I hung out in Provo last week.

It was fun. I don't take pictures.

Some things I did:

• Baraka with Scott and Maddison.
• Played music with Chris and Brooklynn.
• Salt Flats with Parker and Maddison.
• Les Femmes De Velour.
• Village Inn.
• Seviche with Collin and Jennifer.
• Hung around Utah Lake and downtown Provo.
• Sticky pudding with Pearl.
• Tacos, rainbow jello, playing music, and Rocksmith with BoTW and the Hansens.
• Walked to the Provo cemetery.
• House hunting with the Mads.
• Open Mic.
• O Brother, Where Art Thou? with Chris, Maddison, and Niels.
• Slept over at the Bennions.
• Lunch at Pei Wei with Scott and Maddison.
• Flew at night.

Watch this!

Uh, guys, Samuel Beckett's Happy Days, Waiting for Godot, Endgame, and others are available in their entirety on YouTube. No ads! Let's get off Hulu and watch one of the classics.

Der Sandmann

Today:

I saw Swiss film The Sandman at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and I got to talk to the director and one of the actresses afterward. If you're looking to watch something whimsical, surreal, funny, and thoughtful, see it.

I read Billy Collins's Ballistics. It is sidesplitting. Maybe you thought poetry collections were boring, but if they are, this is the exception. My sister Madelyn and I almost died laughing when I read her this poem.

(Ballistics is also poignant and incredibly well-worded. And Collins is a great reader. If you're into that sort of thing.)

I also checked out The Art of Eating In from the library and helped Madelyn start a paper on Edwin Arlington Robinson,  a poet who never stopped proposing to Emma Shepherd, even after she married his brother, and even after his brother died, and even after she refused him every time. Heartless Emma. Incorrigible Edwin.

I also picked some shards off the snowglobe Maren knocked over yesterday and ate cucumber slices with vinegar, which is probably my favorite snack as long as I've known me, and a lot of other minutia you might not be interested in, which might be fun to write about, but might also be writing too much.

Fast/Slow

Friday:

Helped Trevor put together his stands for All My Friends are Monsters.
Set them up at the Provo Town Square parking structure.

Ate the most authentic Chinese in Provo at Rice King.

Photo via How To Provo

Saw Meaghan Smith and Mindy Gledhill at the Rooftop Concert Series.

Gave them both copies of my album.
Talked to friends.
Took stands down.
Watched part of The Royal Tenenbaums.
Slept.

Saturday:

Slept in. Read books.
Worked on a yearbook zine for Sam (about my new friends).
Worked on a new song.
Rode bike to boyfriend's house.
Watched the rest of The Royal Tenenbaums.
Went home.
Slept.

Summer Bucket List, Second Edition.

1. Watch movies: Good-bye Lenin, Baraka, The Royal Tenenbaums.

2. Visit the petting zoo.

3. All My Friends Are Monsters.

4. Record more Love City Covers.

5. Turn 20.

Any suggestions?

Today I saw a Russian film about Mexico. In the beginning, there was a long discourse about the earliest Mexicans' worship and fear of death. And in the end, the film showcased their eventual mockery of death through celebration and merrymaking on the Dia de los Muertos.

I am beginning to realize something old and long-realized: sometimes the most painful and fear-driven forces in our lives can turn out to be our reasons for celebration, laughter and ultimately, joy.

Things are low for now. They are going to get better. That's essentially everything I know.

The Occidental Saloon

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! I recorded this video with The Occidental Saloon last June or so and it is finally up on Vimeo and on their website. Please watch it and if you feel inclined, share it with your friends. They did an incredible job and I'm super excited about it. :)

P.S. Shark Speed's video is also up as of last night and you should watch it, too.

Ho hum.

It's Sunday and still gray outside after the rain yesterday. I am sitting in my living room thinking about getting ready for church and being productive.

Last night I drove to Pleasant Grove High School with Skyler and played in a Book on Tape Worm show. Ciera got a pickup for her cello, which was wonderful. Some friends came to see us, which was sweet of them. We played well and then we stopped playing and watched Mudbison and then Sky and I got into my car and drove away. It was dark and bright on the drive home.

When we got back to Provo, we picked up Collin and Jennifer (who is visiting this weekend) and came back to my house. I put Ironman II in the DVD player, handed everyone cups of limeade I made yesterday, sipped an I <3 NY mug of milk, and didn't watch the movie at all. Skyler left later to design a logo for this T-shirt company he's part of, (which is debuting today) after putting up with my show-and-telling him my map of Gotland. Around curfew, Collin and Jennifer left and took the car with them. I was sleeping on the couch, so then I dragged myself to my actual bed, wrote in my journals, read 2 Nefi Capitulo 23, and fell asleep.

Anyway, now it's morning and I am going to shower and eat breakfast and do things.

Listen to this.

Little Dorrit

 

Pictures: Masterpiece Theatre, Jane Austen Today

Choose the best of the following answers:

1. I finished watching Masterpiece Theatre's rendition of Dickens' Little Dorrit today, which has resulted in one or more of the following:

A. I want to write a slightly dark, comical short story, Dickens-style.

B. I have a crush on Matthew McFayden which hasn't surfaced since he played Darcy.

C. I am making a purple dress, half-inspired by Amy Dorrit's wearing purple throughout the film.

D. I sort of want to get bangs again.

E. All of the above.

Mes

This month I'm trying to get Madelyn to NaBloPoMo with me, since I failed in December. I figure if I do this with someone I'll be more committed and whatever.

This morning I went to work, where I sent a bunch of emails for some professors I know who are advancing to full professor. After work was French and Italian Cinema, which is one of my favorite classes this semester. We watched a film called "Rome: Open City" today. Basically, every day in film, I fall asleep for about fifteen minutes-ish and then wake up and pick up the story again. Today I fell asleep for a long time, though, and woke up to see the end, which was one of the coolest endings all semester. I'll have to re-watch it.

Anyway, after that I met up with Greta and we talked for a long time about life and such. Then I walked home and called my mom and argued with her for a while, even though I can't figure out the basis for my argument entirely(Don't ask, it's not really relevant). I got home and listened to Simon and Garfunkel for a while on Marissa's computer.

Later tonight, we're having FHE at our apartment and then an extremely talented friend of mine is coming over to practice. I'm playing the piano for him at a show he's doing in about two weeks. I'm psyched, to say the least. :)

Madelyn: this is your queue. Go write something.

Hola!

It's been a while-ish, but here are some things I've been doing (in list form, as always):

1. Glorying in this awesome vintage bag my Grandma Nora gave me over Christmas break.

2. Writing letters to my brother Collin, who is serving a mission in the Dallas, TX area. :)

3. Yesterday I went ice skating with two of my friends at the Gallivan in Salt Lake. It's the cutest little rink and I think we all had a fairly good time, despite falling over on the ice a few times.

4. International Cinema-ing. I LOVE INTERNATIONAL CINEMA, and the new season kicked off on Friday by sh0wing the last season's most popular films: Psycho and Pan's Labyrinth. Some friends and I saw Psycho last night, which isn't very scary the second time around. Anyway, I'm really excited for the new season!

5. Starting my new job! I've already said how excited I am about this. I get to work with some of the coolest people on campus, in my opinion. :) I've already made two posters and I'm going to have many more opportunities to develop design-wise.

6. Starting classes, which are going well, now that I've got my schedule figured out. I'm especially excited for... pretty much all of them? Astronomy, French and Italian Cinema (no french/italian required, thank heavens) and Vocal Training! Also, my friend Greta and I are taking a jogging class together, which will be a great experience!

7. Looking through my sophomore year notebook. I wrote a bunch of really cool songs when I was a sophomore, and I am increasingly more proud of 15-year-old me as I dredge them up and start working with them again.

7. Planning my amazing Maeser show, which will either be at the end of this month or sometime in February. I'm trying to pick a day when there's a "lull," as my friend Greta put it. Yesterday I found a bunch of songs on iTunes that have my full name in them, which I think would be hilarious to play before the show starts.

8. Cooking/trying to cook. The other day I made fried rice, which was a great success. I've always been good at making that, though. I'm planning a little dinner party for next week for a reunion with some of the girls I know, and I'm making curry. THAT should be exciting. Mmmmm... curry. And today, I am making muffins. From a box, though. Doesn't really count.

9. Missing David Tennant as Doctor Who. REALLY, REALLY MISSING HIM. :/ (Even though the episode with the new guy hasn't aired yet.) (Or at least, I haven't seen it yet.)

10. Being myself. We'll see if I can keep that up...

Today I went to see the One-Act Plays put on at my school by our very own Compass Theatre Acting Company. They were very cute; the first one was The Importance of Being Earnest, which is one of my favorites. I went with my sister and my friend Christina. Our friend was in the play as Algy and he did a brilliant job. It was hilarious! I absolutely love Earnest; it's the only play I ever laughed aloud while reading.
Lately, I watched Citizen Kane for my English class and it's definitely made it to my top list of favorite movies. In fact, it my even usurp Breakfast at Tiffany's, which has been in first place for a while now. The cinematography in Citizen is just phenomenal, and the plot is so poignant. I loved it! Orson Welles was truly a genius.
And (need I remark) really hot.

I can't remember whether I wrote about this fountain when I was in Visby, but as you can see, it is a girl holding a seashell, which is spurting water. As we walked past this fountain one of the first few times, I imagined her saying, "I can hear the ocean... Hey- I can feel the ocean!"

Anyway, I just found these pictures on my computer and I thought I would tell that little story. 

In recent news, I have been riding the bike I got for Christmas everywhere and will post pictures of it soon. I rode it to church yesterday, which was an adventure. My skirt kept scooting up my legs. Mom thinks maybe I could get weights for my skirt, like the ones you put on a tablecloth. Also, as I was crossing Monterey, my shoe fell off, so I had to pick it up, turn around, and start across the intersection all over again. Phew!

I have to go clean so I can go to the movies with Madelyn, but I will write a new post as soon as I think of something interesting to write about!