An Ode to Things

I know that "the most important things in life aren't things," but that doesn't stop me from being grateful for and excited about a few things now and again. Right now those things are:

• Sweatpants.  I love dressing up for work, but starting my day early takes its toll and I'm always glad to be able to come home and effectively put on pajamas. 
• Earplugs. Now I can more easily ignore everyone else's video games and shouting and Lost marathons so that I can get homework and sleeping done.
• Smash Books. It's a nice little way to get my creative juices flowing as I ease back into making things again.
• The car I'll be buying this month--a green 1995 Ford Taurus. (I'll be paying for it this month, but will pick it up in Utah on my way to school this fall.)
• The  the new Heber J. Grant scholarship that will help with my tuition for my last three semesters!
• My books. I have lots and have decided that I'd probably rather re-read my old stuff for the next little while rather than looking for old stuff. I haven't read many of my books since high school (so it doesn't count). 
• Spotify. It saves me so much money and disc space. 
• Gifs. There is seriously one for every situation.





































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Accomplishments of Fall Semester (So Far)

• I got a Pell Grant!
• Chelsea and I watched all six seasons (or series, as they call them in Britain) of Doctor Who in about two months. 
• I went to the BYU Law Fair and learned that I can earn a JD and a MPA at the same time. Tempting.
• I secured more convenient housing for next semester.
• I'm reading for pleasure again...and bought more new books than I should be comfortable reading. (SIX.)
• I really like all my classes. (Sometimes it's a statement, sometimes it's a reminder.)

• I'm taking pictures I can be proud of. Like this one!
• The side effects of my medicine (read: constant nausea and occasional lightheadedness) haven't killed me yet. 
• I'm a Relief Society teacher, which is my very favorite calling.
• I was a glam zombie.
• Rachel and I arranged a marriage between my brother John and her sister Sari. Just don't tell them, okay?
• I dropped my phone in milk last week. And I can still use it!

I tried posting this last night, but Blogger was down. Shame!

Tuesday was close to perfect. I got up more or less when I had wanted to, worked out (6 days into the 30 Day Shred!), finally replied to the letters I received in March, practiced for an hour, played Super Smash Brothers Brawl with my brothers, and had a dream of a shift at work.

Yesterday...not so much. My alarm didn't go off so I wasn't up until 11:30. I didn't do much of anything until two hours before it was time for work, when I finally got out of my pajamas and worked out. Work was still good tonight! I got to know my new co-worker (or am I her new co-worker?), and she's pretty cool.

Then when I got home, I picked Our Town by Thornton Wilder off the shelf and began to read out of curiosity. I loved it. I love reading plays. Theater is so much more intimate when it's just the script and your own imagination.

Well, I'm off to get ready for the day. I'm volunteering at my brothers' school book fair. After that, I'm going to hack post on the family blog. Peace out!

It's Clearly A Muttation, Sent By the Capitol to Destroy Me.

It's around four in the morning. I can't sleep. I'm afraid to leave my room even though I'm thirsty. But I don't care. I just finished Mockingjay. I read the entire Hunger Games trilogy in under 72 hours. As much as I've heard others complain about it, I'm more than satisfied with how it ended. I feel accomplished.

But the real story here is why I'm terrified to leave. Not until morning, anyway.

There was a mosquito in my room. 

I can handle spiders and other creepy crawlies, but I hate hate HATE mosquitos.  It was huge, which means it's probably a mosquito-eater, and my mom says those are harmless. I still don't trust it. Can't. I'm wearing shorts tonight and have no desire to wear any additional clothing.

 My plan to get rid of it was brilliant--at least to me, and I've devoted the last three days to a stack of almost magnetic novels, ignoring most impulses to eat and sleep. I waited until the vile thing got away from the door. This took some time. I tried to will it back to hell with angry words, but that only drove it to the light switch. OhgoshIhadtotouchthat.

Soon it went to the ceiling and I made a dash for it, turning off the light behind me. The hall light went on, then the dining room, hoping that the darkness in my room and the light outside of it would draw the thing out. There was no sign of it in the hall, but a quick sweep of my room shows it wasn't there. I sat down in front of the computer and start to turn on a podcast--I'm a few days behind on the news. All of a sudden, the mosquito flew out from under the computer and into my face. I screamed and ran into the hall. My parents were angry when I told them that the noise had been because of a mosquito, but they were too tired to do anything but go back to bed.

Then I saw it. I got it into the hall. I ran back into my room and locked the door behind me. But if I leave, it  might come back in.

No, the books haven't made me distraught. Or paranoid. Not at all. I just need a back massage...okay, or maybe some sleep.

Oh no. There's something buzzing in here.

Odd Literary Cravings

You know what I really want to read? 

Don't judge--I'm not expecting it to be a great American novel; but I do want to read something light and silly. Plus, I'm genuinely curious to see if Snooki can write. There may actually be some talent underneath that pouf. Think about it--lots of great writers were drunks. 

Christmas Vacation 2010

 We started Christmas off right--by going to Disneyland and getting annual passes! My parents and I surprised Jared & Noah. It was pouring down rain and we left early, but it was still fun and we're looking forward to going again and again and again (in better weather.) We took this picture in the parking structure.

 Christmas Eve brought the annual California Taylor family Christmas Pageant. It's always tough to cast. No one wants to be a wise man. 

They want to be sheep.

 Or the donkey.

Or the hay in the manger.

 The most coveted part, is of course, the innkeeper.

 But we always end up with a Mary and a Joseph. It's a cute tradition.

 We always get jammies for Christmas. Yep. Those are black and white camo print footie pajamas. They're awesome. Mine are way too big. 

 We got an ice cream maker! I'm so looking forward to using it. All the experiments we did before I left were the best I've had in a long time. And I was working at Baskin-Robbins.

It's probably because we're not just relying on the recipes that came with the machine...

The older kids all got iTunes cards in our stockings, so I got Paul Anka's album Rock Swings. It's big hits from the 80s and 90s in a swing style. It includes one of the best covers of Wonderwall I'm going to find. (Thanks for the tip, Rachel!)



Other non-holiday activities of mine included work, spending the night with my good friend Jenny, a rediscovery of my cat allergy, shopping and dinner with my favorite Yalie, and accidentally seeing a rated-R movie. (I was sure it was PG-13 at the time, I promise!)

NaNoWriMo. Bring it.

Today (or yesterday, if we're going to be technical), on a whim, I decided to take part in National Novel Writing Month. I went to the official website and signed up to be an official participant. By the end of the month, I hope to have 50,000 words written. I'm finally going to play with a story idea I had my senior year in high school. I remember it coming to me in AP French, along with an important character's name. It might end up being a little dumb, but I'm excited for the ride.

Also, don't forget to vote!

More Lists

Mistakes I've Made So Far Today

• Sleeping in.

• Trying to uninstall/reinstall Chrome, hoping it would solve all the problems I've been having with it.

•  Not wearing gloves.

• Going to the Crossroads at 12:30.

Things I'd Rather Be Doing (As opposed to what I am doing)

• Reading. I've got Green Lantern comics, Jesus the Christ, Mansfield Park waiting for me at home. (I have reading to do for American Foundations and International Relations.)

• Sitting on the couch with a blanket and hot herb tea, watching the lovely gray day. (I'm doing homework in the library.)
• Family history research--I think I've finally found the elusive Barkowskis. (I'm "actively listening" and writing down what I hear on the radio for a mini-project.)
• Going to California. (It's supposed to snow tomorrow.)

Things I Should Be Doing (And Why)

• Not complaining. (I go to an awesome school, I have good teachers, I have friends and roommates that love me, I have a family who supports me, the temple's a ten minute walk away, and I live in the United States of America. Oh, and there's brownie batter waiting for me at home.)
• Getting back to work (I have a bit to do today.)

Plans

Things I want to do this summer:

1. Explore the Village with just a camera (and maybe a good friend. Volunteers?)
2. BiF Prom
3. Lady BiF Tea Party
4. Make candied bacon ice cream. (Minus the rum.)
5. Learn to sew (Making your own clothes makes Modesty Quests much easier!)
6. Go to the beach
7. Disneyland
8. Do something fun for my 19th birthday
9. Finish reading Middlemarch
10. Awesome things in general. Any suggestions?

In Defense of Mr. Willoughby

I've mentioned before that I really cannot bring myself to hate Mr. Willoughby from Sense and Sensibility.


 Nobody else seems to like him. I got into an argument about it with a teacher once. We watched the movie version for Movie Night and the whole time my roommates kept asking me what in the world I saw in this guy. Marianne puts it quite nicely herself.


"That is what I like; that is what a young man ought to be.  Whatever be his pursuits, his eagerness in them should know no moderation, and leave him no sense of fatigue."

The guy's got a lot of passion.  He's charming and bright and everything a Marianne could possibly want. They share a passion for literature, for music, for life. He is absolutely captivating to her.

When he was present she had no eyes for any one else. Every thing he did, was right.  Every thing he said, was clever.  

 But his faults are by no means small. He ruined a girl's future and lost his fortune because of it. He abandoned love for money. He regretted it...

[...]But that he was for ever inconsolable, that he fled from society, or contracted an habitual gloom of temper, or died of a broken heart, must not be depended on--for he did neither.

Call me a fool, but I don't write him (and maybe guys like him) off. Past mistakes do not always require an unhappy future when dealt with properly. Mr. Willoughby didn't deal with it properly and was unhappy because of it. I've seen the Mariannes in my life lose their Willoughbys. I can forgive those guys. I really can. We all know that things work out very well for Marianne. While at first every reader wants him to be miserable forever, we know deep down that Mr. John Willoughby a good guy. He may have passed up the best, but he deserves some happiness. And I hope he finds it.

The Best Literature is Often Found in the Public Domain.

I stayed up until 4 this morning, then slept until 2 this afternoon. I will never stay up ridiculously late like that without good reason again.

In other news, reading George Eliot's Middlemarch falls under the category of "good reason." I may never sleep again.

The Book is Always Better.

I'm re-reading my favorite novel, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. It's a lovely little love story that takes place on a sleepless night in New York City. They made a movie a while back, and I like it, but the book is way better.

Movie: "I love you so much it's retarded!"
             "You guys don't know what it's like to be straight. It's awful."
             

Book: "Nick stands up and offers his hand to me. I have no idea what he wants, but what the [heck], I take his hand anyway, and he pulls me up on my feet and presses against me for a slow dance and it's like we're in a dream where he's Christopher Plummer and I'm Julie Andrews and we're dancing on the marble floor of an Austrian terrace garden. Somehow my head presses against Nick's t-shirt and in this moment I am forgetting about time and Tal becasue maybe my life isn't over. Maybe it's only beginning.
I shiver at that thought and in response, Nick takes his jacket off and places it around my shoulders. I feel safe and not cold and from the vibe the jacket gives off, I also feel fairly confident that the original Texaco Salvatore was a good family man, with perhaps a propensity for wearing his wife's panties and betting his kids' college money at the track, but otherwise a solid dude."

I rest my case.

"If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more."

I adore Jane Austen novels. She had great characters, great stories, and killer sense of humor. I've only read four of her six, but I'm getting Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey as late Christmas gifts for me.

I know sister-brother Chris hates Austen's style and can't understand why I like it so much, but he also enjoys Tolstoy.But I do think I know why we women like Jane Austen so much.

1. The Lifestyle

Women with any money or status in Austen's day had only a few duties: be pretty and accomplished so you can marry a nice rich guy and raise good kids. Sounds good to me!

2. The Men

Mr. Knightley. Colonel Brandon. Edward Ferrars.Mr. Willoughby (who I love despite his many shortcomings.) Captain Wentworth. Mr. Darcy. Need I say more?

3. We can RELATE.

Most women know what it feels like to have a secret they can't tell. Or how it feels to be led on. Or to maybe be in love for the first time. Or to be caught in a triangle. Or to really, truly, hate/love a guy. Or to play matchmaker and have it go wrong.Or to love and lose. So on and so forth. Austen finds a way for all of these to go right for the heroine and her loved ones. It gives us hope.

My favorite? Emma. #3 is a big factor for that. I see a lot of myself in Emma. I should be more like the heroine of my second favorite, Persuasion. Austen herself said that Anne Elliot was "almost too good for [her]." But I learn something about myself, those around me, and people in general when I read Austen novels. I could even sympathize with Fanny at the end of Sense and Sensibility! She's a horrid person, but it must suck to hate both of your sisters-in-law! Alright, I'm done now. I'm going to go read some more.