hobbies

everyone needs them, these activities one does just for enjoyment. unfortunately, my 3 nieces' favorite hobby is running all the way across the house screaming, "whoooooaaaaa" at 7am, giggling, & running back. and, they like to start in the room directly above the one i'm sleeping in. so that's fun.

"let's figure out how to make more noise!"

happy christmas

this christmas might have to replace mission christmas #2 as the best christmas ever. on christmas eve i was annoyed all day b/c my older sister had called earlier in the week and said they might come down early to beat the snow, but then they decided not to (this year was the other grandparents year for christmas). i was containing my boredom by watching "It's a Wonderful Life" (which i've never seen) when Babes came into the family room literally bouncing up & down with excitement saying "come to dad's office!! come to dad's office!!" i assumed her boyfriend had gotten her a puppy or something but when i came into the foyer, Older Sister was there with Brother-in-Law and the babies! they had decided to drive down early after all & only told Babes so they could surprise the rest of us. as i told the Manorexic on christmas, i was so happy i almost starting crying. but i kept it together.

on christmas itself we opened presents with a very excited 4 year old (the twins were much more interested in the unwrapping process than the actual presents). at noon we got to do video chat with Boy [side note: he returns in 29 hours. if you think i am obsessed you should have a conversation with my father. all day he's been saying things like "well, he should be going to bed right now", "well, he needs to get up in 3 hours", "well, he gets on his plane in 6 hours", etc. also, we have looked at the weather forecasts for every city in which he has a layover]. Boy said if we made a bunch of signs & embarrassed him at the airport, he'd pretend like he didn't know us. after we got off the chat, we made two signs, including one that lights up. Older Sister said, "since when have we respected Boy's wishes?" good point, Older Sister, good point.

also, it snowed all christmas eve night, all day and all night christmas, and all day today. we rarely see snow in TN & i can't remember ever having so much snow on christmas. after church this morning, Babes, the 4 year old niece, & I played in the snow. after several semi-successful attempts at sledding, we decided to build a little snow-girl.

we're hoping the snow sticks around for a few days, b/c as the 4 year old told me this evening, "I want to throw a snowball at Boy!"

Priorities

Boy gets back from Albania next Monday night. today i found a list on my dad's desk of things he wants to talk to Boy about when he gets back. most of it was pretty basic - money, keys to the Utah house, keys to the truck, my dad's photography website, etc.

the top item on the list: video of Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent.

i want to pee in the woods!

my cousin and his family came to k-town for thanksgiving. the two year old boy was super cute and said/did lots of adorable things, but by far the most entertaining part of the weekend was watching him try to figure out how he was related to my dad. the rest of us were just random people to him, but his grandfather is my dad's identical twin brother, which was just too much for him to comprehend. even though my dad & uncle haven't lived together for the past 40 years, they are disturbingly similar. (years ago one of my cousins spent 3 days thinking my father was his father until his real father showed up. my cousin figured things out enough to call his father "daddy" and my father "uncle daddy", but he was 4)

after being confused for 2 days, i think little drew just gave up and decided that if this man that kept giving him candy wasn't his grandfather, he was close enough. he called my dad "grandpa" for the rest of the weekend.

oh, maybe the people who founded this country were kinda crazy

I realized I had reached adulthood when I started listening to NPR more than Q100 (or DaveFM or whatever). This American Life, described by Summer Roberts as "that show where hipster know-it-alls talk about how fascinating ordinary people are," quickly became my favorite program. One of my all-time favorite episodes is about television (naturally). In the second act, Sarah Vowell talks about how her conception of Thanksgiving was shaped by TV sitcoms. It is hilarious. Enjoy.

I also officially endorse her book, "The Wordy Shipmates." Most entertaining history book ever.

The Final Countdown

those of you who have watched this video know Europe's awesome song is also Boy's theme song (mostly b/c it is Gob Bluth's theme song and Boy is basically a Segway-less Gob Bluth).

on that note, he is coming home in less that 50 days.

not that i am excited or anything.

<-- Boy jumping off a roof in Albania. he was picking olives or stomping on grapes to make wine or something.

true story

i ate lunch with a friend in the past week or two. while he was eating his food, i made him laugh (b/c, let's face it, i'm hilarious). i noticed a smallish piece of food exit his mouth when he laughed, but didn't see where it landed. until i looked in my water cup. needless to say, i was thirsty for the rest of lunch.

true friends 2.0

last summer i wrote this post about how to know if we are true friends. i was reviewing it recently with Rational Thought and The Interrogator & we decided it needed to be revised. some items are the same, but here is the new true friend guide (0-5=friend-ish, 6-10="friend", 11-15=true friend):

1. facebook friends - i stand by my online stalking. if you have a blog, that can substitute.

2. i've stayed up past 2am talking to you one-on-one

3. you've been invited to one of my elite parties

4. i've made you a gift - food, a cd, homemade art project, something i found on the street, etc.

5. you've received random emails from me (often with links)

6. we've hung out in k-town together

7. you've met my little brother & little sister

8. i've come to visit you after one of us moved

9. you have a name on my blog

10. i've mailed you a postcard from one of my travels

11. i am willing to talk to you on the phone for more than 5 minutes

12. we have gone a trip together

13. you know my favorite ways to consume news

14. i have invited you to do something with just me

15. you've seen me cry

wedding bells are ringing in the chapel

the wedding in austin was more of a commitment ceremony as gay marriage is illegal in texas, but it was still hands down the best wedding i've ever been to. it was outside on a warm sunny day in a beautiful garden. it had great food, great company, a great band, and a photo booth with costumes that i was more than a little obsessed with (i may or may not have been called a "photo booth whore"). the brides had thought of every single tiny detail & it came off perfectly. these are the things i have told people when they've asked about the wedding. i think i've focused on the commercial aspects to avoid talking about my ambivalence toward the whole gay marriage part, but i'm going to talk about it now.

i have know both of the brides pretty much since i moved to georgia 3 years ago and they are some of the kindest, more generous people i have ever met. both of them just exude love for life and everyone around them. i love them and i love them being together. i have rarely seen two people that so perfectly match each other. so. with that background, i have never witnessed a marriage ceremony in which the love between the two parties was so palpable. and their love extended out to their families & their friends, whom they were careful to include in every way. it was exactly how a wedding should be - two people completely delighted and trying to share that delight with everyone around them. it was beautiful and natural and completely right.

and the entire time i was watching this display of love and bliss, i was thinking, "how could this be wrong? how could all this caring, love, & unity be something God frowns upon?" i know what the church teaches and i'm a mildly devout christian, but i really struggle with this issue. if i am talking to a gay rights activist, i'll support the church. if i talk to a mormon, i'll support gay rights. i have no idea what i really believe. i believe gay marriage should be legal as an equal rights issue. i know that. but the moral issues, the questions of eternity, those are much more complicated. i could say that i'm not gay so it doesn't matter what i think & i should just love people for whatever their choose. but if i am 100% okay with gay marriage, am i going against my church? and if so, is it really that big of a deal? (i mean, they've been wrong before & it is definitely not a perfect institution). i don't know. so i'm going to go look at my photo booth pictures instead.

happy halloween

i wish my house looked like this right now

words

i know this came out in august so some of you may have seen it. but it is cool enough to watch twice.

jet fuel and traffic lines

Fall always becomes a busy travel time with this year being no exception. In the past month I've been backpacking in Tennessee, celebrating a wedding in Texas, & coming to New Jersey for a family event. I'm planning to write about the very thought-provoking wedding, but for now all I have to say is: I'm ready to spend some time in Georgia.

worst. camping trip. ever.

i was jealous of Popular Blogging Friend's camping adventures so i decided to have my own. let me start by saying, we really did enjoy ourselves. we went to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, which i find quite lovely. probably b/c i basically grew up in those mountains.

a view on the hike

that said, it was probably the worst camping trip i've ever been on. the hike was basically straight up, i got really bad blisters & hurt my leg, it rained all night & the all 2nd day, and we ran into crazy evangelical Christians that left us anti-Mormon notes at our campsite after they saw my BYU visor.

this is how we felt by the end of the trip

it's a good thing that i really like the people i went with b/c we managed to have a great time* despite the overall suckiness.

the view from the top. there are lots of mountains somewhere in that mist

*also, we had a techno dance party in the tent. it lasted 15 seconds (which is turns out to be about 5 seconds longer than any techno dance party should ever last).

i got a new car

Smart

how creative is this design? i think all new dorm rooms should go with this. b/c it sucks having a bed up in the air, but a desk? no problem. and storage on the steps & a built in bookcase right next to the desk - brilliant.

thing i'm pissed about today

1) Boy is indeed returning home from his mission on Dec 27th. it's not the mission president's fault so i'll be prank calling the church's Missionary Department instead.

2) my car doesn't work. it spent all week in shop & $500 later, it still doesn't work.

3) one of my co-workers passed away yesterday from a brain hemorrhage. he was only 23. his family had to make the decision to turn off the life support. even if he was totally gone anyway, how freakin terrible would that decision be?

but... i also got to have a picnic in piedmont park this afternoon with my friends. so really, i am pretty happy right now. i just like being dramatic.

Ode to Brooke: 27 Years of Joy

one of my friends plays the banjo. for my birthday, she sang me this song (to the tune of Obladi Oblada). i liked it. a lot.

Brooke it’s your birthday and I’m here to say we really like you in major way.

Even though you’re old now it’s OK we still sing to you on this special day.

27 years ago Brooke was born, grew up in small town Tennessee.

Little did her family know back then what a Mormon hipster she would be.

Indie rock, foreign films, neck scarves. Brooke loves all these things

Indie rock, foreign films, neck scarves. Brooke loves all these things

Tell her she’s pretentious she’ll say go to hell. Honor James Mercer and the Broken Bells. If you’ve seen a film Brooke has seen twice, Talk of HIV adds a little spice.

Indie rock, foreign films, neck scarves. Brooke loves all these things

Indie rock, foreign films, neck scarves. Brooke loves all these things

Some say that the most important day falls in December or the month of May

But I think we can all agree it was the day Brooke came to be.

Coming Soon

Boy only has 4 months left in Albania. i am SO excited for him to come home. like, considering making a tear off chain for each day left excited. sometimes i worry he'll be weird & different when he gets back b/c it is hard to see his funny, immature side through his weekly email. but this week he emailed us all and said he'll arrive in TN on December 26th. which is a Sunday (and more importantly, the day after Christmas). the 'rents think he is serious b/c he said he was "99% positive", but i'm pretty convinced* he's just being the brat he's always been. it's good to see that side is still there.

on my computer, this file is labeled "dork"

*i do still have a small irrational fear he isn't lying. in which case i'll be prank calling a certain mission home in Tirana for the next 4 months to enact my revenge. hey, i never said i was mature.

American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity

The main reason I went to New York last month was to go to this exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art about how American women and fashion have evolved. Each room in the exhibit was designed to show a different era of fashion. It began in 1890 with American fashion moving from the ultra-formal French style toward a more “sporty” style (still with corsets though).

This moved into the 1910s “bohemian” era, when women finally lost their corsets & wore loose kimono-ish dresses.

By the 1920s fashion had started to reflect modern architecture (tall, thin, skyscrapers) with the androgynous flapper ideal.

The last set of clothing reflected the Hollywood stars slinky gowns. That room was cool because behind all of the gowns there were clips of films showing the dresses on display.

The exhibit ended in a room full of constantly changing images of various American women with Lenny Kravitz yelling “American Woman” in the background. The curator wanted to show how at the beginning America was getting its fashion from Europe & by the end Europe was looking to American starlets for fashion. (I can kinda see how that happened by the end, but almost all the dresses in the exhibit were still made in France)

Two things struck me going through the exhibit. First, how cyclical fashion is – for example, puffy sleeves. Modern puff sleeves are not quite as huge as the ones we saw, but they aren’t far off. And the flapper era had those long waistlines that hit almost below the hips – those were all over last summer. Second, how narrow the scope of the exhibit was. I was hoping it would get to more modern fashion. But even as it was, the exhibit only contained dresses (including a wool bathing dress), and most of those dresses were extremely formal dresses. It did not really show the daily fashion of women. More importantly though, it only showed the fashions of the wealthy white elite. The omission of more pedestrian fashion kinda annoys me (what were black women wearing during these times? even if they were poor, they had fashion too). But, I suppose our fashion is still just trickling down from Bryant Park so I don't know why I was expecting anything different. (Except for the hipsters. They are above mainstream fashion.)

A Pet Hedgehog

(they are so cute. and i don't even like animals.)

i really really want one. sadly, they are illegal in georgia. but, really, how important are laws?

my favorite quote from Glee

i've always thought the desire to procreate showed deep, personal weakness

My Current Obsession: The Suburbs

this album makes me feel the same way "Garden State" did in college
you should probably purchase it

NYC

I went to NYC last weekend. I was still a bit under the weather so it was not my best weekend ever, but was still enjoyable. I ventured out to the hipster mecca of Brooklyn, which I quite liked. Because I'm a junior hipster & proud to be one.

proof i was there

the view of Manhattan from Brooklyn

more later. i know you will be waiting with bated breath.

go green!

graffiti cheerleader

4:30am

thoughts my drug-addled brain had between taking tylenol cold & flu nighttime and falling asleep:

• i am so congested & i just put my earplugs in. if my sinus pressure gets too high, could my head explode? probably not.

• Olympia Snow. why did i just think of Olympia Snow? that is weird. i wonder if she is related to Sara? (note: she's not. she spells her name Snowe)

• i want some pancakes

test

Q. do you want to have sex with this woman?

A. yes - good

no - you're gay

not that i'm looking forward to it or anything

my love affair with NYC continues

tilt-shift lens photography is rapidly gaining on my original photography love

happy birthday france

my family likes Bastille Day, i don't really know why. maybe b/c my grandparents secretly thought they were European. anyway, lets celebrate by only working from 10am to 4pm.

Film Review: Winter's Bone

i know this film had a unique appeal for me, but really, it is amazing. go watch it!

as some of you know, i have been a little bit obsessed with this film for the last month or so. according to IMDB, Winter's Bone is about "an unflinching Ozark Mountain girl who hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact." well, i finally got to see it tonight and it was brilliant (in an exceptionally dark way).

of course i loved dark subject matter & the stark cinematography. filmed on location in rural Missouri, the film did a good job of capturing rural southern poverty. a few silly film reviewers (who always disagree with the consensus to get attention) complained that it was a caricature of these lives. clearly these reviewers have never ventured out to the farms of rural Tennessee. it was pretty accurate. and even though i grew up in a subdivision in "the city", in some ways, these people remind me of home. also, thanks to being a missionary, i am rather familiar with/fascinated by the meth culture. combine southern poverty and meth? i'm already in love.

i also enjoyed the restraint shown with the subject matter and the violence. even though it was realistic about the desperation of this town, it did not needlessly dwell on the horror of their lives. the violence that occurs happens off-screen. i really appreciate it when directors let us surmise without throwing violence or sex in our faces. i don't need to see someone getting beaten up to know it happened. (it was rated R for a few f-words & people doing meth on screen. nothing we haven't all seen in real life, right?... ok, and for the violence that happens just out of the frame)

finally, i liked that the female characters really drove the story. (the film was directed by a woman, but based on a book by a man, which makes the feminist overtones even better). because, lets be honest, in that culture, women do drive much of what happens. as RationalThought said, "the men are too busy cooking meth". obviously the main character is the heroine, but with the exception of her uncle, all the major actions are performed by the women in her community. the film did a good job of displaying the paternal culture and how women both manipulate it and are manipulated by it.

things i did not love: the black & white dream sequence (unnecessary) & the weird close-ups of that horse on the porch (too jarring/what was the point?). also, how did Ree turn out so put together in that mess of a family? this is not explained.

final thought: even though i liked the film for the souther meth edge, this same plot line could take place in Arizona on the rez or in western Atlanta (with crack replacing meth). really, anywhere poverty & drugs mix (and there is rarely one without the other), people have these lives.

overall, Winter's Bone was excellent. i give it 5 out of 5 stars.

friday night at the plaza

so Atlanta has this really old movie theater & every friday at midnight they show the Rocky Horror Picture Show with a theater troupe acting it out on stage below the screen. people like to dress up, yell things at the screen, dance in the aisles with the movie, etc. it is pretty crazy. i went with 3 guys in my ward, including this dude: (it's ok, i know you are jealous)

he prefers to be called "Magnolia Steel"

tragic

this was the most heartbreaking soccer match i've ever seen

my work schedule, of late

9am – arrive at work/see how the 1st World Cup game of the day turned out
10am – pretend to work/listen to the second World Cup game online while also following the game cast on both FIFA & NYTimes [sometimes setting up the video - for the most important games]
11:30am – talk with my co-workers about the games for half an hour
Noon – lunch time
1pm – work for real
2:30pm – pretend to work/same ridiculous following of the late game as before
3pm – constantly update my gchat status to reflect what's happening in the game
4pm – discuss day’s games with co-workers/online/via text message with everyone I know

5pm - work for real
6pm – go home & read Facebook comments about soccer

*except for this Friday. i will be spending my morning at the local bar, watching the USA beat Slovenia!

suck it england

our keeper is better

Self Destruction

Yesterday afternoon I was feeling like I had made a bad decision. I choose to do something rather self-destructive. It wasn’t morally or ethically wrong, but I foresaw potential emotional damage to myself. As the time came, I started feeling extremely high anxiety and wishing I had a stash of Xanax (My mother refuses to give me any - she is so cruel). I briefly entertained the thought of backing out on my anxiety-causing plans, but I am never one to shirk from some good emotional drama. Instead, I started planning the blog post I would write later about how we all make unwise choices and self-destruction is part of human nature and I could throw a recent example of self-inflicted pain from The Manorexic in there yadda yadda yadda.

So off I went, into a world of doubt & confusion & feelings. And when I came out on the other side, I had eaten some seriously delicious food, gotten hit on by a harmlessly nice guy, & won a free shot glass at a bar. But most importantly, I was totally fine. If anything, even more content with my life than when I began my evening. Let me say here, this is not always the case in this scenario, which has happened repeatedly in the past. But after last night I feel like the more I throw myself into this sea of self-destruction, the more I learn to handle it, cope with those issues, & come out the better for it. Being exposed to that potential for emotional heartache and making it through can show us how far we’ve progressed. Perhaps a little self-destruction can be a good thing.

vacay

i love summer. the sun does not set until nine, fruit is in season, & vacations abound. during May i went home to Tennessee for mother's day. partly to see the fam & partly to get to talk with Boy on video chat. Boy took this picture of our mother a while ago. he titled it "words cannot not describe this picture"

is it sad that i know from the font on the sign in the background this was taken in a Banana Republic outlet store?

next up: camping! we went to the north georgia mountains (about 2 hours from ATL). i came in the late car so my tent was set up & my dinner was cooked upon my arrival (best way to camp). the weather was lovely, the company was good, the morning hike was enjoyable - success all around.

the gayest camping trip ever!

finally, i spent the long weekend at the beach. i'd never been to the Gulf before so i went to Destin, FL. it was surprisingly beautiful - white sand, aqua waters. my friend found us a sweet condo & i spent my weekend in the sun.

this renewed my desire to live on a coast

plans for June: DC, the Jersey shore, perhaps NYC

recommendations

i have a deep and eternal love for television. a few of the best things i've seen lately:

The Simpsons opening credits covering Ke$ha

Betty White: The best thing that's happened to SNL since the election

The latest episode of Glee was particularly good b/c they had people other than Rachel & Finn singing (i am SO bored with them, i don't care how good they are. ok, "Jesse's Girl" was actually really good. speaking of him, i hate Jesse Saint-James. he is dull as hell & there was zero chemistry between him and Rachel. yawn.)

you're welcome.

to quote SSG

SSG is serving her mission in Australia now, but when she was still in Georgia she often said, "its a tender mercy!" (about things like seeing a grocery store when she wanted ice cream. very important stuff.) i don't use that phrase too often, but sometimes it seems appropriate. i'm not going to lie, last week was pretty rough overall. mostly i felt really isolated & wanted to go be with my family. but, it wasn't really practical & the Hixsons are nothing if not practical. also, Rational Thought told me if i didn't attend her cookout that weekend that we would "be in a fight" (direct quote). so i resigned myself to staying in Atlanta & found some fun sounding things to look forward to (other than the cookout, which was, of course, the best part of the weekend). but then, my mother ended up having a 3 hours layover in Atlanta on thursday night! so i got to see my mom at the airport for a while and, like a good mom, she bought me food & made me feel better. and in my mind i thought, "if SSG was here, she would call this a tender mercy."

grief is a funny thing

My grandmother passed away last night. She had a bad case of pneumonia a few weeks ago & almost died. Since then, we’ve just been waiting as it was clearly coming soon. I am grateful that I’ve had the past couple weeks to emotionally prepare myself. She was my last living grandparent & the one I felt closest too by far. I will miss her dearly.

With her death, I’ve been reflecting on the strangest of grief and how it exhibits itself. My mother told me in an email this morning (she is out of the country & couldn’t call). When I read it, I felt nothing and immediately sought out my favorite coping mechanism (online TV, of course) to keep it that way. I decided to go to work b/c I wasn’t crying or anything and had to get stuff done. But I was in a terribly pissy mood – I didn’t want to tell anyone about my grandmother but I also wasn’t up for the typical office chatting. After finishing the most vital work, I decided to go home. I told my office mate, who I am pretty close to (for work), that I was leaving. As I told her why, all of those feelings of sadness came and I basically ran out of the office and cried in the bathroom until I could compose myself to ride the elevator down without crying.

This is a common thing, being fine until you tell someone else. Even though you know it & it is real, somehow telling someone else makes it emotionally real. There is something about sharing your grief with others that allows you to feel it more. And I think that is a good thing. Having those emotions helps you to process the event and eventually come to terms with it.

But there is still no way in hell I’m letting anyone at work see me cry.

My darling grandparents. They were married almost 70 years.

update

More dreams. Last night there was one about a serial killer with creepy scenes in the woods at night. And, another crazy dog attack (don't worry, in this dream, I shot the dog, so I won). I'm not scared of dogs (i'm more scared of guns than dogs). I don't know where those ones are coming from.

funding drive

Dear NPR,

The more you talk about how I should be giving you money, the less I am inclined to do it. And, stop pretending like you don't have ads like all other radio stations. See you next week or whenever you decide to stop being so annoying.

denial is never totally possible

I usually have weird/happy dreams, but when I am stressed I have nightmares. Particularly when I am not releasing that stress in other ways. My last year in college I had a stat theory class that was extremely challenging (mostly b/c the professor was crap). One night before our first test I had a dream that consisted only of probability symbols and calculus. Worst. dream. ever.

Usually these bad dreams are not that specific to the situation. For example, during the most stressful time of my mission, I had extremely disturbing & horribly violent dreams. (Like, Quentin Tarantino movie violent) Last night I dreamed about fighting with my imaginary dream-induced boyfriend, being attacked by dogs, & my little brother dying on his mission... I think my subconscious is a little stressed.

this explains so much

a conversation i had with my mother today:

me: i was going to deposit my entire tax return into my mutual fund for savings, but i decided to take $200 from it and buy work clothes and then put the rest into savings

mom: yes! you should absolutely NOT deposit it all into savings and you absolutely SHOULD spend some on clothes & whatever else you want

this is the same woman who told me to take a semester off college and just ski. true story.

Easter with the Babies

I spent Easter weekend with my beloved grandmother, older sister, & the nieces. It was lovely.

Two of The Manorexic's sisters came to visit with their families.

Mikaela in her crawling tunnel

Caitlin playing her favorite game - take everything out of bags & throw it all over the floor.

Aelish at the beach. Before we went I asked her what she wanted to do at the beach. She said, "I'm gonna put sand in my hair!" Way to dream big, kid.

PSA

dear men,

you should not have fingernails longer than mine. it is disgusting and makes me think you have a drug problem. if you play guitar, as you all claim to, only the right thumb is acceptable. how can you even play with those ridiculously long nails on your left hand? your long nails are dangerous. they could scratch someone. or, they could prove so distracting that when i am supposed to be helping teach a missionary lesson, i cannot pay attention for the first 20 minutes of the lesson because i am too busy staring at your hands with disgusted fascination. please cut them. immediately.

affectionately yours,

a concerned citizen

three and a half weeks

i decided to give something up for Lent this year. after careful consideration, i realized online television is probably my biggest vice. i spend hours with Hulu every week. hours.

so, its been a few weeks and i have been much more productive than normal. so much so that i'm running out of things to do. Lent lasts a long time. the next three and a half weeks are going to be hell.

the olympics are over

and this is how i feel about it:

chatting with my mother

the other day i was looking through my g-chats with my mom, trying to find something. instead, i noticed two common themes in our conversations:

1. my mother neglects me:

me: hi mom

mmmmmoooooooooommmmm

why are you neglecting me?

me: mom, aren't you happy about Obama?

Mom: hmmmm, How is your Xanax titer?

me: ha ha

i don't need it anymore

i didn't actually get to take any since you never got me some

Mom: self-reliance is better.

me: :(

Xanax is probably more fun

2. i want my mother to make me some food:

me: mom, i'm so hungry

are you making my dinner?

Mom: oh, well, i was sending emails.... hmmmm.... i know you don't like ham, which i have plenty of.... how about yummy Thai chicken bake with rice?? love, mom

me: no, i ate that yesterday

Mom: we often eat things 2 days in a row here.

and i can also offer you a lasagna.

anyway, we could look thru the freezer and see if anything appeals to you.

:)

me: i will eat lasagna if you make it for me

Mom: i had soup for lunch. what did you have?

me: i had candy

me: go cook my dinner, mom!

me: hmmm... it is cooking!! :)

me: ha ha

3. the best: neglect + food:

me: AAAAAAA help help help! i'm being attacked!!!

only a freshly baked caked will remedy this situation

better get on that ASAP

me: CAKE!

mom

mom

Mom: Nope!

me: mom

mom

mom

why are you neglecting me?

Mom: because this is the time I can get caught up with my email. when you are out of town, I will talk to you during this time! Love, Mom

(good night)

*i particularly enjoy how she shuts me down in the last one. she knows me well

just one more screen shot

Bob's going a little crazy in Canada

An Olympic Standard

Bob Costas has compiled some interesting outfits for these Olympics. I'm not sure he understands how to match colors & patterns. I think part of the problem is his obsession with pocket squares. Bob, you are at the Olympics, not the club. Come on.

For example:

this is Bob's outfit on Sunday: pink striped shirt, blue patterned tie, dark red pocket square

now picture this jacket with a blue & white striped shirt, dark purple & yellow diagonal striped tie & yet another pocket square. that was his saturday night outfit (i looked high & low for a picture. NBC is probably trying to hide it. i know i would.)

The Snowtorious B.I.G.

Atlanta got 2 inches of snow last Friday. Here's a picture from my friend's balcony. It was kinda of exciting - other than the whole cancelled flights/3 hours on hold with Delta/not seeing my grandma part

give a little bit

I’ve been hearing a lot about helping others & began reflecting on my life of late. When I was younger, I was all about the big showy acts of service. My senior year in high school I ran my school’s recycling program, had parties to collect money for UNICEF, cooked dinners for needy families, spent many Saturdays working at a horse farm that did physical therapy for disabled children, made Christmas packages for soldiers, coached a little kid soccer team, and volunteered at the hospital. When I look back on it, I wonder how I found the time for all these projects. But I did and I loved it. College was a little more time consuming. So instead of a bunch of mini-projects, for 2 years I got up at 7am every Friday to serve breakfast at the local food kitchen. It is one of my fondest memories from college.

I guess I’ve always gravitated towards event service – a big one-time spectacle with rather immediate gratification. My organizational skills serve me well there I suppose. As I’ve gotten older, however, I’ve begun to feel that what really matters is the smaller, more inconvenient actions that we take.

There was a talk in Stake Conference last weekend during which the speaker said, “The rescue often comes through our interaction with each other…we sometimes don’t realize that we can rescue someone.” This statement resonated with me in light of several recent experiences where I was both the giver and recipient of such aid. There is much hidden complexity in all of us, but we are often so caught up in the minutia of our own lives that we completely miss the more significant issues weighing down those around us.

I find myself particularly lacking in this area and highly unobservant in general. It is something I want to work on, but its hard to really tell how you’re doing when you don’t notice things to begin with.

Gmail Addiction

emails received from SSG in the past hour: 6
emails sent to SSG in the past hour: 5
number of gmail conversations: 4

what will i do at work when she leaves for the land down under?

suck it, utah

My work was cancelled on Friday for less than a 1/4 inch of snow. Sometimes, life in the South is awesome.

Wisdom from Summer Roberts

according to Summer*, the way you spend New Year's Eve is the way you'll spend the entire year. in my case, that would be sleeping on Rational Thought's couch.

i could only hope for as much.

*if you don't know who Summer Roberts is, you should probably rent The OC: Season 1

so this is the new year

in celebration of Popular Blogging Friend's favorite holiday, i'd like to share my favorite list of resolutions: