Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice!

Today, President Thomas S. Monson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, whom we members regard as a latter-day prophet, came to speak at the BYU Devotional! I was super excited, so I got to the Marriott Center three hours early in order to get a good seat. Even by then, the line was really long, but luckily, my friend Mike was in it and he saved me a spot with that group. When the doors finally opened, we RAN down the stairs to try and get floor seats, and miraculously, Mike and I ended up with some of the best non-reserved seats in the house! In these pictures, I am the girl in blue on the right side, in the fourth row aisle seat. You can also find me standing up as the prophet leaves in the second picture.

Aside from being wonderfully close, I was so glad to be spiritually edified today. When President Monson entered the room, a wave of happiness came over me like nothing I have ever felt before. I knew that he speaks for Jesus Christ. I could see it in his face and I felt it in his presence. I was one of the first to see him, and almost as immediately as I sprung out of my chair to do so, I began to weep. I must have cried for a solid ten minutes or so. The Spirit of truth was so strong and I could really feel the love he and the Lord have for everyone when he spoke his first words to us: "You are quite a sight!" I feel so blessed to be here at Brigham Young University, and every day, I am aware that the experience I am having here is vastly different than one I would have at any other school.

(This is entirely worthy of my next sentence, don't you think?)

This I believe.

This I Believe

In addition, for the seminar I am taking, I have written my first This I Believe essay, which was really fun. We're going to write several this semester. My professor liked it and so did the other students, and since I'd like to put more effort into my blog posts, here it is:

The Crush I Composed For

I never had a really big crush until the eighth grade, and I was all of thirteen the first time I remember having my thoughts completely overtaken by a face and perfectly imagined persona. He had straight, white teeth and curly blond hair, his smile could flip my stomach in fifteen different ways, and he played the guitar.

Despite all this, what really sets this crush apart is something completely different: he was the first boy for whom I wrote music. I have been composing for five years now, so when I have any strong feeling, a new piece comes running invariably after it. That feeling, however, was the first to draw such a response. I used a fairly standard chord progression, I was later to find out, but I felt like a musical genius when I incorporated my own initials into the notes of the song. I continued to write for this boy throughout the eighth grade. Then, in high school, I continued to compose for various crushes, most of whom didn't know I was doing it. I wrote good music, I think; it was thoughtful, well-worded stuff (when there were words), and the idea of these boys inspired me to do better work.

The boys were not important, in the end. It was the emotion that drove me to music, and the reason that today, I can look through my old notebooks and amateur recordings and have a record of the way I felt from the eighth grade to the present. I know the way I felt and I know when and what made me feel that way- and what I thought of it.
Music changes people; it can affect their emotions and therefore, their actions. But as a musician, composing helps me let my emotions go. Regina Spektor, a popular singer, songwriter, and pianist, sings, "Ideas that have left you never come home." Whereas, for a listener, music may intensify emotion, writing music lets me step away from my emotions and examine my feelings with more distance. I can put everything I feel into words and music and walk away better and happier for it.

So I believe in music, and I believe it's taught me to see my thoughts more clearly- to feel more clearly, in a way. I know that composing music and writing lyrics for songs has helped me to understand myself better. I think it's also helped me not to explode. I understand now that the boy in the eighth grade- or the ninth or the tenth, for that matter- wasn't what made those years so wonderful. It was the personal growth I experienced, which always resulted in my knowledge that I had developed a lot that year, and that the music was there to prove it.
This I believe.

The Bucket List

This semester, I am taking a freshman seminar titled "This I Believe," (after the wonderful NPR program) about personal narratives and statements of belief. For one of our first assignments, we had to write a list of one hundred things to do before we die. Here is mine (organized by categories my professor suggested):

Community

1. Write to the President.
2. Write to my Congressman.
3. Have an editorial published in the WSJ.
4. Vote at all major elections.
5. Serve on some sort of decision-making board.

Creativity

6. Publish a novel.
7. Learn to play the guitar.
8. Publish an album on iTunes.
9. Perform a big concert.
10. Publish poetry in a big magazine.
11. Conduct an orchestra or choir, performing a piece I composed.
12. Be in a musical.
13. Learn to play the cello.
14. Be in a band.
15. Get an essay published on This I Believe.
16. Sing opera in public.
17. Participate in Story Corps.
18. Participate in NaBloPoMo without missing a day!
19. Paint a picture I am proud of.

Friends or Friendships

20. Don't be afraid of strangers.
21. Don't withhold compliments.
22. Smile at random people.
23. Show genuine interest in people.
24. Be a better conversationalist.

Spiritual Life (or values)

25. Have mighty, sincere prayers.
26. Read the Old Testament.
27. Have a smile for everyone.
28. Fulfill my Patriarchal Blessing,
29. Always be willing to serve in callings.
30. Go to the temple frequently (once a week, if I am close).
31. See my whole family in the temple.

Health

32. Never be overweight.
33. Always keep the Word of Wisdom.
34. Exercise daily.
35. Take vitamins.
36. Ride my bicycle places, even when it's far.
37. Be a vegetarian for a week.

Helping, Service, Civic Action

38. Serve a mission (senior or as a sister missionary).
39. Work as a poll worker.
40. Volunteer at various organizations.
41. Give a bunch of cheeseburgers to hobos, like Chris McCandless in Into the Wild.

Home

42. Learn to make clothes.
43. Sew a decent dress.
44. Learn to make Foccacia and other bread from scratch.
45. Have a "famous" recipe for something.
46. Read to kids.
47. Bear testimony to kids.
48. Teach kids to be responsible.
49. Have pictures of Christ all around the house.
50. Have a musical family.
51. Read the scriptures every night as a family.

Learning

52. Learn Swedish, French, and German.
53. Learn to compose music really well.
54. Be a great, coherent writer.
55. Be a ham radio operator.
56. Finish The Brothers Karamazov.
57. Read Crime and Punishment.
58. Consistently read different books out of any general type.

Love or Love Relationship

59. Fast and pray before marriage.
60. Marry a return missionary.
61. Marry in the temple for eternity.
62. Write a song with my future husband.
63. Do whatever I can to make my spouse happy.

Money or Standard of Living

64. Be able to stay at home with my children.
65. Make a living composing or writing.
66. Live in a house with lots of windows.
67. Have well-designed furniture.

Neighborhood

68. Paint a mural where I live.
69. Have a "park day" with other moms and kids in my neighborhood.

Play or Recreation

70. Get really good at tennis.
71. Learn to play ultimate frisbee.
72. Learn to waterski.
73. Live on Gotland for at least a year.
74. Drive a fast car, fast, on Gotland Ring.
75. Visit Charne in South Africa.
76. Play with lions.
77. Swim with dolphins.
78. Go on the big roller coaster at California Adventure, overcoming my fear of roller coasters.
79. Skip around New York City, especially in public places.
80. See the Pyramids.
81. Go to Israel and Jerusalem.
82. Go to Australia.
83. Go to Spain and speak Spanish to real Spaniards.
84. Pull one all-nighter. Then never again.
85. Hike Timpanogos.
86. Visit all fifty states.

Relationships with Children

87. Give birth.
88. Teach children about the gospel.
89. Make sure they know I love them.
90. Have great Family Home Evenings.

Relationships with Relatives

91. Be patient with uncles and aunts.
92. Write letters to grandparents.
93. Be the future host of Cousin's Conference.
94. See grandchildren often.
95. See great-grandchildren.

Self-Esteem

96. Don't be afraid to take risks.
97. Smile at everyone.
98. Overcome phobiae.

Work and Retirement

99. Work at a radio station.
100. Be a professional musician.

This is flawed; some of the "Home" stuff belongs in "Relationships with Children," but for me, those will be basically the same thing. Plus, these aren't all exactly concrete. That is, I can't check them off the list in the near future. I guess I've made it more like a list of goals I'd like to accomplish in the long run. Anyway, I'm sure I will edit and add to it in the near future, and I'll keep you updated when I do.

A note to Madelyn: can you configure your blog so that I can leave a comment? As it is, I will just have to say here that I have never seen a Beanie Babie with the seam ripped; now I wonder what's in one. :) Ha ha ha! I miss you a lot, and when I get back, we will have to go on some kind of adventure. I am glad you're having fun in school; re-read what I wrote in your yearbook if you need me to reiterate how wonderful you are!

Another thing: you all need to log on to Skype more or Google Chat or something. And write something new on The Brown Dirt.

I think that's all. :)

Furthermore, A Dissection of Feelings...

I will try not to be quite so cryptic this time. I think I will just make a list of ideas and things I'm thinking about. Lists work well, do they not?

1. I do not have class until two today, which is exactly what I need right now.

2. Sibelius (the program) is my hero.

3. I have written my This I Believe essay and I like it well enough.

4. I want to write another This I Believe essay.

5. I want to make a movie.

6. Last night was really fun. (Ye Olde Party)

7. I want to visit the duck pond and feed the ducks.

8. I need to read for Honors 240.

9. I miss you people!

Love,

Emily

Update. Sort of.

I'm not really sure what to write, but since you wanted an update, I will give it you.

We need a vosotros in English, by the way; I meant "you" as a plural.

Today, I got up. Really! I got up, for once this week! I walked over to the church building at Wyview with my roommate, Chelsee. We had interviews this morning. Guess what my calling is?

The best calling ever, of course! Ward Organist!

I'm really tired, so that will have to be all.

Love you, Mom. Dad. CollinMadelynSpencerMelissa.

Various family members. :)

Worth a Thousand Words...

For a Minute There...

Today and yesterday have been well spent jamming with my friend Mike (whose blog is here) and we are going to try out for Acoustic Explosion together! Mike is an extremely talented guitarist, and I am so happy to be working with him! We will be playing two of my songs (Enemy of Time and Here Have I Loved You, which is premiering) and Radiohead's Karma Police, which I'm harmonizing with Mike on. We're super psyched; hopefully we'll make it!!

Statistics

Apples bought at the creamery: 3

Times I've cried this week: 5

Longest time spent crying: 15 minutes

People with Finnish CTR rings: 1

People coming to my concert: 8? I think?

Grains of rice in bag: 4,000

Records picked up from music department: 11

Times I've ridden my bicycle: 37

Instances when random people have spoken to me about my bicycle: 6

Jam Sessions: 2

Pictures taken: 18

Quotes on door: 2

Price of books: 102.95

Slow dances: 14

Swing dances: 2

New thoughts: Googleplex

Stories finished: 1 (Pizza Funiculi)

Pieces finished: 1

Regrets: 3

Things forgotten: 8

Smiles: [this census does not have sufficient information to calculate a response]

Here I am.

(picture: nowpublishers.com)
I'm in my dorm right now, reveling in the wonder of finally having my own room. When I was younger, I used to play with architectural and interior design programs, designing what I imagined the perfect room/house/building. I would put art on the walls, an aquarium, way too much furniture, etc.

The one thing I never left out? A piano, sitting like a conspicuous giant in the corner of my bedroom.

Here in my dorm at Wyview, I've got some interesting things around: reams of books on the shelf above my desk, a tiny boat in a glass bottle, a map of Gotland (which I've gradually memorized this year) a painting my great friend gave me, post-its on the wall, a box I decorated with a quote by Einstein on it.

Then there's my piano.

I walk in, and I'm in love. I can't ignore it. I walk in, and I have to play it; already this week, composition is going very, very well. I've said this before (here), but wherever I am, piano is so familiar that I feel at home. Maybe that's why the transition has been so easy.

It could also be because my family keeps calling me. :)

Greta!!!

Music Page!

Hey, guys! I just got a website for my music, which I will use to post updates on all that music stuff. It also has a link to my music page, so if you have a Facebook profile, please be my fan! :) I'd really appreciate your support.

Click here for my music blog, and thank you! :)

Third Time's the Charm

This has happened to me before, but never has anyone been so insistent that I see them again. We first met in December and spent a good afternoon together. In May, we had our second encounter. But after this morning, I'm convinced.

The Blood Donation Center is in love with me. They won't stop calling my house, they bribe me with cookies, free Soak City tickets and restaurant discounts, and they always insist that I stay fifteen minutes after every donation.

Talk about creepy.

Today was our third date; yesterday, they called me yet again. I tried to get out of it by saying I'd been out of the country, but apparently, they don't have malaria in France or Italy. (Hmm... I forgot to tell them about Monaco.) In the end, they insisted I come in today at 10:30.

Once again, because of my thin, deep veins, the lady had to dig painfully around in my arm. The donation went fairly well after that, until I got really dizzy and started to black out. There were little spots everywhere and my vision got a lot darker and I felt like I had earplugs in. Very weird. Luckily, I didn't actually faint, because the lady kept telling me to open my eyes. (Except I've always sort of wondered what it would be like to faint...)

When I told her I was dizzy, she leaned my chair back and made me stay there for-ev-er. Eventually I could see straight again, and then I sat down in the waiting area for a while and drove home later. :) It was a pretty good one, even though both these times at the actual center I've nearly blacked out. :/

In three more months, my stalker the Blood Donation Center will call me again. By that time, I will have cleverly changed locations and be out of their radar until they discover me in Utah. Ha ha ha... :)

SEVEN. MORE. DAYS.

Yes. It's the sorry truth. There is only one more week until I leave my lovely, beautiful, sunny, warm desert for the adventure of college at BYU (and wearing socks on a regular basis for the first time in... hmm... my entire life)!

I feel like Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods, when she sings, "And [it] made me feel excited- well, excited and scared."

Today I was at my old high school picking up a packet for my younger sister and I heard someone saying something about seniors. At first, a little bell went off in my head, like Oh! That's me! Then, if my life were a movie, a little montage would have played, really quickly, with all of my gorgeous (and very over) memories of the last year. It did, in my head. All the music, all the jokes, all the people and love... it's all over.

I said this when I came home from Sweden, but it applies more often than not.

I look forward and backward.

Blogging Landmark!

I am now a member of four blogs, and this new one is the first one I did not play a main role in creating! It is a site for my This I Believe class at BYU and it is located here. We will be discussing our class and talking about statements of belief once the semester begins. I'm so excited!!!

In unrelated news, I have spent a wonderful week in Newport Beach with my little sister, Melissa! I got to take her to the beach two times and we also went to the OCMA, the Pageant of the Masters (along with their Festival of Arts), and a lot of other cool places. Melissa especially liked the Environmental Nature Center or "ENC," where they had a butterfly house. While we were in there, a butterfly flew up to me and landed on my finger and then it came back and landed on my shirt. I tried to take a picture, but I wasn't quick enough. It was really cool though.

I'm excited to get back to the desert and finish up things before I move away for the year!

Leslie and Why She is Amazing!

In honor of Leslie's birthday, I am writing about her, how amazing she is and how wonderful a friend she is/has been to me!!!! I have decided to make this a list. But first, some introduction (this could bear similarities to the post I did this fall- oh, well).

I met Leslie at a scripture mastery event when we were both sitting with our friend David. We were all doing speed chase together and Leslie called me her muse. It was pretty funny. :) When we went to girls camp that year, we hung out together and talked about Pride and Prejudice, because I'd brought the music for it with me! That year, we hung out together at all the lame stake dances because we were both afraid of dancing. So we sat with my brother and threw candy around (literally). :) We have become great friends from then on! Anyway, I am going to do a list of twenty reasons why Leslie is an awesome person (one for every year she's been alive). So. Here they are:

1. Leslie is very intellectual. She has great knowledge of basically everything.

2. She is not afraid to try new things. For instance, last summer we were going to go paintballing with Collin and David, and she was pretty excited.

3. She is an avid reader, of course, and always willing to recommend a good book.

4. She is passionate about her opinions, which is why she will be a great lawyer someday.

5. She is a great writer and supports her opinions well.

6. She is philosophical, especially in her poetry!

7. She is crazy about Jane Austen, which is an asset to anyone. :)

8. She loves animals and has the greatest number of pets of anyone I know.

9. She is compassionate.

10. She has a strong testimony of the gospel.

11. She is a very serious photographer and can use a real darkroom! (She never photoshops!)

12. She has a knowledge of the scriptures and reads them a lot.

13. She loves her family and would go to the ends of the earth (or Idaho) for them. :)

14. I have never heard Leslie play the clarinet, but I know she is very good because of the way she talks about it.

15. She has great taste in music, by the way. (Like mine! Hee hee.)

16. She speaks fluent Spanish and is always willing to help me with it.

17. She knows all kinds of cool Mexican recipes and foods like Arroz con Leche. (Remember that time when we made fried rice and I randomly put cheese in it?)

18. She is a very faithful, loyal friend.

19. She gets up really early (REALLY EARLY) to run.

20. She writes super long letters, attests my brother! :)

There are lots of other things I could add, but I will just close by saying this: Leslie is honestly amazing and everyone should bring her something besides cake for her birthday!! :) (she doesn't like cake.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LESLIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What goes on in your mind?

Well... life is fun. I went to the beach last weekend, so I just thought I'd post about it here. While Madelyn and I were walking along the bay on our way home from Balboa Island, we noticed a particularly picturesque spot where the lights were shining on the water (I'm just about to post the pictures here. While I was looking at it, talking to Madelyn, I realized something: I spend so much time (and I think other people do this, too) trying to think of ways I can bring an image with me that I don't really enjoy the image when I am looking at it. I am so caught up with trying to bring the things I'm living to my future that I don't enjoy them in the present.

Capice?

I Think

it would feel good to be a violin. I've been playing the guitar more than usual the past few days (I get out the guitar every summer- it's just a summery instrument) and it feels so nice to have the music so close to you, just thrumming through your heart. I wish I could play the cello; a lot of my friends are probably sick of hearing me say that. I'm also working hard at "Time Does Not Bring Relief" and it sounds really good. Hopefully my old choir director will (if I'm really lucky) have my high school choir do it. Does that even sound possible?

Another thing I feel like doing is riding my bike. I got my bike for Christmas this year, and even though I've never photographed it and posted about it really, it's the most beautiful bike that ever existed. Riding my bike makes me feel so... free. I just have time to think. I have so much time. I feel awake and alive- I feel. A part of me adores books, which is why I spend so much time lying around reading, but another part of me wants adventure so much I think I will explode. But I am a coward. I want adventure in the form of travel and beauty and points of interest. Sometimes I think danger would taste good, but I have no heart for fear.

I also feel like being in love. This statement is self-explanatory, right?

Design [of mine], you are divine.

As my first official post on design/fashion, (since I have become vaguely interested in it while reading various design blogs in Google Reader) I am going to show you two things. The first:

is an AWESOME boot I discovered through another design blog. It is called a Winklepicker and it is from an awesome British company called Underground. The shoes are rather expensive (over $100 dollars, not counting shipping from the U.K. Yikes!) but I am determined to save all my money working at my Dad's office this summer because I literally do need a pair of boots for school, and if I must wear boots, why not a wonderful pair like these?

The second design item is a bag I designed myself. Okay... I actually didn't design it, if my understanding of the word design is correct. But I designed the design on it, if that counts.

Right. Let's be straight with one another. I colored the bag. Here it is:

The text is a few paragraphs from an essay I had to write about Toni Morrison's Beloved, which I never actually read. :( As a matter of fact, the essay was sitting on my desk and I was copying "Time Does Not Bring Relief" on to one side of the bag (from memory, and poorly) and the capital "T" turned

out weird. I flipped the bag over, and I noticed my essay and read it over, and then, on a

whim, I started copying it onto the bag. Once I was done, I flipped the bag over and drew the cord of the lightbulb and decided that in order to erase the ugly "T", I would color in darkness around the bulb and cover the writing. The writing showed through more, so I wrote a bit more to make it look like it was on purpose, but I got the poem all wrong, so if I do want a bag with that poem I'll have to get a new one.

Speaking of that poem, it's one of my new favorites. It's by Edna St. Vincent- Millay, and it won't take up much of your time if you want to read it here. I am currently composing a choral arrangement using the words, but I have yet to get Sibelius (the notating program I got for my birthday when I was 14) to work, or to have time to load it onto a different computer. :(

Catching up...

I am home now, as you must have deduced, so I will just finish up my trip stuff and have done with it. :)

The next day in Paris we visited Saint Chapelle, which is a beautiful church with exquisite floor to ceiling stained glass windows and jeweled light bouncing off of everything. I liked the Basilica best of all of them, but I think this one came in second. After we left the church, we took the subway to the Rodin gardens, which were more coifed than Monet's, but beautiful and gold and green in the summer. Madelyn and I ran around taking pictures and stuff and then we went home in a taxi. That night, I stayed up really late talking to our family and then went to bed.

The next day, we got up and got ready and went to church!!!! On the way though, something scary happened: we were walking down the stairs to the metro and there was this shirtless, grimy hobo hanging around. As I went down the stairs, he blew in my face, said something about pretty French girls (which is ironic) and slapped me, HARD, on the arm! Madelyn even heard the sound! After that, we hurried off to the subway and then we eventually found church. It was so nice to be in a familiar environment! We went to an English sunday school session and then the meeting was afterward. We could only get one set of headphones, so Madelyn and I switched off for the different talks. After church, we rode the subway to the Tuileries and ate a picnic on a bench there. Madelyn spilled the chips, so we fed them to the pigeons, which was fun. :) After we ate, we went back home and slept and Skyped and stuff. I was up really late talking to our family, and after that, packing. Madelyn took all these funny pictures of me that I didn't see until the next day, when I downloaded my camera pictures onto the laptop.

The next morning, we got up around 5:30 and got ready and then Madelyn, Grandma and I walked to the Austerlitz Bridge for a last look at the city. It was cool; we could see Notre Dame from there. After that, we went back to the hotel and had breakfast. Madelyn and I went shopping one last time at the train station stores, and then we came back and met the taxi, which took us to the airport.

You've all been on planes, so I won't go into the flight, but after 20 hours or so, we were back in Newport Beach and then the next morning, we drove home to Rancho Mirage! Once we were home, we gave our family the presents we got them. Shortly after, we were packing for a trip to Brian Head, which I returned from last night.

At last.

More still...

On Friday, we went to Giverny at last! Madelyn and I woke up pretty late, so we didn't get going until 10 or so. Then we rode to the train station, and barely made our train headed to Vernon, the nearest stop to Giverny. When we got on the train, nearly all the seats were full, so Madelyn and I sat on the stairs for a while until a nice girl a bit further down the train pointed out 2 empty seats to us. When we got to Vernon, we took a cab to get to the house and gardens, and before going in, we sat on a bench and ate some food together for brunch.
Next, we bought our tickets for the museum and went in. You go through a gift shop first, which was Monet's actual studio in his day, and then you step out into the most beautiful garden.
Ever.
I'm not kidding. If I have never been sincere in my life, this one thing I mean: Monet's garden is beautiful. It was everything I planned on it being when I was eight years old and first wanted to go there. We walked through the main garden for a while first, and then we headed down the subterranean passage (generously donated by the Annenbergs) to the water gardens. I never thought they could look so much like the paintings do, although one can tell that he painted the ones at the Orangerie at dusk, when the light is more purple and grey. We were there in the afternoon. Well...I won't cover it in words, I guess. You can see the pictures for yourself. We went back to the main garden afterward, and then went to the gift shop, where we bought a few things. (Okay, cut me some slack. Monet is my favorite painter ever and I couldn't stand not getting one gorgeous thing in a shop chock full of Monet paraphernilia.) After some confusion, we got a cab back to Vernon and rode our train back to Paris.
After we came back from Giverny, we rode the metro home and just relaxed for a bit in our rooms before we decided to go to the Eiffel tower. We wanted to get there late, so it would be dark and lit when we went. We were going to leave the hotel at 9:30, but then Grandpa took a really long time at the front desk doing something, so we weren't even on the metro until 10:00 or so. Then it took us about half an hour to get there, plus there were lines. To make this brief, we weren't at the second level of the tower until about 11:30. Grandma and Grandpa were pretty tired, but Madelyn and I still wanted to ride to the top. So we waited in a big fat line. Behind us in the line were a boy and his girlfriend. He was all excited about going up, but she was being the worst Debbie Downer I have ever seen in my life. They had this really stupid argument and I just wanted to turn around and tell her to be optimistic. It was pretty sad. Anyway, we went to the top and took a lot of fun pictures, which you can see on my album here, and then we rode back down. When we got ready to go home, though, we saw that the RER was closed!! Can you beleive it? It actually closes! Anyway, after that we took a cab home, where we had scriptures and prayer and then we went to bed. :)
I will start a new post for the next day.

The Next Day in Paris...

I slept horribly on the night train that time around, but eventually we woke up and got off in Paris. The day was half over by then, so once we got to our hotel (admittedly, with some confusion) we sat around together and decided what to do. Eventually we decided to go to the Musee D'Orsay and then either the Arc D'Triomphe or the Eiffel Tower. So we took the subway and then went to the D'Orsay, which was AWESOME!!!
There are so many impressionist paintings there it would make your head spin. They have an entire room full of Monet paintings, which was so beautiful. :) Plus there were all these gorgeous Van Goghs and Renoirs. And there was one awesome Klimt! It made me really happy. Once we were done with that, we went to dinner at a restaurant nearby.
The photos are now at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/somethingemily8/FranceAndItaly2009

Okay... it is the next day, and I am back on, so I just thought I'd edit this post rather than start a new one, because I just randomly posted about Giverny and the Eiffel Tower. So anyway, after the D'Orsay we went to a cafe nearby for lunch or dinner or whatever it was. They had really good sandwiches; we all ordered clubs. After that, we decided to go to the Arc d'Triompe at Champs-Elysees (I know these all have accents and such, but I just don't feel like putting in symbols). When we got there, we couldn't figure out how to get to the underground passage to the other side of the street. Just Madelyn and I were going to go, since obviously Grandma and Grandpa couldn't do all the stairs it takes to go up inside. Anyway, Madelyn and I spent about 15 minutes running around in the subway beneath Champs-Elysees. Then we finally found the entrance to the top. We came up from underneath and took a few pictures and then we went to the top. There were a million stairs, so once we got there, we were pretty out of breath. We took lots of pictures, bought a thing, and then went back down.
Once we were back on the ground again, we walked around the Arch, taking pictures and trying to figure out where Grandma and Grandpa were waiting for us, since suddednly, all the street corners looked the same. We saw them, and then we went down and then back up outside. We couldn't find them again at this point, so we just started walking around the Etoile, and then it started to rain, hard! Madelyn got her umbrella out and then we saw them and ran toward them, getting wet extremely fast. Once we were all together, we ran down the steps of the metro, where we bought some tickets and then rode the train home. At our stop, Gare de Lyon, it was still raining, but I decided not to use an umbrella just because... you know, we don't have rain at home. A bit later, I think we all had some food together and then we went to sleep, after Skyping the family.

Venice

Hello! It's morning now in Paris. Well, technically it's 11:14 AM because Madelyn and I always sleep in. Today we are going to Giverny, which is kind of the main point of our trip. My Grandma first introduced me to the art of Monet, who is my favorite painter, so it's been a plan of ours since I was eight to go and see Monet's garden together. I can't beleive it's finally happening! Wow!
Anyway, I am obviously supposed to be blogging about Venice, so I will start now. In the morning on our day in Venice, we woke up and got all packed and then rode a water bus back to the train station. There, we left our bags at the left baggage place and then headed off to begin our adventure. First, since it was late, we walked down the street a bit to find some lunch. We at at this little sidewalk stand and I got this delicious peice of pizza with really really spicy pepperoni. We sat down in the back of the restaraunt to eat, and when we were done, we threw little peices of bread at the ugly pigeons and mostly at these cute little birds (which were very fast) there. After that we bought a few presents at this little stand nearby and then we wanted to to go on a gondola ride. Unfortunately, there were no available gondoliers yet, so we decided to go to Saint Mark's Square first. We got on a water bus and rode for a half hour or so.
The water bus feels kind of like the subway, but much slower, and it rocks way more. Plus it's only a boat, so it's super crowded.
At Saint Mark's square, we went to the Basilica first, which was an amazing, majestic church. Unfortunately, you can't take pictures inside, or I would post them here. Unlike most Catholic churches (in Europe and the States) it wasn't all stained glass and statues. The entire building is covered with mosaic pictures of saints, apostles, and Biblical, stories. The spaces are filled in with gold peices. It's dark inside, so when you look up, only a few peices of gold glint down at you. They reminded me of stars.
Needless to say, I gaped with my head back at the ceiling the entire time, and I kept running into things in front of me.
After we were done with the Basilica, we went to the Doge's palace. Grandma and Grandpa were tired, so Madelyn and I just went through the museum alone. We crossed the Bridge of Sighs, where condemned prisoners would look out at Venice and sigh on their way to prison. We also saw the largest oil painting in the world, called "Paradise" by Tintoretto, I think. It is of Mary and Jesus surrounded by apostles and saints in heaven.
After we finished those, we bought some stuff and then rode the water bus back to the railway station. Near there, we got some sandwiches for dinner and then we took our gondola ride. Madelyn and I sang what pretty songs in Italian we know while we were going through the extremely silent canals and backways of Venice. It was an awesome experience.
When we were done, we went back to the railway station, bought one last present, and soon enough, we were on the night train to Paris.
Tada! I have to brush my hair so we can leave, so that's all for now!

Hooray!!! I have the internet!

Soo... we're back in Paris at a hotel with free Wi-Fi at last! I will be blogging faithfully for the next four days, therefore, and will hopefully have lots of cool stories to tell you. :) I will continue with Florence, then.

The next morning, we woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel. They had these awesome little containers of Nutella, packaged the way you'd see jam and butter in the U.S. I put one in my backpack to take home to you guys, but it sort of exploded in my backpack pocket on the train yesterday. After that, we took a cab the Uffizi gallery, where I was really afraid of getting pickpocketed, so I carried my backpack in front all goofily and stuff. Inside, we saw The Birth of Venus, which was really beautiful, and this other painting I really like (also a Botticelli) but I can't remember the name right now. After that, we walked around by Ponte Vecchio and bought a few presents. Then we got lunch and this amazing tall gelatos. They were delicious. After that, we got a cab to the Academia, where we saw the David. It was so huge and amazing and majestic. After that, we took another cab to our hotel, where we picked up our luggage and went ot the train station. We took the train to Venice, where we spent a while looking for some office. There, we checked in and then we had dinner at a restaurant. Next we rode a water bus to our apartment, where we went in, settled, and went to sleep.
The next day was our day in Venice, but I have to get off now to let Madelyn on! I will write more later. :)

Trip to Europe!

Due to popular demand that I write about my trip (Leslie) (haha) I am writing about my trip.
So far we have been to Paris, Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre, and now we are in Florence.
I will write about the best parts of every day, since I'm sure you don't want an account of my boring multitudinous train rides. :)
On our first day in Paris, which was Thursday, we took a bunch of trains and went to Versailles, which was very pretty. Of all the inside portion, the Hall of Mirrors was my favorite part. :) I can't post pictures yet, because I didn't bring a USB cord, but I will post an album when I get home. After we went through the palace, Madelyn and I explored the gardens there, which was the coolest part. We took lots of pictures. There was a part of the gardens where they played very loud classical music, which I liked, of course.
On Friday, we went to Caen, where the Normandy beaches are, and we had fun going on a tour for a long time and seeing all the cool war stuff there. It took a long time and it was fun going to a lot of different places. Also, on Friday night, something interesting happened. We went to eat dinner at a hamburger place, and when we sat down to eat, there was a guy sitting diagonally from us who stared at me the whole time. When we had finished eating, he waggled his hand in a "call me" signal. I looked away and laughed, sort of embarrassed, and he borrowed a pen from someone, wrote his number on a napkin, and held it up. When we were about to leave, I got up to tell him that I'm American and I wasn't going to be in Paris long. He introduced himself and he said he really wanted to contact me. He wouldn't take no for an answer, and he gave me his email and asked for mine. I thought, "What's the harm?" so I gave it to him. And now I have a friend in Paris.
Saturday was the best day by far. We went to Notre Dame first, which was just as majestic and beautiful as you'd expect it to be. And when we went to the Louvre, a miracle happened. During the morning, I tried to contact my friend Megan, who was with my school's tour group in Paris, but I couldn't reach her, so I gave up. Somehow, impossibly, they happened to go to the Louvre on the same day we did and we ran into members of the tour group. It was so exciting and amazing! We went to dinner with them that night before taking the night train on our voyage to Italy.
All day Sunday we traveled, and eventually we got to our town in Cinque Terre, which was Riomaggiore. Because we got there so late, we didn't get to spend a lot of time there, so Madelyn and I explored the city together for a few hours. At night we had a testimony meeting because we couldn't go to church (click for more information about my church), which was pretty cool.
Today we took a lot of trains and made it to Florence. Once we got here, we got a cab driver to take us to our hotel, the Hotel de Rose Palace, which is very pretty and well furnished. Shortly after we arrived, we went to lunch together and when we came back, we talked to my mom for a while on Skype and told her what's been going on. A while later, Madelyn and I went exploring around Florence, which, around here, is kind of dirty and not very pretty. Plus I was really scared a lot of the time because I have heard it's not the safest city in the world. When we came back, there was a very cute boy at the hotel desk. Later that night, we went to dinner at a pizza place, and I made up stories to myself about each table.
For instance, at the table across from us, a middle aged couple was out with their son and their daughter's fiancee, and he was trying to impress them because he wanted to marry their daughter. The son liked the fiancee, because he has a cool car and because he signed the son's cast really well. The mother also approves of him and thinks her daughter has chosen a handsome man. But the father is still trying to ascertain whether there is the potential for success behind the young man's scruffy beard.
Et cetera.
When we came back, we Skyped our family some more, and Madelyn and I went to the lobby to ask the guy if we could take a picture with him (and to ask for a wake-up call). He said no. It was really embarrassing and I felt pretty stupid and depressed. After that, we ran up the stairs and now we are back in our room.
Ah, well. At least one person in Europe liked me, right? I guess I'll post this now.
By the way, Leslie, you need to sign on to AIM or something so I can tell you more. And, which Euros do you have in your foreign currency collection? Do you want any more?
That's all for now, then! Bye!

Graduation!!!!!

So... my graduation from Palm Desert High School was quite an historical occasion (hahaha! I just seized the opportunity to be a grammar stickler). Here are some pictures.

Birthday Presents

I am trying to pick a present for one of my really good guy friend's birthday. 

Soo... any suggestions??

And what would you rather:

This clock, designed after the Rubix cube?

This awesome Star Wars T-shirt?

This Star Wars trivia book?

A talking Japanese watch?

Or this Pop Art camera?

Please vote at the poll!!!

Today was my Young Womanhood Recognition, an evening in the Mormon Church in which girls are recognized for their accomplishments in the church. It's pretty cool. My mom wrote a really sweet blurb about me and it made me cry when they read it. :) Good night.

This morning I finished Cloud Atlas. It was like the end of any book. I got that sad "it's over" feeling," but multiplied six times over. :(

Today I am going to the temple, so I can't blog so much...

Good Day

Hi. Today I rehearsed a piece for a little group from choir that got together to learn Bohemian Rhapsody! IT SOUNDS AMAZING!

All human beings should be in a choir once in their life.

My Birthday!!!!!!!!

Today is my eighteenth birthday and a very good birthday at that! I got a Nikon camera this morning from my parents (like in "Kodachrome" by Paul Simon). This morning in the parking lot, my friends and I had a dance party and formed a party line when "We Like to Party" came on! It was so epic. The day was perfectly lovely; I got to practice music with people I love, which is really my favorite thing to do. Also, tonight I went to an academic awards ceremony, talked to that boy, all while reading the greatest book ever written and discussing it with him! It was absolutely a day well spent. :)

postttt

Welll... I got home really late last night with every intention of blogging, but all the computers were off, soooo I'm posting this today. Tada!

My Painting

I did a lot today! This morning, I finished the first chunk of my Integrity project by reading a bunch of talks and writing a bit about them. Then I started my painting, which is the main thing I'm doing. It's a picture of the Nauvoo temple with trees and foliage around. I'm doing this sort of Impressionist thing with it and it's actually going pretty well. :)
Okay... it could be better.
Today I also recorded a bunch of improvised a-capella stuff that should be up on my music page pretty soon. That was very fun.
I'm super behind on my journal, so I have to go write in it now. Bye!

Oh My Heavens.

I adore Cloud Atlas. It is probably the best book I have ever read and completely different from all of them. Wow. Wow wow wow wow wow. I cannot get over how gorgeous the prose is, how, whether in a limited vocabulary or speaking through a verbose persona, David Mitchell makes every rudimentary thought pensive and beautiful. I'm not even through with it yet, but I just reached the part where the narrator sort of explains the title (you know that part; it's in so many books), and when I read it, I was completely shocked. 

I stopped.

I read the next paragraph, turned the page.

I turned back to read those two sentences over.

And again.

And I literally gasped.

Heavens, it was the most gorgeous thought. And the way he led up to it was... just completely perfect.

To complement the thought, here is a collection of art/photography by Hugo Hildebrand Hildebrandsson on a UCSD site. The site introduces the collection thus:

"In 1874, the year of the first International Meteorological Congress...important new efforts were initiated in the [field of cloud classification]. During the succeeding 20 years constructive proposals were advanced in many countries by a large number of workers whose combined efforts led in 1896 to publication of the International Cloud-Atlas". This atlas documents an early cooperative scientific investigation on an international level. U.S. observations were made at Blue Hill Observatory, south of Boston."

It's actually a legitimate cloud atlas. :) Crazy, huh?

Hi.

I don't really know what to post about... Today I didn't do much. I didn't even end up going to the One-Acts, since I was busy buying stuff for a quilt I'm making for a humanitarian project thing and such. 

I did clean my room today, which was a good thing. I got rid of a lot of stuff, since I need to get ready to go to school and I don't really want to take all these stupid things I don't need with me.I just got a lot done that really needed to be done. For instance, I paste things in my journal, and today, I found a bunch of tickets and papers I saved from my trip to China when I was fourteen, so I glued them in. Finally...

So. I'm getting stuff over with. For Personal Progress, I only have three projects to knock out, and they are all in the works. It should be interesting! :)

I'm supposed to go to Mikado's with Justin and Leslie on Monday. Might invite someone... :)

Cloud Atlas is really good. I think everyone in the world should read it.

Also, look up Design Milk. It is so interesting.

Not So Much Today...

Today was just my last assembly in high school, but it's not like I'm going to miss those. I didn't really do anything after school but work on composition and stuff, since I had to stay home with my little brother and sister. I'm going to more one-acts tomorrow, so that should be fun. I love watching plays and concerts and stuff. 

Leslie's boyfriend Justin is coming soon! I'm so excited to meet him! :)

Leslie, don't worry... I don't really know what's going on, but I'm vaguely depressed too.

This too shall pass.

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.

Twin Day

Today at Palm Desert High School, we had, for the third day of Spirit Week, a Twin Day. Since my sister and I already look so much alike, and we could find clothes we have in common, we decided to dress up. This is what we looked like!

A really funny thing happened involving this after school ended today. Madelyn and I were walking out to the parking lot to go home when some boys from Madelyn's English class walking behind us said stuff like, "Awww; how cute; they dressed up together." I turned, and little did I know that Madelyn turned, too, and at the same time, we both kicked up our left legs and smiled in unison. I was on the outside, so I couldn't see what had happened, but the boys went, "Whoa!" and Madelyn said, "Yeah, we're that good." It was so funny. They wanted us to do it again. Ha ha ha. :)

Another thing: today was my last Chamber Singers concert ever. EVER. I've been in Chamber Singers for the past four years and that was my last official concert. Well... I guess there is graduation, but at least I'll never have to wear that dress again, right? The experience is still kind of surreal... we sang really well tonight. It was great! :)