2006 (yeah yeah, i know, i'm so emo)
-Feist - The Reminder - 2005
-Radiohead - Kid A - 2000
-Sigur Ros - Takk - 2005 (or maybe Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust - 2008, because i haven't been able to stop listening to Við spilum endalaust since i first heard it.)
-Bonnie Prince Billie - Lie Down in The Light - 2008
-Adele - 19 - 2008
-Band of Horses somewhere in there...
-......some other stuff....
-.....mumble mumble....
-wait, where is all my hip hop? uh oh...you know what? just disregard the last 2,000 character (5 minutes of your life)

PLEASE MAKE ME STOP

how do movie/music critics narrow things down to lists? i am bad at lists. maybe i'm single because i can't narrow things down.

i don't even know what books came out in 2009. but i will say my favorite of all books i read in 2009 was The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. which i read in January. i guess it was a slow book year for me.

the end.

i am never doing this again.

welp...THAT'S over with

2009-12-26T17:36:00.007-07:00

song i can't stop listening to, not just while typing this post: "oh come oh come emmanuel," by joshua james

i've never really paid attention to the words of that hymn, i don't think. they're really pretty.

anyway, yesterday i spent the day doing way more than what should have been able to fit into one day. i'm not sure how i did it, but i'm thinking i may have stopped time for a bit. somehow. or maybe went back in time so i could do extra stuff like Hermione does in that one Harry Potter movie.

here's how i filled my day:

-opened a few gifts. new green running shoes. gift to myself: cute new wallet.
-watched the last 30 minutes of It's A Wonderful Life. cried.
-ate breakfast
-killed it at Scene It: Harry Potter Edition. yesss
-got my ass handed to me at Yahtzee
-with some help, completed a 500pc puzzle of London
-started The Lovely Bones
-ate lunch
-took a nap
-ate ate ate
-played with the coolest kids around
-ate dinner (caramel popcorn)
-finished The Lovely Bones

oh, also, i saw this last week:

i'm sure you can't tell what she's doing, so let me explain. she is washing her entire car with the windshield brush at the gas pumps.

and yes, i was at maverik. no, i didn't get any yogurt.

rhymes so loud and proud you hear it, it's christmas time and we got the spirit

2009-12-15T21:39:00.009-07:00

I AM LISTENING TO A LOT OF SONGS WHILE TYPING THIS POST!

welcome to the first annual (and probably only ever) christmas music awards!

i like christmas. and i've decided to bestow upon some christmas songs some awards that i feel are long overdue. click on the each one for a listen!

1. most overly-dramatic
2. greatest pandering to watchers of lifetime and the hallmark channel. but mostly lifetime.
3. worst ever metaphor for poverty
4. best disturbing and hilarious combo. i'm sorry cat lovers
5. song that is just too real. just.too.real john denver
6. most christmas-like and christmasy
7. song that makes you listen to this artist one for one month a year and never again
8. song that makes you think of that red record you had when you were a kid until your sibling broke it in half. yeah, "on accident"
9. the song that i just know is going to help get positive gay legislation passed all over the country
10. best christmas song that i guess is technically a christmas song
11. on that note, the best christmas song that i guess is technically a christmas song that teaches you to speak another language!
12. best christmas song by a band that i will never refer to as a boy band (i can't always get behind acapella, but i can always get behind these guys)
13. favorite non-traditional of christmas songs (just download everything he has ever made or touched)
14. best christmas song sung by someone totally awesome and talented that i know! (go here. and here. and here.)
and lastly...
15. award for my favorite christmas song many years running (have i posted this song on my blog enough times? at least i am giving you a different version.)

the end

rarely is the questioned asked: is our children learning?

2009-12-08T22:41:00.003-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "hey guys! it's christmas time!," by sufjan stevens

last week i was supposed to go see a christmas carol with my family, as is our tradition. however, i wasn't able to make it. when i called my mom to tell her, she said "oh darn, dad has a birthday present for you in our trunk." i thought it was strange that there would be a birthday present in their trunk over a week before my birthday. tonight i went to my mom's and when i was leaving, my dad said "wait! i need to get your birthday present out of my car!" my mom said "one of your birthday presents..." and my dad grumbled something about me not needing any other birthday presents besides this one. the ONE. so, he comes back inside with this big square thing wrapped in a black garbage bag with a typed piece of paper taped to it:

what the what? i thought to myself. so, he took it to my car and put it in so i wouldn't forget to take it home. i asked him if i had to wait until my birthday to open it and he said i could do whatever i wanted. he kept saying that the present was "so me." "this is SO BECKY."

so, i get home and of course i'm not going to wait til my birthday to open it. i present to you my birthday gift from my father:in case you need a closer look:

my dad is sow awesome. the only thing he could have gotten me that is MORE "becky" is one of those swimsuits the duggar family kids wear:

pioneers, oh pioneers

2009-12-06T20:50:00.001-07:00

am i the only one loving this ad campaign?

hey john kerry, 2004 called...

2009-12-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

his ears were cold. he's not with us. go back to bed.

2009-11-29T21:00:00.009-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "the fixer," by pearl jam

i just saw fantastic mr. fox. it was great. i mean, it's no new moon, but still fantastic. speaking of new moon, why do people even bother to review that movie? i mean, no one expects it to be good. when you have a built-in fan base that large who you know will be satisfied with whatever crap you put out (we all saw movie 1, right?) why would you spend all the money to make a quality movie? self-respect? yeah, maybe self-respect.

i've decided the best and most entertaining way to see the twilight movies is opening weekend with a theater full of rabid twilight fans. there is all sorts of screaming and swooning going on. for 2.5 hours. so so much more entertaining then if you went, say, three weeks later with a bunch of guys who were dragged there by their girlfriends or wives.

this weekend i also went to the byu/utah game. it was so awesome. it was a hard-fought game with the most perfect ending you could ask for in a rivalry game. now i just wish people would stop talking about max hall and his big mouth instead of talking about the game. of course, utah fans probably don't want to talk about the game anyway (zzzing!) this was also the occasion where i was reminded that you cannot purchase caffeinated beverages at byu. laaaaaame. how did i not remember walking off campus every single day to buy dr. pepper?

hey, guess what? they're baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

but...why yellow SLC? why not the green from last year? or even red? the yellow makes all of downtown look like a construction zone. or a crime scene.

today i was driving and i said to myself am i ready for christmas music? i don't think i'm ready for it. then i decided to turn on the radio to FM100 to see if maybe i was ready for it but just didn't know it yet. the very first song that came on was this one. followed immediately by this one. it's like FM100 knew exactly what i'd need to hear to be convinced it was time for christmas music. i mean, as i've maybe mentioned before, those are my two favorite christmas songs (well, along with this one.)

i'm still not really ready for christmas music, though. maybe it's the lack of snow...

these are cute

2009-11-27T11:16:00.004-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "my love," by the bird and the bee

what's with the vast amount of cash-for-gold commercials lately? i feel like there are way more than normal. is it because of these hard economic times? people are desperate for cash?

here's what confuses me about this, though. who tf are these people who have a bunch of gold crap lying around that they don't want anymore? it seems to me that the people who would have excessive amounts of gold jewelry are probably not in the economic class that is desperate enough financially to sell their personal belongings.

but what do i know about it? my room is full of fashion jewelry.

Surviving Swine Flu!!!

2009-11-13T18:41:00.006-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "i'm a pilot," by fanfarlo (thanks keck)

did you really think this was going to be about swine flu? well, you're wrong. i just haven't blogged in a while and i needed to catch your attention. it's like at my old job when we'd send emails to this guy who always ignored our emails, we'd put "free cookies!" or "party tonight!" in the subject line because we knew he'd read them (and he did.)

but back to swine flu. CALM DOWN, you don't have it! it's just a cold! if you start throwing up blood (or slop,) i might be convinced. ugh, i hate swine flu/swine-related jokes.

i have an assistant at work now. someone suggested i call him Cog (and i do [in private conversations {with that one person.}]) it is so great having Cog...er...i mean, an assistant. i am slowly working my way toward NOT working 60 hours a week. since i last measured two weeks ago, i already like my life 45% more. thank you, CIMA (Cog, I Mean Assistant)

now i have time for other things again. movies, concerts, making out, meals, friday night lights, dinking around, cleaning, the gym...

i decided the only way i was going to make it to the gym this upcoming cold, dark, long, and cold and dark and long winter ahead of us is if i got myself a gym buddy. now, i've been wanting a good gym buddy for a while, but haven't had much luck. but i finally found one and just in time! we are MTB. we live near each other, we like to work out at the same general time of day, we like to stay at the gym approximately the same amount of time as each other and we both find the decision of which tv to be in front of on the treadmill to be very (very) important.

yesterday was our 2nd big date at the gym. we strategically planned our time so that we'd be moving from the treadmills to the ellipticals right as the office was starting. however, we got there a little earlier than planned so that by the time the office started we had been on the treadmills way longer than we normally would be and were both exhausted. but neither of us said anything to the other (you don't want to appear weak on your 2nd gym date with a new gym buddy.)

i stepped off the elliptical to get a drink. in this particular area of the gym, there is a step up to the machines that is about a foot and a half high. when going back to my elliptical i tripped over it. but i didn't fall. instead, i did the super embarrassing-looking stumbling/running forward really fast to try to catch myself thing. only, because the step-up ground was so much higher than the ground where i had started from, i was doing this super embarrassing-looking stumbling/running forward really fast to try to catch myself thing hunched really closely to the ground. AND, i had to grab onto some girls machine to steady myself. so basically i looked as dumb as you could POSSIBLY look in this situation. the only thing that could have made me look MORE idiotic would be if my pants had snagged on the step and ripped off. OR if i had nervous vomited.

i think i was too tired to be as embarrassed as i should have been (i should have been really effing embarrassed.) i don't think my gym buddy saw, though. phew! she might have broken up with me and we're still in the honeymoon phase.

me llamo t-bone la araña discoteca

2009-10-18T10:38:00.007-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "for me this is heaven," by jimmy eat world

one time a posted about my number one celebrity crush. i have matured so.much. since then. i've had a new number one celebrity crush for some time now, and i feel i am overdue in posting about him.

#1 celebrity crush: joel mchale. how can you not have a crush on this guy?

he's really sexy and funny. and i think we can all agree that funny adds like 10 points to the sexy scale.

imagine how i felt in finding out joel mchale would be in a new sitcom this fall! i was more excited than that one time i found out i just still had shingles--not an ovarian abnormality!

so far i have really been enjoying community. although, i think abed has been more delightful than anyone else on the show thus far (plus i am just happy to see a lovable palestinian character.) two of my favorite abed scenes thus far:

but wait, this post is still about my number 1 celebrity crush, joel mchale. watch him in action:

joel has a degree in history and played college football for two years. he also has a master's in fine arts! also, did i mention he's funny? remember those burger king commercials he was in that were funny? also, he has been married for like 13 or 14 years. i like that. and he's a dad. a really cute dad, i bet.

let's look at him one more time:swoon.

liz's uterus fell out

2009-10-16T17:38:00.003-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "five fingers," by aesop rock

stuff has happened. things. events.

i went to new york city (to visit this girl [the best]) blah blah blah. then i went to albany. yada yada yada. then i left my phone there. then that sucked. then i went back to work. sigh. then i answered about 300 emails. then i had the most awkward experience ever over a delicious salad. then i got my phone back. hooray! then i went to donut falls. it was snowy and icy. it was like an ice skating hike. so hardcore. then i had a sister date. then i made brownies. sweet lord, hoon loves those. then i ate pumpkin pancakes. delish! then i worked a bunch. then i finally got my office (it has a blue wall!) then i ordered myself a desk. hooray again! then 30 Rock came back into my life. then i made brownies again. good heavens, hoon loves those. then my dad called me about my PERSONAL LIFE!! then i ate pad thai. then i started assembling said desk. then i left work after only 6 hours in the office.

so...things are good.

2009-10-06T10:25:00.001-06:00

eff

hey there little lovers, why we fightin' with each other?

2009-09-19T18:51:00.002-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "berlin," by black rebel motorcycle club

things i've learned this week:

1. fall is on it's way!
2. i am still apathetic about blogging
3. "how bad can someone mess up a trim?" is not really a question you want answered.
4. people hear "shingles" and automatically go to "scabies" in their heads.
5. life is short and we could die at any time on any day. this is why i spend as much time as possible on the internet and watching reality t.v.
6. not a single non-family person in my life likes the university of michigan. wtf acquaintances?
7. no matter how badly i'm stressing about money, and how much i don't care about cutting out other things i want to spent money on (a decent [or even adequate] haircut,) i always still want to buy shoes. why, shoes? whyyyy? i hate you!! (jk, i love you shoes. bff. TL 4ever.)
8. there is an unspoken rule that if you are mormon and born outside of happy valley, you have to hate BYU. i wonder if non-indianian catholics are the same way...
9. there are a lot of teen dramas on t.v. and all of the actors look the same
10. my insurance sucks ass (mom, if you've found my blog already, please excuse my language [for the past 2.5 years])

2009-09-07T10:30:00.003-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "that's because you drive me," by acid house kings.

why i'm going to be a bad mother:

1. i have this cute little plant that i can't stop from dying. no matter how hard i try it is still just dying, one dead leaf at a time. am i not nurturing enough?

2. i dropped an egg on the floor (it broke.) i was told in high school that if i couldn't take care of an egg, there is NO WAY i can take care of a child.

it's the new kris kross

2009-08-30T10:33:00.003-06:00

the fusion of hip hop and skinny jeans delights me

2009-08-22T09:45:00.003-06:00

last night i got a dream text that i was sure was actually sent to me in real life. when i woke up i went to check my phone because i couldn't quite remember what it had said or who had sent it, but there was no text. all i remember is that it started like this:

"hey babe, why did you..."

quit dream texting me honey

i tried to do hand stands for you

2009-08-21T00:35:00.001-06:00

i'm loving this catchy little tune

Chairlift - Bruises (Official Music Video) - More amazing videos are a click away

oh think twice

2009-08-14T10:57:00.003-06:00

last night i had a dream that i woke up in the middle of the night, checked my phone, and had this text:

IT'S ANOTHER DAY FOR YOU AND ME IN PARADISE

i don't know

silly girl, we can't just stop. but we can do something else if you want.

2009-08-09T09:44:00.003-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "oboes bleat and triangles tink," by say hi

this is my little brother and i.

have you ever seen more sibling love? EVER?

i am really good at keeping people alive during cross-country drives. ask anyone. i'm also really good at spying on those people because of google latitude (the coolest thing ever.)

i found this (really awesome) velcro wallet while cleaning out a drawer yesterday.

i haven't used it in about 6-8 years and there was $40 in it! michael jackson, you keep things exciting even in death!

i need a night job. preferably something that pays me more often than twice a month and that doesn't involve taking my clothes off or carrying heavy trays of food. suggestions?

did i mention i'm going to NY? it's not for a few months, but that is just enough time for me to save hundreds of dollars to spend at H&M.

it's love, it's not santa clause

2009-08-05T16:48:00.004-06:00

download this song.
and watch this movie.

you don't have to do it in that order, necessarily. just do it.

this is titled "this is titled"

2009-07-22T15:54:00.004-06:00

1. i got a ticket for failure to yield to a pedestrian. whatever cop on a motorcycle.
2. when do you get old enough to insist on being called "mr."?
3. juggalos!
4. please don't hand back a marker that you borrowed to draw on your daughter's sore to tell the doctors if it had changed in size.
5. i've joined the quidditch team and i can't wait for practice
6. overheard in the hallway: "i have a boyfriend but i just messed around with this other guy"
7. i forgot how weird Vertigo is. the movie, not the condition. although, the condition is probably also weird. IT DOESN'T MATTER TO YOU!
8. the pioneers trekked across the plains so i would have a right to lounge around a pool sipping margaritas. so that's how i'm spending pioneer day.
9. i've learned from Big Brother that being a "brain" doesn't mean you can't still be totally ridiculous as a human being.
10. one time i wrote a poem about sushi but i didn't save it. my posterity will never know how right-brained i was.
11. did you think i was stopping at 10? you were wrong.
12. even if you have a hard time peeing into a cup, can't you clean up the piss you left all over the seat and toilet paper dispenser?
13. speaking of pee, i learned today that some people have never heard of cigarette pee.
14. i got a new headband and i really like it.
15. some people say bruises aren't sexy OR tough, but i think they are at least one of those.

who even wears sunglasses like this?

2009-07-22T09:30:00.001-06:00

douchebags in red jettas who think they're cool but really they're just...well, douchebags.

you know it aint easy, you got to hold on

2009-07-10T12:53:00.004-06:00

a lot has happened: 4th of july, brakes getting fixed, vietnamese food, worlds colliding, lots of barfing, the gallivan center, jillian and reid, witnessing a crime...you know, typical summer stuff.

also, remember how great this song is?

Neil Young - Unknown Legend
Uploaded by LeBalayeur. - See the latest featured music videos.

paul, i think i told you, i'm a lover not a fighter

2009-06-25T22:12:00.005-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "alive," by pete yorn

a few other things have happened in june:

1. i finally watched that benjamin button movie.

did you know you have to wait many, many hours for brad pitt to become attractive? what a bust! the movie is entertaining as long as you are LOLing at it. but if you're trying to take it seriously, i'm sorry but it is just not a good movie. brad pitt being born old is never explained, which might have been okay if there was any point to it at all. also, if he is born as a baby that looks like an old man, shouldn't he have died as an adult-sized person who looks like a baby? consistency people!

but for me, the movie even exhisting is validated by these comments my friends made about it:

bryton: I wonder, if he was aging normally, would the film be any different? His weird aging creates some Obstacles (with a capital O), but I don't think it really offers much in terms of insight or deeper meaning.

bryan: they should call this movie: "Things happen and then we will reveal how strange Brad Pitt looks periodically throughout the movie as he gets yolder."

i have liked brad pitt's acting in several things, but he was so boring in this. and he got nominated for AWARDS for it! apparently all you have to do to get nominated for acting awards these days is wear various kinds of makeup in various different scenes for three hours.

bryan: Why does he just STARE AT THINGS IN THIS MOVIE!!!!!!! ALL HE DID IS STARE AT THINGS. That old bastard spends 3 hours of my life staring at the same stuff I am in the movie. He should have just left the screen and joined us in the crowd as we watched his boring ass movie.

2. work is fun.

carrie, at work, was telling us that once she had a blind date and he took her to the pet cemetery.

blind date: now this may seem weird, but hear me out...we're just going to light a few candles, and then i'm going to cut your face. but i only need a little bit of your blood, so it's ok.

carrie: ........um.....??.....

3. remember when i had this roommate?

well, now i have another roommate i like to call mothra.

to get an idea of the scale of things, godzilla is about the same height as me. mothra is the same size as mothra.

4. unless you live in a cave, you know that the king of pop died today.

when i told my friend david, he was too devastated to believe it. i mean, i didn't want to believe it either, but at least i believed the LA Times. this was his response:

I think BET is probably the most trustworthy news source about people that were born black even if they got traded to a different color team later in life, and BET says: Pop singer Michael Jackson is rushed to an L.A. hospital. Some sources are reporting that the "King of Pop" has died.

how embarrassing for BET to be the last in the know.

michael jackson's music is encased in SO many memories from my childhood. i remember the day the thriller music video premiered. i was 6 years old. i remember watching moonwalker with my friend jamie over and over and over again. i remember being completely mesmerized by the anti-gravity lean in smooth criminal. even more than the moonwalk. i remember making up dance routines on the trampoline. i love how all of his videos were like mini cinema experiences. my favorite video was always the way you make me feel. i wanted to BE that girl. i mean, michael jackson was just so cool. no one in the world was cooler than michael jackson. look at this picture:

who was cooler than that? no one.

i remember listening to records of the jackson 5. i still listen to them almost every time i do my dishes (i don't know why.) going back and seeing that sweet, extremely talented little kid is sort of heartbreaking. look, michael jackson is a guy who was physically and mentally abused throughout his entire childhood and pretty much reverted to the mental state of a 10 year old by the time he was 40, became bffs with the prince of bahrain, and made his children wear masks. i don't know. he was jacked up.

and he's not the only artist who has made me love music, of course, but he did have a huge affect on me when i was younger in regards to getting into music videos, dancing and music in general. i think i could still sing along to any one of his songs. and i bet every one of them would bring a specific memory to the surface. and obviously he had similar influences on other people. plus, he influenced fashion, he influenced dance, he influenced music. he is still influencing music. i'm just not sure anyone has been so large world-wide as michael jackson. i'm sad i never got to see him live. there will never be another michael jackson. RIP MJ.

5. the other two major things that happened this month are that one, i called my credit card company and asked them to reduce my interest rate and they DID. and they cut it in half! THEN, secondly, like a week later, i discovered i had a $300+ phone bill (oopsy) and i called AT&T and asked them what they could do for me and they cut it down to $113. whaaaa? oh yeahhhhh

Arches...so fraysh

2009-06-21T11:25:00.020-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "mr. blue sky," by elo

i have neglected june on this blog. but i haven't neglected june in real life. sometimes when it won't stop raining in utah you have to drive several hours away from home to remember that it really is summer. so i went to arches.

bryton was our trip photographer. which turns out is pretty important. the most important thing that happened on the trip, though, is that i saved a man's life and then held a grudge about it for the rest of the trip.

elin couldn't stop hanging loose or contemplating the days of her life.

arches is full of crazy rock formations

gossiping bi**es
sad monkeys
and sights from movies that defined your childhood

we did some exploring, and let's be honest, we totally would have gotten lost if it wasn't for mine and elin's map-reading saviness and land-navigating expertise.

kaBLAM!!we went to dead horse point where a few things happened:

long shadows!
photo shoot engagement photo

i conquered the worldyou know how utah's license plates look like this?

well, wouldn't it be more awesome if this was the picture on the license plate?

then we could change the state nickname to "adorable town USA."

this is way longer than i had intended

ack! WILD ANIMALS!lastly, we got tats. no bigs. i thought it would be romantic to get matching tattoos, but it turns out 50 cent tattoo machines won't let you be selective.

i like to call this one "tattooed girl in a shitty diner."

thanks, baby bwy, for letting me steal so many pictures from you.

pretty much this sums up the arches trip:

ohmyheckbeck

2009-06-02T20:40:00.006-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "loud cloud crowd," by steven malkmus

i don't feel like blogs lately. i don't want to update my own, i'm not reading other people's. i am blapathetic. blogpathetic. apatheblog.

this man at work doesn't believe me that i'm white. i mean, plain--and apparently to him--boring caucasian. he's convinced my slave-owning ancestors "stirred up the coffee pot" somewhere back there. he's black so he can talk about slavery in gest. i'm pretty sure my ancestors were still on the great isle of britain when america was having it's slave phase. i guess i'm going to have to bring in my geneology. or i'll just draw him a family tree in Paint.

it's funny that people have such strong opinions about what is acceptable for the president and first lady to wear. like obama wearing shorts to golf, or michelle never having sleeves on her dresses. i loved it when president obama joked that "no matter which party you belong to, michelle has the right to bear arms," at the white house correspondents dinner. cuz, dude. she has got great arms! also, they're the president! don't rules stop applying to you when you're president? when i'm president, i'm going to wear flip flops, jeans and a tank top everywhere i go. it's going to bring peace to the middle east.

did anyone watch that speach? turns out our pres is a real comedian. rahm emmanuel isn't used to saying "day" after "mother." hahaha seriously, that was a good one, pres.

sometimes my friends are so funny. my friend lee (of the infamous lee and lisa) recently decided to call me ohmyheckbeck. it is so funny every time. somehow. also, last week david and i went to get sushi. all you can eat. is there a worse idea if you are paranoid about mercury poisoning? later i got scared that we were on the cusp of death and sent him the symptoms of mercury poisoning. this was his bulleted response.

omg. bff. rotflmao. twss. bfwaatwq. ttyl.

here are some trips i'm contemplating in the near future:

1. Huntington Beach, CA for the US Open of Surfing
2. Playa Blanca, Mexico because it's Mexico
3. Phoenix, AZ just cuz
4. London, UK for a Michael Jackson concert
5. The Mountains, UT for lots of camping

only 3/4 of those are true.

we bout to do it theoretically, insteadibly, to the medley

2009-05-20T20:41:00.000-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "clap your hands," by a tribe called quest

i went camping. it was great. i got some sun and some sore muscles and some s'mores and some bug bites that are now oozing "stuff." so obv it was a great weekend.

my phone is dead. entirely. i am being sent a replacement phone so until then, i am phoneless. so far i have been phoneless for 6 days. if you have been texting and calling me incessantly, that's why i haven't responded. feel sorry for me. if you get an email from me that is one sentence or a fragment of a sentence it's because i miss my phone.

i'm reading, i'm watching, i'm listening to...

a tribe called quest: midnight marauders

this album didn't get great reviews when it was released. compared to their debut album People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm i think it seemed sub par. i disagree. i think it's just that there are so many decent tracks on it that no one song sticks out. i guess that can make the album uninteresting. and i am probably biased because this album was my introduction to a tribe called quest and will always have a special place in my heart because of that. i got hooked on this album. and it is how i first learned how great hip hop could be.

here's a great one:

Award Tour by A Tribe Called Quest

Fandalism Free MP3 Hosting

now enjoy some electric relaxation

speaking of a tribe, guess whose coming to salt lake this summer?
q-tip!

the white tiger

now HERE is the great story about call center life in india we've all been dying to read. j/k guys.

this book got a ton of great reviews. here's my review: "meh..."

Deirdre Donahue from USA Today said "Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger is one of the most powerful books I've read in decades. No hyperbole. This debut novel from an Indian journalist living in Mumbai hit me like a kick to the head..."

deirdre, we're going to have to agree to disagree because although i found this novel to be pretty funny and an interesting commentary on class structure in india, i didn't find it anything near powerful and i stopped thinking about it as soon as i read the last sentence.

but here's the thing...maybe you should read it. because some people found it to be a kick to the head.

the diving bell and the butterfly

now, this was great. this is a true story about a man suffering from locked-in syndrome. in fact, the movie is based off of this guy's memoir. it's about him trying to cope with what he's been dealt and it tells about how he learns to communicate without being able to move his hands or speak. it was fascinating. i won't say too much more because i don't want to spoil it. but i highly recommend this movie. not only is the story touching and incredible, but the film was made in a way that creates a viscerally emotional experience when watching it. it really is just a great example of how truly great films can be.

i really haven't been watching, reading and listening to these things for the past 3 months. i've just been too lazy to report on them.

sometimes laziness happens to good people.

baby there's no guidance when random rules

2009-05-12T21:12:00.007-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "random rules," by silver jews

today i emailed the Salt Lake City Library (Sweet Branch).

dear Salt Lake City Library (Sweet Branch),

WHY DO I ALWAYS FORGET TO RETURN YOUR BOOKS TO YOU ON TIME?

you're welcome for basically funding you with my late fees.

sincerely,

becky

have i mentioned dragon shirt guy? he came into the office wearing jeans and a short-sleeved, button up shirt that was black with bright orange dragons all over it. i think he might be on meth. but that's beside the point. i overheard him saying he was going to go apply for a job as soon as he left our office because he was "dressed in business attire." hell ya dragon shirt guy. a few days later he was wearing a shirt that said "chick magnet."

on thursday he came into our office again and when he went to leave he ran into the door. he just said "door" and kept walking.

i love dragon shirt guy.

i'm really over the babes. the many babes centered around holidays and seasons. for now. thus, i'm going back to my roots (in case you wanted a play-by-play.) it's totally retro (over two years) so i think it's pretty legit.

oh, look, it appears the Salt Lake City Library (Sweet Branch) has written me back.

dear becky,

"dear so-and-so's" on blog posts is so played out.

sincerely,

Salt Lake City Library (Sweet Branch)

touché SLCL (SB). touché

remember when i hated on john mayer's personality for multiple paragraphs? after that, hoon told me that he was actually funny and that maybe she had celeb crush on him. i tried to be open minded, but secretly i doubted her and maybe second-guessed her taste in what is funny once or twice.

but then yesterday, i saw this video and i thought it was funny. not only did i think it was funny, but i found him totally crushable.

John Mayer Has A TV Show (VH1 )

i owe you an apology, john mayer (and hooner.) and jennifer aniston, i'd probably let him break up with me twice, too, if it weren't for those faces he makes when he sings. some things i just can't get past.

revision

2009-05-07T08:11:00.004-06:00

i mean, if marilyn had a goatee and swirly mustache...

i think our hands just made a baby

2009-05-01T23:13:00.005-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "who'd have known," by lily allen

we discussed it and determined that the age gap between zack efron and i isn't yet to the "gross" place. so i think it's a go.

lady ace and k-tron decided to do the only logical thing to do after seeing a zack efron movie: find 18 year olds to make out with, duh.

i had pigtails and a bedazzled hello kitty tshirt on to fit in (that's what the kids are wearing these days, right?) so while they went to find 18 year olds to make out with, i ended up climbing into a van to go help some older guy out (he lost his puppy.)

i have sent out an e-vite, for our big, grand opening pancake luncheon.

2009-04-29T21:48:00.008-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "my girls," by animal collective

i hated that easter picture so i changed it a day early. changed it to memorial day babes! what better way to remember our deceased family members? and what fallen soldier doesn't want his death memorialized by two hot military babes (well, except for those who may want theirs memorialized by vietnamese hookers)?

one of my favorite evidences of spring is patio tables suddenly appearing at delicious restaurants. that's when i know we've arrived! eating out in the fresh air and sunshine is the best. oh how i miss saturday morning breakfasts at the aves bakery. this is me when i think about the aves bakery being gone:

(incidentally, that is also how i look when i see james van der beek in anything.)

another evidence of spring is the vast amount of wedding invitations piling up at my parents' home. know what isn't my favorite evidence of anything? seeing wedding invites for people whose diapers i changed. it just feels so darned creepy. whatevs, yay love!

so i am just about to complete my first full week at my new job. while i'm training (and until my office is ready,) i am sitting in an office with two other people. i've been sitting at this girl's desk with her, while her assistant sits behind me. i've had to move whenever someone needs something out of the desk drawer. today we (i) decided that was getting annoying and we came up with a new plan involving a tiny table for me to use as a desk. it's much more comfortable. the problem is that now if carrie or her assistant wants to leave the room without asking me to get up and move my chair, they have to clime on top and over her desk. it's been really entertaining for me. they've been getting creative with it and a lot of times it ends up looking like a lounge singer sprawled out on a piano.

three people i've told about it have said it sounds like this:

whatever. those amateurs have way more room than us.

hjartað hamast eins og alltaf en nú úr takt við tímann týndur og gleymdur heima hjá mér

2009-04-23T08:43:00.003-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "glósóli," by sigur ros

i know i'm pretty late in the game, but have you been to La Blogotheque? it's in french. but that's okay because the best things for you to see there are Les Concerts A Emporter--The Take-Away Shows. i cannot stress enough: these.are.exceptional. basically, these guys wanted to...well...here, they can explain themselves better:

Every week, we invite an artist or a band to play in the streets, in a bar, a park, or even in a flat or in an elevator, and we film the whole session. Of course, what makes the beauty of it is all the little incidents, hesitations, and crazy stuff happening unexpectingly. Besides, we do not edit the videos so they look perfectly flawless, instead we keep the raw sound of the surroundings. Our goal is to try and capture instants, film the music just like it happens, without preparation, without tricks. Spontaneity is the keyword.

sometimes they would hunt people down and ask them to play something on the spot (Bloc Party) but eventually people (and their managers) were asking THEM to let them do a take-away show.

i'm not going to list every performance that blew me away because that is too many but go spend a little time (several hours) on this site and you will not be disappointed.

i will leave you with one of the best performances: Sigur Ros. i might be a little biased, though, cuz Sigur Ros man.

Sigur Ros - Við spilum endalaust - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

it'sa meee! marioooo!

2009-04-22T13:51:00.005-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "what road," by destroyer

every now and then i get a little mario kart obsession. i've been playing it a lot more than normal lately probably due to unemployment and snowy weather in april. anyway this is where i think, you, mario kart are flawed:

you don't issue a completely random selection of prizes to drivers in your prize (weapon) boxes on the track. instead, you reward players in 1st-3rd places by giving them crap (green shells and bananas,) you give average stuff to the drivers in between and excellent gifts to the last placers. this doesn't make for a fair race. what it does is make it near impossible to take out player one (if you're in 3rd or 2nd place) and takes away the incentive to be in 1st place because all that means is you're going to be pelted with blue shells, lightening and red shells. or taken out by a chomper ball.

it also rewards people for sucking at your game. they are in 7th or 8th place the entire time (because they probably went the wrong way for a period of time or drove into the ocean and had to be picked up and put back on the track [more than once]) and then on the last lap they get the following, in this order: star, star, lightening, chomper ball, star, 3 red shells, star. after plowing through everyone who is kind of to really good, they make it to 1st place just as they are crossing the finish line. then they're like "omg! yays! I'M SO GOOD AT MARIO KART!"

i get the point of it. but it's stupid. if you want a totally fair game, give every driver an equal chance at the prizes they get. i mean, that's like picking up the stragglers at a marathon in a truck and driving them up to the front of the pack. also, while in the truck they are throwing lightening and tomatoes and sharp metal objects at the other runners.

of course, it's easy to strategize around this: stay in 4th or 5th place (you still get decent stuff) and then on the last lap get into 1st and win (you're welcome)!

i think i should teach mario kart seminars. i could wear a black turtleneck with jeans and running shoes just like steve jobs, only i'd also be wearing a luigi hat.

also, this?i don't know about this. i just don't.

i'm not sayin it was your fault, although you could've done more

2009-04-16T01:19:00.002-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "naive," by the kooks

here is a fun website you can use if you don't have photoshop or something and you want to mess around with your pictures. it's called fotoflexer and i play with it all the time (twss).

oh, did i mentioned i chopped off my hair? i mean, it's been a month, but i don't think i mentioned it.

chopped hair:then i put it in piggy tails:

then, obviously, i played around in fotoflexer and made my pictures all sorts of exciting colors! springtime colors! or something.

excitement!

also, i think you should know that i got a job. i am once again a working girl, as they say.

oh yeah, also, i'm on twitter now. i caved. i'm btat. if you care.

lastly, i'm also on this website now called we "heart" it. i really hate the term "heart". like, "i hear that tv show." or something stupid like that. anyway, i kinda like this website, though. you can just bookmark things you like as you come across them online. here's mine.

they know my name 'cause i told it to them, but they don’t know where and they don’t know when

2009-04-15T12:00:00.007-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "keep the car running," by arcade fire

despite the debilitating insomnia and lack of anything resembling money, i've had a pretty good few weeks.

1. marsha taught me how to knit.

KNITTING! the most basic of knitting, but still! baby steps, guyz.

i can't wait for the inevitable wild and scandalous knitting parties!

2. damien jurado at velour.

LIVE MUSIC! this was a really good show. laura gibson, who was great, opened in addition to brinton jones. and i think we all know how i feel about him.

after the music i was talking to this guy who, it turns out, thought i was 23 and felt bad for "hitting on a younger girl." pretty much that could carry my self esteem for at least two weeks.

3. the baby animal festival

BABY ANIMALS! this event has been recounted on other parts of the internet (with better jokes than i am capable of.) but i just want to confirm what has already been suspected: i am in love with baby goats.

also, i did hand over the bunny approximately 10 seconds before it peed all over emily's crotchal area.

okay, you convinced me. i'll put up some pictures.

here is bryton looking really tough holding a bunny. because nothing makes a man like the baby bunny he holds.

however, that only slightly beats out this other picture of B with the baby bunny (BBB.)

after that i got lazy and made everyone else take the pictures.

4. easter

CANDY! normally my candy of choice around easter is cadbury mini eggs. because, duh. but this year, for some reason, i got hooked on robin eggs. i mean "hooked" as in "ate them til i was sick."

i find it ironic that on a holiday celebrating resurrection from death that most people eat ham with potatoes--the most common food served at funerals.

one thing i love about this holiday is watching my nieces and nephews looking for eggs.

obviously lexi is much better at finding ~~shit~~ goodies than marley.

5. other stuff.

OTHER STUFF!

you've been checking on my facts and i admit i have been lax

2009-04-06T17:34:00.003-06:00

sometimes do you forget how fun Vampire Weekend can be? me too. here are two reminders:

this next video is homemade. so excuse it and enjoy the song.

we apologize for this interruption...

2009-04-02T17:28:00.004-06:00

BREAKING NEWS: Maverik now has cookies and cream flavored frozen yogurt.

tidbits

2009-04-01T00:26:00.007-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "rising up," by the roots

just some stuff:

1. you might get all excited and buy Pops because they have the same amount of calories as Special K (and hello, we all know which is yummier,) but trust me, no good will come of it. instead of eating one bowl for breakfast every day (maybe with a banana) like you'd do with Special K, you will sit and eat at least half the box while watching The Godfathers I and II.

2. speaking of The Godfather...maybe you were told that Gomorrah is the best mafia movie since The Godfather, but i'm going to go ahead and tell you that a lot of people who watch it will probably not even get that it's about the mafia because the story telling is random and choppy and pretty unclear and the majority of the characters look like the same guy (big, bald, italian-looking guy). it's gotten great reviews, and i get why, but i was actually pretty bored through most of it. the film shows you just how bleak and grim the lives of these people are, and how squeeky clean and safe and normal our day-to-day living is in comparison. but with all that, the movie isn't even memorable. and the complete detachment from any character makes it near impossible to care who lives or dies, who wins or loses. i think, as far as the author of the book goes, it's great journalism. incredible, really. but as far as a film goes, snoozfest. i'd much rather see something like HBO's The Wire, or the movie City of God. both portray similar devastating life circumstances and gritty events but the characters are not held at arm's length and you easily become emotionally invested. that is the kind of thing that leaves a mark with me. sorry if you loved it.

3. sometimes i force myself to go to the gym by telling myself that if i do, i will get to watch t.v. there (i don't have t.v. at home.) "becky, you can watch Oprah, or CNN or the FOOD NETWORK!" and out the door i go. pathetic? maybe, but at least i'm getting my fat winter ass to the gym!

4. i am really excited about this movie and hoping that it's not a disaster.

5. i am starting up ballet again next month. yays!

6. also, marsha is going to teach me how to knit. look at me! learning new skills. i'm not going to knit any scarves or beanies because summer is coming. what is something summer i could knit? oh! i know! i will knit a bikini. no, i don't think that will hold up on a waterslide. i will knit i hammock! yes, i will knit a hammock with these giant knitting tools. marsha, is that too advanced?

7. who says there's nothing good about reality t.v.? in a recent episode of The City, that dreamboat Jay (swoon) leaves Whitney to go on tour. as she's sitting there, all gloomy at a fashion week after-party, who comes along to give some motherly advice? miss Diane Von Furstenberg herself. she tells Whitney something important that her mother had always told her: absence is to love, what the wind is to fire. when it's a small fire, the wind kills it. but when it's a real fire, the wind intensifies it. i think DVF and her mum are spot on.

8. i think unemployment is making me more familiar with facebook than i ever wanted to be.

9. how much do you LOVE tracy morgan? (i know how much you do, lisa.) i mean, sometimes people who watch 30 Rock say they love him because he plays himself, but i disagree, because i mean, you gotta think about what exactly that is implying. the thing i love about tracy is that not only is he completely hilarious, but he grew up in the PROJECTS. i don't know, i just really appreciate an "i grew up in the projects" success story. especially since watching The Wire.

10. that is all.

we wants it...we needs it...

2009-03-22T18:01:00.002-06:00

i have this book (which i haven't read, so don't ask me for any trivia about gandhi and his passions):

when my niece aspen was two, she was spending a few hours at my house when she noticed the spine of the above book on my bookshelf. she walked up to it, and in her squeeky little two-year-old voice said "gollum!!"

it's still funny.

i missed my own anniversary

2009-03-12T22:33:00.002-06:00

babe report,

happy 2nd anniversary yesterday!! the more we get to know each other, the more i love you. hopefully we'll last longer than any of my other relationships!

xoxo,

bex

trust me, daddy

2009-03-10T15:19:00.006-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "burning airlines give you so much more," by brian eno

me: hi! sorry, i ran to smith's.6:35 PM Matthew: I am going to Smiths tonight!

What a coincidence!

A bizarre and exciting coincidence!

6:36 PM me: unbelievable! WHAT IF YOU BUY THE EXACT SAME THINGS I BOUGHT?

Matthew: I probably will.

Did you buy food and maybe some other stuff?

me: EXACTLY!

weird

too weird?

6:37 PM Matthew: TOO weird.

But at least now we know it's not a coincidence.

FATE

The stars have aligned.

6:38 PM me: i sure wish they'd align job-wise or love-life-wise. rather than grocery-wise

i guess he really took what i said to heart. because now, thanks to my new agent, Matt, all of my problems can be solved in one fell swoop! he told me to quit hiding my bushels under a sweater. no, wait. he told me to quit hiding my talents under a bushel!

3:01 PM Matthew: I was thinking.

me: about

Matthew: If you became a stripper, it would not only get you a job, but it would also help you meet guys.

That's what we call win/win

me: oh wow. how have i not thought about that?

3:02 PM my parents might protest at first. but i'd be like "look, now you don't have to worry about paying my rent, AND i can give you grandchildren"

Matthew: And I have never been healthier!

(lot's of exercise)

3:03 PM win/win/win

me: yeah, i'll be like "dad, look at my abs! they've never looked this good!"

3:04 PM Matthew: And of course he'll already have noticed since you'll be dressing kind of slutty.

You know, just because that's how all your stripper friends dress.

win/win/win/win

3:05 PM me: this idea is getting better and better. and hey, don't judge my stripper friends because of how they dress. they're just trying to work their way through college!

"for three days after death, hair and fingernails continue to grow...but phone calls taper off."

2009-03-08T14:25:00.005-06:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "for reverend green," by animal collective

lately i've been obsessed with this website called findadeath.com. morbid? probably? fascinating? YES! there are all sorts of great things on there: pictures of graves, death certificates, homes these people lived in, the hospitals they died in, the churches their funerals were held in. it also has last photos ever taken of certain people, their last television appearances, etc.

it is incredibly interesting. for most entries they have little bits of trivia. personal stories from regular people who grew up in their towns and neighborhoods. i have learned so much! here are some of my favorites:

Clark Gable. a common saying from the 30s was "who do you think you are, Clark Gable?" i also learned that it was such a controversy that Clark Gable knocked up Loretta Young (apparently he banged anyone and everyone [including one man {frankly, my dear, i don't give a damn}]) that they sent her away to europe for her pregnancy only to bring her back right before giving birth. then they had the baby (a girl) sent to a convent and shortly after created a big news story about Loretta Young "adopting" two children. she sent the boy back and kept the girl (her actual daughter.)

maybe i only think this because i know him as Dracula, but couldn't they have tried to make Bela Lugosi look less like dracula in his casket? i mean, come on! i also learned that Bela Lugosi kept panthers as pets and buried one of them in his back yard at 2227 Outpost Road. oh man, i just read further and apparently Lugosi's wish was to be buried in his dracula costume. fascinating! at his viewing, Peter Lorre says to Vincent Price "Should we drive a stake through his heart, just in case?" man, this website is cool.

i learned Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a bellybutton.
i learned that within only 3 minutes of John Denver's plane crash, seagulls had reached the scene. sad.
i learned that this was found at the scene of Patsy Cline's plane wreckage (warning!)

one more thing that i loved: Marlene Dietrich's make-up man said she kissed so hard that she needed a new coat of lipstick after every kiss. awesome.

you should go to there. Clark Gable and Bela Lugosi were two of my favorite entries. but here are some other entries i'd highly recommend: Karen Carpenter, Johnny Carson, Harry Houdini, and The Doll Family Midgets.

you realize the sun doesn't go down. it's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

2009-03-03T12:01:00.007-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "things we said today," by the beatles

as it turns out, leprechaun pin up girls are hard to come by.

it's 60 degrees right now and i'm just going to pretend the weather is going to stay this way. you hear that utah? STAY THIS WAY.

today was my first outdoor run of the year. know what i listened to? harry potter and the sorcerer's stone on my ipod. don't judge. i'm telling you, audio books really help you to lose track of time.

here's what i'm really loving lately: steamfresh! i mean, all you have to do is pop a bag of brown rice in the microwave for 4 minutes. amazing! not to mention all the veggies. throw in some chicken and some kind of asian sauce and it's the fastest assembled stir fry of all time. oh microwaves, what did we do without you?

you may remember that one time i blogged about oklahoma and its many out-dated laws. and it's state meal. which for some reason not many people find as hilarious as i do. anywho, i was just informed that oklahoma has now chosen a state song. and you know what? it's a great song. all of the songs up for vote were written by oklahomans. do you know what the utah state song is? it's not even a real song! it's called "utah...this is the place." COME ON. we need to change this! we need to find famous utahns who wrote great songs. are there any? because, i mean, i'd rather have a donnie and marie number.

you'd think i'm bored, but i'm not (i am)

2009-02-24T18:25:00.005-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "blue and gold print," by mates of state

1. my snack (obsession) of choice lately is vlasic sweet gherkins (no sugar added.) SWEET PICKLES! don't you love them? they are so delicious and crunchy!

this picture is of the winner of the tiniest sweet pickle award that i gave out earlier today. it actually looks bigger in that picture. but anyway, i was proud. then i ate it.

2. know what album makes me happy no matter what? re-arrange us, by mates of state. i just feel so pumped whenever i listen to it! it's great for a run too. trust me on this.

3. there are a few things i've been doing with my millions of hours of free time lately and one of them is reading books. lots of them. i've read four books since i got laid off and three of them were between 700 and 900 pages. reading is fun, kids! but sometimes it prohibits you from doing important things like eating, showering or sleeping.

4. another thing i've been doing that feels less productive is watching buffy the vampire slayer on dvd. i mean, it's such a good show, you know? takes me back. but after i swore i heard someone knock loudly on my bedroom door last night at 4:30am, and after multiple dreams about angel, xander and willow, i told myself i had to go at least one day without watching one or two episodes of buffy right before falling asleep. also, yes, i'm a geek.

5. no, i don't have a job yet, okay?

6. yay slumdog millionnaire!

7. here are the headphones i got with my new phone.

i'm sure you see the problem.

8. LOST! time travel!!

9. i can't make it to ten.

10. ten

11. look at these two antique necklaces i got as a late birthday/valentine's day/anniversary gift!

aren't they awesome?

happy valentines day to me

2009-02-14T13:33:00.001-07:00

i love you, me

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

didnt you get a job or something? no, no I didnt. unless... you consider "world's coolest daddy" a job

2009-02-12T19:57:00.006-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "turn into something," by animal collective

so, as you've probably heard (from me,) i've been laid off. let me tell you something, being laid off is somewhat traumatic!

them: today is your last day. there are boxes in the lobby, please pack up your stuff.
me: wait.....wha? huh?
them: please hurry so we can have security escort you out of the building.
me: wait....what? huh?
them: yes, this swarm of security people isn't a practical joke.
me: okay, i guess bye everyone i've worked with for 5 1/2 years. i would have hugged you if i could have (let's be honest, only some of you.)

unemployment would be so awesome if you had a 12 month severance package, am i right? otherwise, it's just really stressful and depressing. i realize i've only been unemployed for a week, but STRESSFUL AND DEPRESSING.

here are some signs that even a week of being unemployed is too much for you:

1. you don't even want to eat sour patch kids anymore
2. people start paying for your dinner out of pity at places as cheap as subway
3. your tivo is suddenly recording rock of love (bus) and intervention
4. somehow you get road rage when taking a walk
5. you start referring to people who go to bed before 2am as "pansies"
6. mcdonald's sounds appetizing
7. you don't think puppies are cute anymore
8. you are convinced that if you skipped the country no one would even notice
9. you have no clue what day of the week it is
10. you start eating bowls of bananas soaked in rum for breakfast instead of special k with skim milk

as i'm sure you can guess, right now is not the best time to be looking for jobs. there really isn't much out there! especially what i'm looking for. in fact, there is virtually nothing i'm looking for...in utah....therefore i have also been applying outside of utah. this depresses me. for once in ever, i have finally felt settled in a city and haven't wanted to move. that is very rare for me. but, if i can't find anything here, i'll have to look elsewhere. so far i have applied for jobs in utah, california, colorado, arizona, las vegas (ugh, i know...) washington and oregon. where will i end up? it's a mystery! you can vote over there -------->

all of this being said, the worst part of being unemployed for me is the thought of job interviews. GEEZ, i hate job interviews. interviewers rarely ask any meaningful questions but do their best to be demeaning. this pretty much sums up how i feel inside during interviews.

i still rock 'em, though.

don't talk back to darth vader--he'll getcha!!

2009-02-08T01:30:00.004-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "hey jude," by the beatles

why are kids so awesome? these are three of my favorite kids in the universe. that i don't know.

he's gonna kick my ask

then you can start to make it berrer

that kid is more on key than most adults i know. so great.

the shiny guy always worries

i'm not sure, but that might be the best thing ever. it might even be more awesome than this:

but i'm not ready to go on the record as saying that yet.

i best tidy up my head

2009-02-05T10:59:00.009-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "piano man," by billy joel

i'm reading, i'm watching, i'm listening to...

adele: 19

i've been listening to adele a lot lately. 19 is such a great album. i think melt my heart to stone is my favorite song from the list:

Right under my feet there’s air made of bricks
Pulls me down turns me weak for you
I find myself repeating like a broken tune
And I’m forever excusing your intentions
And I give in to my pretendings
Which forgive you each time
Without me knowing
They melt my heart to stone

And I hear your words that I made up
You say my name like there could be an us
I best tidy up my head I’m the only one in love
I’m the only one in love

Each and every time I turn around to leave
I feel my heart begin to burst and bleed
So desperately I try to link it with my head
But instead I fall back to my knees
As you tear your way right through me
I forgive you once again
Without me knowing
You’ve burnt my heart to stone

And I hear your words that I made up
You say my name like there could be an us
I best tidy up my head I’m the only one in love
I’m the only one in love

Why do you steal my hand
Whenever I’m standing my own ground
You build me up, then leave me dead

Well I hear your words you made up
So I say your name like there could be an us
I best tidy up my head I’m the only one in love
I’m the only one in love

the album is pretty simple. and thematically, her songs are all the same. but i don't have a problem with that. her voice is soulful and not always perfect and i like that. the only song i feel doesn't belong on this album is bob dylan's "to make you feel my love." i've never particularly loved the song and regardless, to me, it doesn't mesh with the flow of this album. skip!

i'm sure everyone has heard this song by now, but have you seen the video? i love the choreography. lay-down-sidewalk-dancing!

Adele - Chasing Pavements (Official Music Video) - Funny videos are here

you should also listen to this and k8 highlighted this one on her blog a while back. i also really like this one. what can i say, i'm a sucker for piano.

in bruges

have you seen this? you should. it's not the best movie of 2008, by any means, but i liked it a lot. and i don't even like colin ferrel. but i like it because it's very dark, but it's a comedy, and it's serious, and it's an action flick, and it's powerful, and it's touching. it was excellently written and the acting was magnificent. and the setting is so beautiful. it's just a great show. watch the trailer!

if that doesn't entice you, there's also a little person in it. so there's that to consider...

*i'm not going to talk about mrs. dalloway because i haven't finished it yet.

the road, by cormac mccarthy

holy geez i liked this book so so much. it.was.heartwrenching. it's set in a post-apocalyptic world and is the story of a father and son who are traveling to stay alive and trying to reach the sea. this book is very very somber. it's not easy to read a lot of the time. but it is a really powerful experience. it raises more questions than anything and leaves you to struggle to find the answers on your own. mccarthy has a very visceral literary style and what you're reading often seems more like poetry than anything else. the landscape he describes is extremely vivid and horrifying which makes it all the easier to become completely engrossed in the story. there are a lot of themes in the book--isolation, destruction, survival and death. for me, the biggest query was the debate of "are we fundementally benevolent or selfish?" i don't want to say anymore because i think you should read it. this book is extremely moving and thought-provoking and i highly recommend it.

also, i got laid off. i'm still trying to decide if i should celebrate or have a panic attack. stay tuned.

wuv, twuuu wuuvvv

2009-02-01T14:14:00.006-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "too tired", by devotchka

yesterday, this babe:

married this guy:
pretty much they are two of the best people out there. as you can see, they have a very loving relationship.

it was an awesome day. they both looked so classy. lisa looked so beautiful and i couldn't stop talking about her shoes. i'm sure you'll hear more about details when someone who had a camera gets on the ball.

they had a photo booth and what a great idea it turned out to be.

congrats. i hope you're having fun in mexico. wink wink. nudge nudge.

can't help it, the girl can't help it

2009-01-27T22:29:00.005-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "right as rain," by adele

so, i kind of think i'm a music snob. sort of. but i don't want to be a music snob! i hate those people. but here's the thing...i tend to turn up my nose at most things that are played repeatedly on the radio. in fact, i've had my car for over three years and i don't have a single radio station programmed in there. i just don't listen to it. also, i tend to mock people (in my head) for listening to stupid music. all signs point to music snob. but i won't be one!!! really, why do i care what other people listen to? i don't! and i know not everyone is even that into music in general, and that shouldn't affect me. i don't understand it. because i'm really really into music. so, yeah, i don't understand it. and i don't understand how someone could actually want to listen to this song ever (or try to sing along to it). or this one.

but guess what? those people probably totally don't get most of the music i listen to. and they probably have a lot of passions that i don't care about. really, i just think everyone should listen to whatever they want. and i don't think anyone should have to apologize for their tastes or justify them to other people. i don't like it when people talk about how people are "try-hards" because they conform to other's tastes to fit in. because those people are the REASON someone might feel like they need to do that in the first place. i certainly don't want to be the person who causes someone to feel like they can't be themself or be honest about what they like or don't like. hey everyone! listen to whatever you want and like whatever you want. i might not understand it, but who cares! cuz i'm not about to apologize for my complete devotion to barry manilow. suck it haters!

basically, what i'm trying to get at is that i still really like both of these songs:

Beyonce - Irreplaceable

Fergie - Clumsy

Capucine is the love of my life

2009-01-25T12:57:00.002-07:00

Dramatic Capumunk from Capucha on Vimeo.

i can't stop watching her here!

hey everyone, are you so ready?

2009-01-21T12:27:00.002-07:00

12:00pm 1/20/09

2009-01-20T15:48:00.010-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "skinny love," by bon iver

what a day guys! i wore my obama t-shirt to work in celebration of inauguration day.

many people have disagreed with me already, but i thought michelle obama looked fabulous. but that's probably less important that other things going on right now (but you still did, michelle.) i thought a great moment today was when obama stumbled during the oath. when he was walking in, i mentioned to my co-worker how calm and relaxed he looked although i'm sure he wasn't. so i found it endearing that he stumbled. i mean, what an intense and nerve-wracking moment it must have been!

can we talk about aretha's hat? i LOVED that hat. only aretha could do that.

i also loved seeing the crowd. so many people spread out over two miles! that is a lot of people. and i loved how they showed people gathered in different cities across the country. and i loved how there were thousands of people who came from all over the world to experience this moment. i loved i loved i loved.

my favorite part of his address:

To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West: Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

spot on. it also really hit me when he said this:

...a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

sometimes you forget that it really wasn't that long ago at all (unless your grandma is totally racist. then you are reminded a lot.)

when i was watching everything today, one thing that came to mind was how smoothly our process is. there aren't many places in the world where the transition of power happens so peacefully and almost seamlessly and i'm really grateful for that.

the world is scary right now and i know obama isn't perfect. but what i like about him is that he makes you feel confident and hopeful but at the same time realistic about how things are. you know, katie's feelings pretty much mirror mine, so just have a look at what she had to say.

dade? yeah, ma? what are you doing? i'm taking over a t.v. network. finish up, honey, and get some sleep

2009-01-19T09:44:00.004-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "in the sun," by joseph arthur

saturday night i had a dream that i was in park city and was walking to my car after seeing a festival film. it was really late and dark outside and i was by myself. a car pulled up and the driver rolled down the window and said "it's dark. you shouldn't be walking out here alone like this. do you need a lift somewhere?" i told him i'd appreciate being dropped off at my car. he got out and opened the back door for me and in and in the back of the car was Brangelina. how nice of them to care if i'm raped or not! that being said, i was pretty bugged that a better celebrity hadn't stopped for me instead. you know, like michael cera or scarlett johansen. don't you care about my safety scarlett?

know what's cold? park city. but you know what's fun? the Sundance Film Festival. sunday i actually did go to park city with my friends the brothers crandall. i saw a movie called Endgame and i liked it a lot. it was about the secret talks which led to the fall of apartheid in south africa and it was interesting and informative and suspenseful and emotional. several years ago (maybe 8 or so?) i read a biography of nelson mandela (i recommend doing this) and ever since i have been really interested in all things south africa.

anyway, it was a good film. it starred jonny lee miller, who you may recognize from movies such as hackers and trainspotting. or maybe you just remember him as being the first person to marry angelina jolie. it also starred william hurt who you may recognize from a lot of movies that weren't that great, and chiwetel ejiofor who was also in talk to me, american gangster, children of men, and lots of others. he was excellent in this movie. and although i'm not a huge fan, i'd like to give william hurt a shoutout for his very believable afrikaner accent and to jonny lee miller for the amazing handlebar mustache he was sporting at the theater last night. swoon.

after the movie it was off to main street pizza & noodle. while we sat waiting for our pizza, we noticed the table next to us was leaving with a delicious-looking pizza left almost untouched. we were eyeing it for a while until finally my friend skotty's gf got up and said something like "are you guys finished with this? i think we need to try it," and brought it over to our table. it was awesome. later, her and i went downstairs and saw the weirdest thing ever: about 10 guys in line for the men's bathroom and zero line for the women's. twilight zone!

overall, it was a great night. it was like 13 degrees when i was walking to my car and zero celebrities stopped to ask if i needed a ride. apparently none of them care if i get raped.

sunshine! finally!

2009-01-15T08:51:00.007-07:00

it's about time...

watch your language, young feller, this is a public market

2009-01-10T12:41:00.008-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "lie down in the light," by bonny prince billy

i'm the type of person who likes stuff. the stuff i usually get most excited about it electronic stuff. like computers and cameras and phones. my problem is that i tend to get really bored with what i have pretty quickly. and i also feel like i want the newest and best version of everything. which really is a problem when it comes to electronics because things seem to be improved upon monthly.

anyway, i've been planning on getting a new phone for a few months now. i had my phone for two years (YEARS) and that is by far the longest (by a long shot) that i have ever stuck with the same phone. so my plan was obviously to get an iphone. because why wouldn't i, right? i mean, IPHONE.

instead i got this:

and for free! that's right. free. so cute! but wait, you haven't even seen the back...

greens!! and aren't we all trying to be more green? (baddum ching!)

here's the thing...my main goal this year is to de-clutter my life a bit. simplify. and i was thinking about my potential new phone purchase and i thought self, you're on the internet, like, all day. do you really need to have access to gmail and chat and everything else internet-related on your phone too? and $300. do you need to spend $300 for a phone because it has (really awesome) games (and other really awesome stuff) on it?! and i said, you know what? i don't. i don't need all that extra shit on my phone. and i don't need to spend money on that shit!

oh yeah...that's the other thing...i'm going to try to back off on the swears a bit. because i feel like maybe i'm a really crass person. but i'm not positive. but guyz, shit is probably my most-used word. so for now i'm just going to try to eliminate the obscene amount of times i say f**k in my head all day long.

well i want to die

2009-01-08T19:21:00.003-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "back to black," by amy winehouse

i got this in the mail:

apparently i am in the target group for this.

yep.

and I've seen your flag on the marble arch, and love is not a victory march

2009-01-05T16:23:00.011-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "best for last," by adele

i've decided i'm really over the snow. also, i saw son of rambow and didn't like it. i had heard good things about it, but i found it a tad boring and far too cheesy. that Will sure is a cute kid, though.

but that's not what i want to talk about.

i'm reading, i'm watching, i'm listening to...

jeff buckley: grace

jeff buckley, you don't even know what your voice does to me...
i don't really think i need to tell most of you about how talented he is and what a tragedy his death was.

Lover, You Should've Come by Jeff Buckley

"Lover, You Should've Come Over"

Looking out the door i see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners
Parading in a wake of sad relations as their shoes fill up with water
And maybe i'm too young to keep good love from going wrong
But tonight you're on my mind so you never know

When i'm broken down and hungry for your love with no way to feed it
Where are you tonight, child you know how much i need it
Too young to hold on and too old to just break free and run

Sometimes a man gets carried away, when he feels like he should be having his fun
And much too blind to see the damage he's done
Sometimes a man must awake to find that really, he has no-one

So i'll wait for you... and i'll burn
Will I ever see your sweet return
Oh will I ever learn

Oh lover, you should've come over
'Cause it's not too late

Lonely is the room, the bed is made, the open window lets the rain in
Burning in the corner is the only one who dreams he had you with him
My body turns and yearns for a sleep that will never come

It's never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder
It's never over, all my riches for her smiles when i slept so soft against her
It's never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter
It's never over, she's the tear that hangs inside my soul forever

Well maybe i'm just too young
To keep good love from going wrong

Oh... lover, you should've come over
'Cause it's not too late

Well I feel too young to hold on
And i'm much too old to break free and run
Too deaf, dumb, and blind to see the damage i've done
Sweet lover, you should've come over
Oh, love well i'm waiting for you

Lover, you should've come over
'Cause it's not too late

love that song. this is great too. and this makes my heart stop, every.time.

pride and prejudice: A&E

the pride and prejudice with that awful person kiera knightley is an insult to jane austen. or just humanity. but this A&E version really does it justice. such a great story. jane austen is so good at subtle wit. i have seen this movie (all 5 hours of it) countless times and i never, ever get tired of it. there are so many awesome moments and such great dialogue. and it's so romantic! sigh...

this is the best response to a marriage proposal i've ever heard:

You're mistaken, Mr. Darcy. The mode of your declaration merely spared me any concern I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentleman-like manner. You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it. From the very beginning your manners impressed me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit and your selfish disdain for the feelings of others. I had not known you a month before I felt you were the last man in the world whom I could ever marry!

jokes on her, though, cuz she totally married him.

watchmen

this is my first experience reading a comic. i'm almost done with it, and so far i've liked it a lot. the best and most important thing i can give you from my graphic novel experience is...comic book erotica!

you seem better than 23

2009-01-01T23:28:00.011-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "last goodbye," by jeff buckley

Last Goodbye by Jeff Buckley

2008 is gone. i'll be honest, i'm not too sad to see it go. of course it had some great moments, but overall it was not a good year to me. farewell 2008, may i never relive many of your experiences. *chink*! or "clink!" is probably a better way to do that sound effect. let's have another *clink!* for my 100th post!!

today i was going through the last of the boxes from my mom's attic. here are some exciting finds:

the only trophy i've ever gotten in my life. i contributed nothing to its attainment. unless you count cartwheels as part of soccer.

next, i found one of my favorite stuffed animals. my sister got really mad at me one day and ripped the head right off. i cried and cried (and probably clawed at her face) until my mom sewed the head back on. good as new.

in 6th grade i was really into drawing and painting. i wasn't good at it. i always thought i was pretty good, but then my best friend liz would draw something at the same time and i realized how horrible i actually was compared to someone with actual talent.

first i drew a picture of a giant gorilla with an even more giant tyra forehead.

then i water colored a picture of one of my favorite places, delicate arch. delicate arch with snow on it, in case you were curious about the coloring. there was this picture of delicate arch with snow in national geographic that i really loved.

also, i found this...in sixth grade i apparently wrote this short essay titled "soy una tarjeta de notas..." i'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as i did reading it just now.

Aaaaaaahhhhh! No me gusta mi vida. Yo soy una tarjeta de notas. Yo soy el peor tarjeta de notas en el mundo. Por su puesto yo pertenese a un niño. Este niño esta en el primer grado. Y el no es, es, es, aaahhhhhh! El esta masticando me y el tiene mucha baba! Alguien ayudame! Alguien ayudame! Voy a morir, voy a morir, aaaaahhhh! Mi mano esta en su estomago. Es muy grotesco, puedo sentir mucho tarquín. Oh, que grotesco. No quiero vivir mas. No hay mas esperansa. "Humph" Este niño tambien tiene los peores notas en el mundo. El tiene nomas F's y F's y mas F's. Era tan chistoso cuando me sacó. Su expresion era tan cómico que creia iba a morir. Pero ahora no es chistoso, voy a morir! Voy a commeter suicidio! Voy a ir al perro. pero no puedo moverme, no puedo caminar. Creo que me voy a volver loco. Que fue esto? Estoy scando pelo gris. soy muy viejo y en unos lugares estoy roto. Probablemente voy a morir en unos minutos. Las escrituras están ya desteñidos. Mi vida fué la mas peor en el mundo. el fin.

the best part of that essay was this short note i found written upside down on the back:

i almost got the "you're" right. we worked it out, but it's true, she did lie a lot. ask anyone.

the last important thing i found today was this adorable drawing of a girl that my sister drew. i got mad at her and wrote "sarah is a piece of POOH" on it. then either she got a hold of it, or i felt remorse because POOH was scribbled out and Rainbow was written it its place.

sara is a piece of rainbow.

but, bill, those are historical babes

2008-12-30T19:00:00.009-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "lover, you should've come over," by jeff buckley

so, i asked myself: self, what kind of pin up girl should i find to represent the babe report in january of '09? this led to much thought and contemplation about what important things take place in january that could be encompassed by a half naked babe posed seductively. since i couldn't find any pictures of martin luther king jr. smiling with his eyes, and assuming lee and lisa didn't want me to turn one of their engagement pictures into sexual drivel, i had to conclude that the most important event that takes place in january is the inauguration of our new president! woot! (and by "most important," i obviously mean 2nd to the premier of LOST).

therefore, i searched way way back through the annals of history (and important government documents,) and i hereby give you...."PRESIDENTIAL BABE!"

unrelated, here are a few important figures:

-number of times my car has ice skated on I-15 this winter (so far): 1

-number of giftcards i got for christmas: 5

-packs of gum i just found lying around my house: 11

-number of times the guy in front of me today washed his windshield within one mile's time (subsequently spraying my windshield with water and forcing me to wash mine as well): 9

-number of things i silently curse or mock people for doing that i am totally guilty of doing myself: 5 (1. texting while driving, 2. mistakes. like accidentally typing "anal" instead of "annual" in an important work email that was sent to the entire company [or "shit" instead of "shift" or "ASS instead of ASA"], 3. taking too long to make a selection at the red box, 4. accidentally making out with their friends, 5. enjoying an episode of boy meets world now and then). let's be honest, this list is infinite. these are just five things i thought of on my way home from work today.

*please note: one thing i curse and mock people for that i will never be guilty of: enjoying circus peanuts.

one more thing (also unrelated). yesterday i went to the pharmacy and picked up birth control and the lady ID'd me because i was also buying nyquil. she ID'd me for the nyquil. daytime.

also, happy new year friends!

traditions are for the birds

2008-12-26T23:32:00.009-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "sister winter," by sufjan stevens

i love christmas! have i mentioned? you know what i find stupid? those jesus/santa crossover pictures. you know what i don't find stupid? snowman nativity scenes! (has it been done? because i think i just made it up right this second [i am talking real-life, in people's yards. none of this ).

also, i would love for it to snow all day on christmas day ever year.

moving on...

my family has a lot of traditions. some of them we care about a lot and some of them we've decided are kind of dumb or too much work over time and have therefore discontinued them (some of them we decide are dumb but we continue them anyway for some reason). for example, for most of my life, the family tradition was to go pick out our christmas tree on my birthday. every year the whole family would get into the car or van and go to the same christmas tree lot and find the perfect tree. on my birthday. but now that we're all grown, and considering the fact that i haven't lived in my parents' home for ages, it seems kind of dumb to wait so long to get the tree. but bless my parents' hearts, they continued the tradition themselves up until just last year when they finally just couldn't be bothered and bought an artificial tree (pre-lit).

another tradition we abandoned was a giant turkey dinner on christmas eve. just seemed like too much trouble to do it on thanksgiving and then again just a month later. don't get me wrong, i always loved it. i love just lounging about the house all day (this usually involved video games) with the smell of turkey surrounding me and perry como's christmas on the record player. but then we grew up and realized that we're lazy and we'd rather have something more simple. it is usually different every year, however lately it's turned into my BIL spending two days marinading and perfecting the best ribs of all time. so much for simple, but i'm not going to bring that up.

this year i had a friend join my family for christmas eve dinner. this gives you an idea of how dinner went:

mom: so where do you come from?
him: well, it all pretty much started with my mom and dad and i just went with the flow.

swimmingly

i'm not sure what the parents' reaction was but my brother was laughing all night. i think he has a man crush.

another tradition: every christmas eve my dad would read the christmas story from the bible while we acted it out with our nativity set (it's kind of like playing barbies/g.i. joes only with less fashion and guns and more birth of our savior) then we'd play the piano and sing a few christmas carols and my dad would get out his guitar and sing this little lullaby called "in a little stable". i loved it. however, now that our family has branched out significantly (no thanks to me), my poor mom fights every year to get some actual christmas story back into our christmas eve. she keeps failing miserably. i just don't think it's possible to get the grandkids to sit still long enough. they're with their cousins, they're all on sugar highs, and they know they're about to open presents. not gonna happen. at least not when we're all together. and not when there is a drum set in the basement. i'm sorry Jesus.

christmas, am i right?

sorry in advance for using your photo without your permission

2008-12-19T18:14:00.006-07:00

christmas movies!!!!!

another thing i can't get enough of right now?

the best things, happen while you're dancing

2008-12-17T20:55:00.005-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "come on! let's boogey to the elf dance!" by sufjan stevens

i love this time of year!!

i've been baking A LOT lately. so unlike me! not that i dislike baking, it's just that i'm super lazy and when baking you have to do stuff. my latest endeavor was baking two cakes for this cake walk the other night. i felt so proud of them that i didn't want to give them away (humor me, i don't bake much).

red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and garnished with coconut

spice cake with buttercream frosting and sprinkled with a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar

i was hoping someone i knew would win the cakes so i could taste them, but the cake walk turned into more of a drunk people dancing in a circle type thing and as soon as someone won a cake, about 5 people would bite into the side of it. goodbye cakes.

i love christmas!!

every year my family sees the play A Christmas Carol. now, when watching the local theater i tend to make fun of a lot of things in my head. like the acting. and, like, the acting. because let's be honest, it is often horrible. but i still go and i enjoy it. for the past many years in A Christmas Carol, the same guy has played Ebinezer Scrooge and i'd just like to give a shout out to Chris Brower, of probably orem or pleasant grove, i don't know. but he gets a shout out because he is the best Scrooge out there! i'm telling you, this guy is awesome. i don't ever want him to NOT be scrooge because i will be too sad to keep going to that play without him there. or maybe i just think that now because i have the emotions of a woman in her 3rd trimester.

i don't know what my deal is lately, but i cry at everything. for example, the last local play at the theater was Aida (by elton john and tim rice--so good). through the whole thing i was on the verge but i knew if i let a single tear fall, i'd lose it. so i held off. until i got in my car, that is. then i sobbed all the way home. in case you wondered, sobbing all the way from orem to slc on the freeway at night isn't really safe (also texting). the scrooge play? cried. white christmas that i just finished watching 15 min ago? bawled. it's that general waverly. gets me every damned time.

speaking of white christmas...i don't think there is another human in the world who looks more like a live version of the original barbie doll than vera-ellen in this movie. they even have the same hairdo! and although she is freakishly skinny, she has the best calves since tea leoni. and no one dances like vera-ellen. the speed at which she taps her foot is not human.

just go to 1:38 and you'll see...

oh geez, i love this movie. top 3 best christmas movies ever. i learned some things just now by watching a "retrospective interview with rosemary clooney" on the dvd special features. 1. vera-ellen couldn't sing. her songs were dubbed in (rosemary clooney couldn't dance though). 2. rosemary clooney was obese towards the end there.

this post is getting boring. also, i've had a lot of nyquil.

bye.

how very un-cordial of you

2008-12-16T14:57:00.007-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "christmas don't be late," by the chipmunks

the other night after my company holiday party, david and i got into a debate about the actual definition of sodomy (why wouldn't we?). in order to prove each other wrong, we googled it as soon as we got to my house. that's when we stumbled upon this website, and the funniest thing i've ever seen.

the website talks about sodomy and goes into the story of sodom and gomorrah from the bible and speculates on whether or not the sin of sodom was homosexuality. but that's not important right now.

at first glance, you might think this picture from the website is the best thing ever:

i mean, it sort of is. well, it was until i read this sentence:

The sin demonstrated in the story was not homosexuality, as it is commonly misinterpreted, but was an extreme lack of hospitality illustrated by rape

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

2008-12-14T11:23:00.020-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "ave maria," by perry como

a few annual events took place this week. one, my bday. two, my company holiday party. let's recap.

birthday!! my bday turned out great this year. but turning 23 was REALLY overwhelming.

in the morning, my sister and i went and got massages. because everyone should get a massage on their bday. i opted for a deep tissue sports massage this time and told the girl to focus only on my back for the entire hour. ouch! but heavenly. she kept having to say things like "let's see if we can get that shoulder to relax a little more than it is..." embarrassing.

next, BODY WORLDS! Bryton met us at the door and escorted us through the purchasing process and to the entrance. i felt like a VIP. a VIP who pays for her own ticket and has to view the exhibit with the rest of the general population. jk. i wish B could have come through the exhibit with us, but he is probably sick of seeing beef jerky and ligaments. ligaments holding together peppered jerky. also, work. i'm glad he took a few minutes away from work to say hi. also, body worlds is awesome. go before you run out of time.

next, lunch! nap! dinner!

next, the regular thursday night activity: lisa's house for top chef. this episode was especially exciting because of all the splooging.

i made yummy dip and lisa made incredibly delicious lemon cakes.

my favorite facebook birthday wish (from michelle): "h b bcky"

birthday day #2: work. but then, sweet tomatoes with my homies!

they are all really good at looking at the camera when appropriate. they are also good at making awesome faces, though.
B looks so dapper and i think michelle ate something poisonous.

i got some great gifts this year. first of all, judy bought my dinner. so nice! who doesn't want free buffet dinner for their bday? and she also even did the conference lady impression on demand when i asked her to! thanks judy. i got some winter attire and a replacement grandma tree from the soon-to-be hortons (and lee even thought to throw in an all-important slinky). i got an extremely controversial gift from marsha. the apple cozy!

lisa thinks i don't care about apples as much as she does, but guess what lisa? you're wrong! i care about apples and their cozy needs!

from david, i got RAM. i've been waiting for a good ramming from david for awhile, so this was the most perfect gift he could give me.

i honestly can't tell you how excited i was about this gift. i even jumped up and down in the parking lot. this makes my computer roughly 4 times faster than it was before. just imagine how this will change blogging!! i'm not sure i've gotten something so functional since my mom stopped giving me packages of socks for christmas.

the plan was to do something after dinner. something like bowling. but we all decided we wanted to lay around instead. so we did.

laying around consisted of fart conversation (FFE) and mime orgies. and of course, an ever-reliable awesome facial expression from lisa and a winning smile from B.

do you know what else is really reliable? ghost orbs in my pictures.

lee does live really close to the murray cemetery so it's not surprising that there is so much orb activity.

2nd annual event: my company holiday party. i wasn't going to go. but then i decided to. i made david come with me. i didn't take any pictures, but this picture gives you a good idea of what a picture i may have taken would have looked like.

the theme was hollywood something. when entering, we had to walk on a red carpet and then have our photo taken at the end. so obviously we pretty much looked exactly like this:

the entertainment was dueling pianos. they were set up on stage with a lovely black, velvety curtain behind them and golden balloons scattered all around. now, i've seen dueling pianos before and was entertained. i was not, however, entertained by this. snoozfest!

my favorite comment of the night was this:

me: i don't like these dueling pianos
david: me either
me: they're not even dueling
david: yeah, it's more like they're cooperating. they're cooperating pianos
me: exactly! and who wants to see that? i don't want to see that. no one wants to see that
david: i just want to see what kind of shame is hidden behind that black curtain.

the party can pretty much be summed up by this text conversation i had with a coworker shortly after leaving:

me: i feel like i should get 5 free PTO days just for attending that
him: i know, but i would have settled for a free meal at denny's at this point

thanks for coming with me davey.

oh yeah, one more annual thing happened this week:

the twelve (things i like) days of (about) Christmas (this season)

2008-12-12T14:32:00.006-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "still still still," sung by james conlee

1. christmas music

2. christmas movies

3. baking yummy treats

4. juggalo holiday parties

5. free parking meters all over downtown

6. snow

7. a christmas carol play

8. family stuff

9. gift giving

10. days off work

11. bday

12. christmas crafts

it's mystical and merry

2008-12-09T18:56:00.005-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "you are what i want for christmas," by macy gray

do you know what the greatest fallacy of Christmas is? no, you're wrong, it's not Santa Claus. calm down, everyone, believing in Santa Claus isn't going to permanently (or even temporarily) damage your children. sitting on his lap at the mall might, but that's a whole other argument.

anyway, the greatest fallacy of Christmas is Toy Land. it's like the creepy pedophile of Christmas songs.

first it lures you in all innocently:

toyland, toyland
little girl and boy land
when you dwell within it
you are ever happy there!

Toyland: come in little kids, you will be ever happy here!

but once those kids are in, ut oh....

childhood toyland
mystical merry toyland
once you pass it's borders
you can never return again!

Toyland: sorry bitches, you can ne'er return again!

you can never return? wtf kind of mystical merry place traps you in?

toyland is the Hotel California for children.

just a leeetle beeet

2008-12-06T00:55:00.014-07:00

song i'm listening to while typing this post: "white christmas," by bing crosby

you may have noticed that i added something to my blog: what i'm reading, watching and listening to. i'll change it periodically, and i thought i'd share little snippets from each thing.

RuRu

i'm pretty sure this kid is 16. i may have made that up, but i'm pretty sure he's a teenager. i think he's very talented. i saw him live, and sometimes his voice comes out a little too bright eyes for me, but it's not as apparent on the album. anyway, i'm kind of a sucker for any song with harmonica, so i'm digging this one lately:

Why by RuRu

Fandalism Free MP3 Hosting

here are the lyrics if you want to read along:

place my heart on the shelf with all the others

that you've broken in the past

well, i'll be up there twice, girl how could i be so foolish

to try and believe your lies

so why why why girl, do you think i care?

girl and why must you wear your heart on your sleeve?

and why little girl, must you run away?

why does being alone make you afraid?

blown out of proportion as is everything in your life
it's there you love with all your heart
and you wake up to reality, where it's never really hit ya
it's just your boys and your toys and your petty love
and no hard times from above

and it was wrong of me to think you gave a damn

and it was wrong of me to let you in

and it was wrong of me to try and love you again
it's wrong of you to think we're friends

and there was a, a little love there but you ran me down
you're the epitome of a perfect friend
i've got a fourth of a heart left, so please leave me be
i'm okay, why not pretend?
yes, i'm okay, why not pretend?

i don't think some of those lyrics are right, but you get the picture. i think someone was a little butt-hurt when they wrote that song, but geez! it just makes me want to jump around and dance.

works of love

now, i haven't read too much of this yet, so i won't contribute my own thoughts about it for now. but i like what kierkegaard said when introducing his topic in chapter 1.

to defraud oneself of love is the most terrible, is an eternal loss, for which there is no compensation either in time or in eternity. ordinarily, when it is a matter of being deceived in love, however different the case may be, the one deceived is still related to love, and the deception is only that the love was not where it was thought to be, but the self-deceived person has locked and is locking himself out of love. there is also talk about being deceived by life or in life, but the one who is his self-deception deceived himself out of living--his loss is irreparable. even for someone who all his life has been deceived by life, eternity can have rich compensation in store, but the self-deceived person has prevented himself from winning the eternal. indeed, what has the person actually lost who, because of his love, became a victim of human deception if it turns out in eternity that love remains, whereas the deception has ended! but the person who, very ingeniously, deceived himself by sagaciously walking into the trap of sagacity, ah, even if all his life he in his own conceit counted himself happy, what has he not lost when in eternity it turns out that he deceived himself! in temporality a person perhaps can succeed in being able to dispense with love; he perhaps can succeed in slipping through time without discovering the self-deceptions; he perhaps can succeed, how terrible, in becoming, in a delusion, proud of being in it--but in eternity he cannot dispense with love and cannot avoid discovering that he forfeited everything. how earnest existence is, how very terrible it is precisely when it in punishment permits the self-willful person to go his own way, so he is allowed to go on living, proud of--being deceived, until eventually he is allowed to verify that he deceived himself forever! truly, eternity does not let itself be mocked; instead it is something that does not even need to use force but, omnipotent, uses a little mockery in order to punish the presumptuous person dreadfully. what is it, namely, that connects the temporal and eternity, what else but love, which for that very reason is before everything and remains after everything is gone. but precisely because love is eternity's bond in this way, and precisely because temporality and eternity are heterogeneous, love can seem a burden to temporality's earthly sagacity, and therefore in temporality it may seem to the sensate person an enormous relief to cast off this bond of eternity. to be sure, the self-deceived person thinks that he is able to console himself, indeed, that he has more than conquered; in his foolish conceit he is kept in the dark about how disconsolate his life is. that he has "ceased to sorrow" we shall not deny, but of what benefit that when it would be to his salvation to begin in earnest to sorrow over himself!

i know that was long. i could keep going because there is a lot of great stuff, but i won't. but "sagaciously walking into the trap of sagacity" is awesome.

the fall

sigh...the fall. today i was trying to think about what my favorite film of 2008 was. and honestly, this was kind of a disappointing year as far as movies go. but i loved this movie so much (i just finally saw it). i know it got mixed reviews, but i agree with roger ebert when he said

...a movie that you might want to see for no other reason than because it exists. There will never be another like it.

the movie is beautiful and colorful and moving. i cannot believe the movie has absolutely no computer-generated imagery. it was shot on location in 18 different countries. 18!! the cinematography was great. for me it was especially affecting in the hospital scenes with catinca. lee pace was impressive as roy and i am 100% SMITTEN with catinca untaru, who is incredible as alexandria. it never once felt like she was acting. such a regular little girl. watch this movie! here's the trailer:

and here is one of my favorite scenes:

i hope this doesn't ruin the legitimacy of this post for some people, but i've also been listening to this a lot lately:

let's be honest, wham usually ups the legitimacy of things