Far

Oftentimes a CD will have one-three good songs on it.

That is not the case with Regina Spektor's recent album, Far.

Recipes

Here are a list of my favourite recipes

Avocado Nachoes

Put tortilla chips on a pan/sheet that can go in the oven.
Cut thin slices of avocado and place them on the chips.
Cover everything with grated cheese (of your choice, but let's be honest cheddar cheese is the true cheese of nachoes)

Lentils and Rice

Cook a can of lentils (we recommend Campbell's)
Cook rice.
Add curry powder to lentils.
Combine rice and lentils with a dab of plain yogurt.
Mix and enjoy

Ice Cream Creations

Put vanilla ice cream in a bowl.
Add frozen strawberries and chocolate sauce.
Mix.

Go to Coldstone.
Ask for Ghiradelli dark chocolate ice cream mixed with cake batter ice cream
Then ask them to mix in a brownie and caramel sauce
Say thank you and pay

Cookies and cream frozen yogurt mixed with lime frozen yogurt.
Weird, but delicious.

Friendship

Put a bunch of people with one or two things in common in the same bowl
Add jokes and laughter
Mix in working towards a common goal
Add a dash of insightfulness
Cook for 5 minutes-50 years

anyone care to explain this one?

you can ask for all the advice in the world, but it'll never help you completely, because no one else is you.

(that's me being more deep than I actually should be)

normally i don't get political, but...

..this is one thing that has always bothered me about people's views on politicians.

she works hard for her money

Lots of people have been asking me how my job is going. So here's an update.


This is what I look like after a 7.5 hour waitressing shift

But, really, I enjoy it. And the food is so so good.

I love meeting a variety of people.

People who want a lava cake to go, when it would be just goo in a cup.
Pregnant women who call desperate for our grilled veggie sandwich lunch special.
The guy who told me to hug the cooks for him.
People who come in and remind us repeatedly that they have a reservation when the restaurant is completely empty.

The man with the Lithuanian name who makes art out of metal.

to be a kid

it is interesting how much some of us adore our childhood.
and whether or not we decide we loved those growing up years
they make us who we are.

or maybe they are who we are, because we are always ourselves.

i grew up on

the simpsons, rice, toad-in-the-holes, riding mattresses down the stairs, stuffed animals, pet fish that i was mostly afraid of but still named things like Zeezrom and Oreo, Clifford books, Arthur, The Lion King (watching, playing with the toys, reinacting scenes on the staircase and in the backyard, leaning up the couches to recreate Pride Rock), elaborate themed birthday parties, advanced reading groups in 2nd grade where they thought we could monitor ourselves but we just giggled about reading the word "buttocks" in a book, performing at talent shows, inventing species (Shmites) and then pretending to be them.

i remember the unconventional things that became tradition:

yakisoba noodles while camping, singing happy birthday to Jesus on Christmas Eve and eating ice cream with a candle in it (we stopped when my sister decided it was a bit sacrilegious), popcorn and orange slices, getting pizza saturday nights and fighting over leftovers on Sunday

and all the things we, thankfully, outgrow:

apparently when i was little i told everyone i was a boy
i remember writing the name of my first crush on the bottom of my sneakers with a heart around it
i used to be shy
i also obsessive took the skins off my peas, each one individually.

i am having a sad day.

Things I like to Watch

This is what I have been watching lately:

Pushing Daisies
Love, love, love this show. There is crime and mystery. Magic. Romance. and lots and lots of Rumor. The writing is amazingly quaint and unique and the narrator (Harry Potter sorting hat voice!!) adds to the magical quality of the show. If I described the plot you'd think it was crazy, but I promise you that you will fall in love with the Piemaker and Chuck and the rest of the characters.

Chuck
Just started watching this, though my parents recommended it to me back when it first started. I think it's endearing and the world loves nerds these days, you can't help it. And well, a secret agent nerd? Sign me up.

Huge shout-out to television on the internet!! This has made my life.

The Brothers Bloom
Beautiful film. Please go see it. It is a tragedy that this beautiful piece of film is not in every theatre. It's is like Ocean's 11 in it's puzzle-like plot and foreshadowing but with that independent film quality and artistic-ness that makes you feel completely satisfied after you watch it.

And another show I watch online that I am ashamed to admit, so we won't go into that.

we're not supposed to be friends...did you know that?

I don't usually write (good) movie reviews...but seeing as a friend of mine who normally only reviews things recently wrote about something personal, I figure I might as well stop talking about myself for once, especially since this one touched me particularly hard (more of a jab than a touch you could say)

I don't usually cry at movies. Unless I am sick (Hotel Rwanda) or having a hormone-induced mood inconsistency, I just don't cry. Even if I want to. I've got Cameron Diaz in The Holiday syndrome.

But, I am back in my room after watching The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and my pillow is significantly soggy (granted I waited until after the movie was well over to begin my bawling).

World War II movies are made all the time and I am not sure if this one is necessarily the best of the best. It is, in my mind, a great example of what a movie should be:

Beautifully made. Sometimes I just want to kiss cinematographers on the face, they are so freaking talented and don't get enough credit. It was a 94 minute film and every image said something powerful.

The music nearly made my heart leap out of my chest, especially at the end. So powerful.

The acting was emotional in a believable way.
The little boy was cute. He was the perfect balance of naive and perceptive that eight year-olds always manage to be.

There was a theme that didn't hit you over the head, but was obviously key to the filmmakers decision to tell the story.
The story itself was simple. Because it didn't have to be complicated.

I don't know if I would tell you to go see it though. Unless you want your heart broken and your eyes moistened.

But that is good for a person every now and then.

and that's not fair!

I am not much into barbecues (I actually spelled the word wrong at first)
I don't love fireworks
and I can do without parades and other such things.

That being said, I love America.
I think you should love wherever you live and also work to make it better.

That being said, I spent all day selling Asian food. I worked from 8am-noon at our booth at the Freedom Festival* where we gave out samples of Bubble Tea and yelled at people to try our Red Curry Pulled Pork Sandwiches ("get your freedom sandwiches!" "God bless America and God bless these sandwiches!" "i have the right to choose, and i choose these sandwiches!
etc.) and then the dinner shift where we ate french toast and lava cake for dinner.

And even though I sat on the pavement watching fireworks (which were invented by the Chinese) it was great to be with friends and family...Which is what any holiday is really about, I think.

So I hope you all properly celebrated the day each year where we remember how we said "Scrooo you England." so many years ago.



*Apparently each forth of July Provo explodes and everyone comes out of hiding and camps out for almost 24 hours to see the parade and there is a fair type deal with food, rides, handicrafts, cooking shows etc.

next big adventure

Wednesday, I went with Elizabeth's family to drop her off at the Missionary Training Center. She will spend 9 weeks there, learning how to teach and learning the language and culture before she departs for Indonesia.

As we dropped her off there was this intense energy that radiated about the enter place. There were families saying bittersweet goodbyes, missionaries wandering around in between classes, or headed to a field in their work-out clothes, old men directing traffic, and an old lady hurrying us along.

And despite the craziness, it was all very organized.

It also really reminded me of the first day of school. Whenever you go to a new school, you never know exactly what to expect. You have some idea, based on what people tell you, but as each of us are individuals, we will all have unique experiences in whatever we do.

We're constantly taking ourselves to new places and new things where we can't know what to expect. Each new place we live, each new class, each new person we meet, will change our lives in some way.

I find that wonderfully exciting.

The world is full of possibilities.

that is, if i don't die of swine flu, in the next couple days.