My One-hundred-and-seventy-seventh Post

Guys, I finished both of the books I bought last week. And they both fulfilled my expectations. The Confessions of Fitzwilliam Darcy was pretty bad, but not as terrible as it might have been: the only time I actually had to laugh out loud was when Mr. Bingley "playfully punched" Mr. Darcy on the arm. I give it a D+. Stardust was good. Left plenty of little loose ends (possibly resolved in Neil Gaiman's other novels??), but nothing to keep me from enjoying the story. A solid B+.

But really this post is to show you the preview for the new movie based on another of Neil Gaiman's books, Coraline.

See it here:

My One-hundred-and-seventy-sixth Post

What’s wrong with the world (Installment 4): Stairs

Some might argue that stairs are a necessary and important part of life. But those people are WRONG. I start my days by going up a massive staircase...
And then a few minutes later, going down a different set of stairs.
The thing is, I wouldn't mind going up the stairs so much if it weren't for the going back down a short while later.
It's futile!
They have to be stopped. And I have to stop them.

My One-hundred-and-seventy-fifth Post

I made several attempt to put disclaimers at the top of this post, deleting each one a few moments later. You're reading my blog, you have to put up with the things I want to talk about, no matter how innane or long-winded they may be. Love it or leave it.


Tuesdays tend to be my "fun" day during the week, so my friend Sam-girl and I have made a habit of hanging out and doin' stuff those days. Yesterday, we ended up carousing through through a mall looking at shoes and books.

It was while shoe shopping that I realized that I don't know how to wear winter clothing and accessories. With winter staring me cold in the face, I knew I needed to find some suitable winter/snow-type footwear to keep my tootsies warm and dry (try saying that aloud with a straight face). Unfortunately, every pair of boots Sam-girl tried to talk me into just felt ridiculous on me. They may look great on somebody else, but I think I look silly in them. It's the same with scarves and ear muffs and such. Because I grew up in southern Arizona, I didn't really need a winter wardrobe. I just added a light jacket to what I wore during the rest of the year. I never really got to experiment with and decide what I like and don't like when it comes to winter-y stuff. Sad. I feel like I'm missing out.

Next we hit up Borders. The problem with browsing in a bookstore is that it's really overwhelming. You have no choice but to judge a book by its cover; if it's not flashy or on special display, you'll never give it the time of day. Added to this, I don't actually like buying books I've never read, and I see no point in buying books I have read. It's just too much of a luxury for me right now. So I wandered around behind Sam-girl (who is an expert at bookstore-browsing, but a failure at self-control-in-a-bookstore) looking through a LOLcats book (sad, I know). Sam-girl was, among other things, looking for a copy of the novel Stardust for her collection. We could only find one of the mass-produced copies containing a picture section with still shots from the movie. Sam-girl likes pretty books, so this was out of the question for her. But, it managed to circumvent my self-control shield because I already knew the story (sort of), so I knew I would be interested in it, but I had never actually read the book. Plus, it was for cheap. So I picked it up. And I feel good about the purchase.

There was another purchase, though, that I feel light-to-moderately embarrassed about. It was The Confessions of Fitzwilliam Darcy, basically a rewriting of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice from Darcy's point of view. *wince* I know, okay? It was not a good buy. I made the mistake of buying a P&P spin off book once before when I was 15 or something, and it was bad. I mean really truely horrible. The review from Publishers Weekly for Mr. Darcy's Daughters pretty much says it all:

"Aston attempts to imitate Austen's style, with little success-the prose is stilted and anachronistic ("it would be very fortunate if we were to find a suitable young man for Letitia. To help her get over Tom's loss, you know, and give her thoughts a new direction"). The daughters' personalities are drawn in broad, predictable strokes, and the romantic plot feels contrived and overly drawn out. Despite the curiosity factor, even Austen fans will likely give this a miss..."

So I knew I should probably at least find a decent review of it before committing myself to buying it. Even then, checking it out from the library would proabably be the most it was worth. But I was stupid and feeling impulsive--I went ahead and bought it. But if anyone asks, I only borrowing it from a friend. I swear.

Now I have to go take a midterm. Even though I'm sick. And missed three of the eleven lectures this test covers. I blame my sister Melissa for always encouraging me to ditch class. See what you did? YOU'VE RUINED ME!!!!1

My One-hundred-and-seventy-fourth Post

I am late to church every week because I can't stand getting ready with three other people in the bathroom.

For heavens sake! I just want to brush my freaking teeth!

My One-hundred-and-seventy-third Post

So today is Halloween, in case you weren't aware. At work this morning, I pinned an "A" cut out of red fabric on my uniform. Very few people got it. My real costume for tonight will be a bit more recognizable, I hope.

On Friday I have an hour between the end of my shift and my only class of the day, so I was looking forward to chilling out and maybe reading the paper or something. My class had planned on making some hygiene kits today, though, and I had left the items I'd volunteered to bring at home.

*Sigh*

So I had to run home right after work to grab them. I was just going to head right back to campus, but I decided to check my email really quick first. Boy am I glad I did. My professor was not feeling well, and class was canceled! I mean, I'm sorry she's sick, but not that sorry. Weee! Now I can make billions of cookies for the awesome party tonight.

Also, as a Halloween treat, I give you this clip from 30 Rock:



You can listen to the whole thing here, if you like.

My One-hundred-and-seventy-second Post

Guys, my sister Shannon is awesome. She is like the nerdiest internet bargain hunter in the world. She's always sending me emails telling me how to get free stuff, and it's usually legit. Well, today's free stuff was sooo easy, I knew I just had to share it with the world.

Go here, and enter your address, and they'll send you 8 sample chocolate truffles! With no other obligations what-so-ever. They don't even ask for an e-mail address to spam you. Weee!

But, she says it probably won't stay up long, so sign up quick.

My One-hundred-and-seventy-first Post

Boring story to follow. My apologies.

As of last Thursday, my apartment has been without hot water. We emailed our managers Friday, but we didn't hear anything from them right away. So we suffered through Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with very cold water. It's been rather annoying and inconvenient. I ended up boiling water to do the dishes. Also, cold showers are not all they are cracked up to be. The main thing is that they're cold. Wowie. Cold, cold, cold!

Well, Sunday, we dragged our home teachers over to look at the water heater. I didn't really think there was anything they could do, but at least we would feel like something was happening to fix it. They determined that the pilot light was out, and they relit it. Sure enough, we started to get some hot water again. Yay!

But, about an hour later, our manager finally came by and looked at it. Turns out, the pilot light had gone out again and there was definitely something wrong with the hot water heater. He said they'd have to get someone to come look at it. Bah!

I'm a little worried now because the guy just came to fix it, and after taking one look at it, he said, "Oh-ho-ho. This is ugly. This is ugly! This is ugly."

Not a good sign when it comes between me and a hot shower. Not a good sign at all. I'll keep you updated.

My One-hundred-and-seventieth Post

Last night I was slightly distracted during the General Relief Society thing. So I came up with a list of variations on the Relief Society motto, "Charity Never Faileth."

• Charity's pretty reliable
• You can usually count on Charity
• Charity won't let you down
• Charity is a responsible member of society
• Charity is solid as a rock
• Charity is the Duracell of virtues.
• Charity seldom flunketh

See also:

• Charity is a good dancer
• Charity lets you borrow shoes
• Charity has great taste
• Charity: high five!

My One-hundred-and-sixty-ninth Post

Guys! Guess what I found at Barnes and Noble yesterday!

!!!!!

Each set includes the candidate's wife and Obama's has his two daughters as well. Several changes of clothing are provided for each figure. Also interestingly enough, the "unclothed" Obama figure is simply wearing boxer shorts. The McCain figure is wearing boxer shorts, an undershirt, and knee socks. Hee.

My One-hundred-and-sixty-eigth Post

Is it bad that I've been up for five hours, and I just saw myself in the mirror for the first time about two minutes ago? Unfortunately for me, my roommates this semester all tend to get ready for the day at the exact same time as I do. This makes mirror time a hot commodity, especially for my two freshman roommates who have not yet learned the art of "not caring what you look like" (I mastered this skill long ago).

If I want a shower in the morning, I have to get up at least five minutes before my roommate does—otherwise it's pretty much impossible. And another roommate monopolizes the sink and vanity area, making it awkward to even reach in and grab my toothbrush. I've started keeping it in my room and brushing my teeth in the kitchen sink (normally something I would disapprove of).

I almost can't wait until my new job starts in earnest. I'll have to get up two hours earlier—5am!—but at least I'll have the bathroom to myself for a few precious minutes.

My One-hundred-and-sixty-seventh Post

I had a professor a few semesters back that I see all over campus now. I still think he looks like Ken Jennings.



Maybe I'm completely crazy.


(By the way, the first one is Brian Cannon, Associate Professor of History at BYU. The second is Ken Jennings, of Jeopardy! fame.)

My One-hundred-and-sixty-sixth Post

I'm always nervous when I see a new email from my boss, or one of my professors. I just automatically find myself on edge trying to anticipate what I could have done wrong to warrant such dire retribution as a potentially nasty email. Most of the time they're just benign reminders or questions, but until I open them, I have no way of knowing. I think I"m going to have to start using the term "Schrödinger's email."

Well, with my new job, I've been sending out a lot of informational emails to an employee mailing list from my boss's email account. I know it's irrational, but when I see those emails later in my inbox—the ones I sent MYSELF—I still have that moment of panic.

Pshh. I'm such a pansy.

My One-hundred-and-sixty-fifth Post

Why is my can of racketballs "sealed for freshness"?

My One-hundred-and-sixty-fourth Post

Scrubbing hairspray buildup off of the bathroom mirrors: 15 minutes

*

Ridding the vacuum of every trace of hair: 30 minutes

*

Vacuuming hair off the floor: 10 minutes

*

Pulling nasty slimey gobs of hair out of the shower drain: 45 minutes

*
Convincing my roommates to shave their heads: Priceless

My One-hundred-and-sixty-third Post

Last month when I was home, my three year old nephew was recruiting me to play Mario World with him on an old SNES. Really, he just wanted me to beat everything for him. He was especially excited when I ended up at the back door to Bowser's Castle. Except that's not what he called it. He called it Browser's Castle.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Age of the Internet.

My One-hundred-and-sixty-second Post

I just wrote a post about my weekend, but I accidentally published it on my family's blog instead. I'm too lazy to fix it, so instead, you get...

Pictures of Everything: Installment 4

Rest in peace, little peanuts. Rest in peace.

My One-hundred-and-sixty-first Post

Last Friday we took my nieces and nephew miniture golfing and then to McDonalds for lunch. They were very excited and began chanting "Happy Meals!" for a bit. After a while it morphed into "Happy Nuggets!" (because the Happy Meals we had ordered were of the chicken nugget variety). When they realized that we weren't going to stay and eat at the restaurant, though, it suddenly changed to "Sad Nuggets." They repeated this phrase about a billion times on the drive home.

A few days later, my nephew tripped and fell (as most young children are prone to do from time to time). He landed on his posterior and immedietly excalimed: "BUTT! Owwie Nuggets!"


...


Bwahahaha!

My One-hundred-and-sixtieth Post

Actually, I almost made it on. And by almost, I mean, he ripped my ticket and let me past the Very Official Door guarding the little walkway that lead to the airplane. And then he called me back. The cabin door had been closed early. Thirty seconds too early. And so, while one agent was yelling down the passageway for an explanation, the other gingerly motioned me back into the airport proper. Probably afraid I would refuse to come. But it was not his fault anymore than it was mine. Now I'm sitting here. And the whole time I've been sitting here, the little restaurant/bar next to me has been playing Billy Joel songs nonstop.

My One-hundred-and-fifty-ninth Post

Pictures of Everything: Installment 3

From what I've heard, the weather in Provo today is pretty dismal. My sympathies. Arizona is gorgeous and warm and sunny today.

My One-hundred-and-fifty-eighth Post

Guys, mini is always better. Trust me.

I've always had a love for all things dainty and small. Even in kindergarten, I used to dig through the crayon bin to find the small slender crayons instead of the fat ones. When I would set the table, my place had to have a little salad fork instead of the larger dinner fork. I would lust after those mini ice cream cones (you know-- the ones that were only like 4 inches tall). If there was something big that could somehow be made smaller, I wanted it. I've gotten over that somewhat, but every once in a while the preference for all things little pops up.


Thus you can imagine my excitement when I discovered my roommate owned mini cupcake pans. I could make mini cupcakes! Little mini ones! I have a feeling I will now be making cupcakes a lot more often than I have in the past.

My One-hundred-and-fifty-seventh Post

So I'm moved into my new place-- yay! Except they only have wireless Internet. Only. My laptop doesn't have a wireless access, so I have been essentially cut off from the world for four days. Sad.

My roommate Hamburger has a desktop computer, so we bought a wireless adapter for it. I'm using her computer for now. I will hopefully be getting a wireless card from my dad in the near future. He said he'd mail it to me, which seemed strange to me because I will be at home next week anyway.

Speaking of which, I WILL BE AT HOME NEXT WEEK! My parents are going to Australia (!) for a couple weeks, and I'm clearly chosing that window of time to go see my sisters without having to deal with my parents. (Kidding!) I'm mostly going to help keep an eye on my little brothers and make sure they don't burn the house down... too much.

I'm excited about going home. Hopefully that thought will sustain me tomorrow at work. I'm looking at a 16 hour day. And Friday won't be much better. Stupid Women's Conference.

My One-hundred-and-fifty-sixth Post

Pictures of Everything: Installment 2

And now, a very special episode of Pictures of Everything:

My One-hundred-and-fifty-fifth Post

A few weeks ago, Martin and I were watching video clips from The Onion's "News" Network. We especially found this one amusing, in which China celebrates its pollution levels being so high. Apparently, lots of pollution means lots of technological advancement.

"The labor of the people has made the sky black with the smoke of progress"

So I was taking a quiz on recent news headlines, and since I was chatting with Martin at the time, I shared it with her.

Me: I'm taking a quiz, and one of the questions reminds me of the Onion clip on China. "China has been revealed as the world's biggest polluter, in an authoritative report to be published next month. Which country has it overtaken?"
Martin: Tibet
Me: Um, no. The US.
Martin: China has overtaken the US?

Yes, Martin. China is now in control of the US. I guess I'd better brush up on my Mandarin. Hen Gao Xing Yu Xian Ni.

(This is a good example of how you can answer a question correctly, but still be completely and utterly wrong.)

My One-hundred-and-fifty-fourth Post

Pictures of Everything: Installment 1

I have a folder on my computer entitled "pictures of everything." I have a lot of random and amusing things saved there. But, after tucking them away in this folder, they often never manage to resurface. So I've decided to occasionally post one on my blog. Here is the first one:

My One-hundred-and-fifty-third Post

I too have caught the gardening bug. This is probably because I made the mistake of accompanying Uffish on a midnight WalMarket run to obtain very important items such as "milk" and "hose." The hose search lead us back into the gardening area, and I decided I needed more green in my life. Unfortunately, I have a bit of a black thumb when it comes to growing things, so I was really hoping for something already alive that I could kill off by the end of the summer. But while we were attempting to drag Uffish away from the seeds (I think she ended up buying 6 more kinds of seeds and a tomato plant in addition to all the stuff she already has), I noticed a small packet of mint seeds. Herbs could be fun, and they are supposedly fairly easy to work with! So I got mint, sweet basil, and parsley seeds. I also got a cute little pot to grow them in. I have decided to call them Minnie, Bailey, and Pops. Maybe I should have postponed naming them, because it will be very sad if they don't grow at all.


Also, I went to The Sconecutter this morning to... um... buy scones. It has a surprisingly diverse menu including scones, scone breakfast sandwiches, scone sandwiches, sconenuts (like donuts, but with scones), dessert scones, and curly fries. Its drive-thru is open 24-hrs, so if you're hankering for some good ol' fashioned fried dough, give 'em a try any time of day. Also, the scones are huge, so unless you have at least 3 people, do not order the 6 pack of scones.

My One-hundred-and-fifty-second Post

Many of you expressed excitment when I mentioned my upcoming post What’s Wrong With the World (Installment 4). Well, this is not it. I did several of the graphics for it, but I'm just not feeling it right now. Plus, I'm kind of blogged out after completely revamping my family's blog for spring. Instead, you get an accounting of my activities for the last 60 hours.

My One-hundred-and-fifty-first Post

I really like doing crosswords. I can usually only solve the Monday and Tuesday puzzles, but that doesn't keep me from trying the harder ones when I have a few spare minutes. Sometimes I find those spare minutes while I'm on a break at work. I can scribble in a few answers, and then I usually leave it unfinished on a table somewhere. Sometimes when I come back to it, a few more answers have been written in by other aspiring crossword enthusiasts. Yesterday a friend joined me on break and we were able to completely finish one. When we came to the last few clues, I didn't even realize we were at the end. It was just good, clean fun. Tee hee.



Emily Cureton does drawings inspired by the NYT crossword puzzle. This is the sketch from the one we did yesterday.

My One-hundred-and-fiftieth Post

Martin and I talked on the phone for 45 minutes today. And considering that neither one of us likes talking on the phone, I think that means she likes me.

My One-hundred-and-forty-ninth Post

I took private voice lessons from my choir teacher in high school. At one of our first lessons, he was telling me that practice was important, and I should probably be doing formal vocal exercises every day. Then he said “Of course, I know I’m probably preaching to the choir.” Then there was a short pause, so I gravely nodded my head, indicating that I understood the importance of practice. Then we continued on with the lesson.

It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I got that he was making a joke. He was my choir teacher. He was literally preaching to the choir. Ha!








And now, a Star Trek reference:

Data: I get it! "The clown can stay, but the Ferengi in the gorilla suit has to leave!" I get it!
Geordi: Data, what do you get?
Data: The Farpoint mission! You told a joke; that was the punchline!
Geordi: The Farpoint mission? Data, that was seven years ago.
Data: I know! I finally get it! Very funny!

My One-hundred-and-forty-eighth Post

I just made Jello cups.

I made them all on my very own without stealing them from invalids, or showing up at a little league soccer match, or conjuring them out of mid-air, or buying them. I did none of those things!

See, I've had this box of raspberry Jello forever: it just seemed like something good to have on hand. But every time I'm in the mood for Jello, I am NOT in the mood to wait four hours for Jello. But I finally made it this afternoon when I had the brilliant idea to split the Jello up into smaller containers so it would set up faster! Woo-hoo! (I was originally going to follow the fast set-up recipe, but we didn't have any ice.)

So in searching for appropriate containers, I happened to come across a bunch of little tupperware containers that I never use because they are too small to be practical (about 1/2 cup each). I mixed up the Jello, divided it among the little containers and popped them in the fridge. A few hours later, I had magical individual Jello cups...



...and a fridge shelf covered in Jello goo that had leaked. If you ever decide to try this, consider not putting the lids on until after the Jello has set up.

Also, substitute Sprite or 7UP for the cold water in the recipe. Your life'll never be the same.

My One-hundred-and-forty-seventh Post

So I spent last weekend with my sister, Martin.

Martin was moving apartments (mainly because she has a deathly fear of scorpions, which tended to be overly friendly at her old apartment), and I jokingly committed to come and help her with all the heavy lifting. I make these offers all the time, and when she confronts me about not showing up, I present her with an excuse about hitchhiking, or train derailments, or some other type of disaster which prevented me from fulfilling my commitment. But this time, due to a combination of mild homesickness and cheap airfare, I actually ended up going out there for three whole days! Yay!

Several other members of my family drove up to help as well, and it was a good thing too, because Martin is a wimp when it comes to moving heavy objects. My sister Mean Mommy and I ended up doing quite a bit of the hard work, mainly to prevent my Dad from hurting himself trying to do it. And to give you an idea of how some of the moving went, I have provided you with this rare archival footage:



Yeah.

So anyway, I ended up having many other fun adventures like going to IKEA for the first time, sleeping with a cat curled up on my face, using my engineering prowess to assemble lamps and bookshelves and swivel-y chairs, convincing Martin that she really did need to be able to see the TV from the kitchen, mistakingly using shampoo instead of hair gel, and lots, lots more!

It was a good weekend, and I've spend the last several days trying to catch up on everything from sleep to work to school stuff. But it was totally worth it.

Hooray for spontaneity.

My One-hundred-and-forty-sixth Post

I've recently relized that I own a lot of TV on DVD (also that I always write "realise" instead of "realize," and have to go back and change it every time). I don't really watch it as much as I think I should, considering that I own them. I've been trying to cycle through my television series recently to justify owning them. But sometimes I just want something new.

TV seasons I own:

• The West Wing (1-7)
• Alias (1-5)
• House, MD (1-3)
• Pete and Pete (1-2)
• Firefly (1)
• How I Met Your Mother (1)
• Lois and Clark Adventures (1)
• Grey's Anatomy (2)
• Arrested Development (3)
• Gilmore Girls (various pirated disks from 1-3)

PS- I'm mostly posting this to annoy my sister Martin, who thinks I should be blogging about my weekend with her.

My One-hundred-and-forty-fifth Post

What’s wrong with the world (Installment 3): Class Participation Points

I feel like I haven’t had an original thought in ages.

Unfortunately, most of my professors have stipulations about the need to participate in class discussions.

So I find myself grasping at straws, trying to contribute some scrap of intelligent thought … but usually settling for rephrasing something we’ve already talked about.
If they would just not stipulate that participation is MANDATORY, I could relax and actually learn from others who have something valid to say...
...instead of worrying about coming up with something that sounds smart, despite not actually making sense.

And that is why class participation points are ruining the world.

My One-hundred-and-forty-fourth Post

What I have been reading recently:

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier:

The City is inhabited by the recently departed, who reside there only as long as they remain in the memories of the living. Among the current residents of this afterlife are Luka Sims, who prints the only newspaper in the City, with news from the other side; Coleman Kinzler, a vagrant who speaks the cautionary words of God; and Marion and Phillip Byrd, who find themselves falling in love again after decades of marriage.On Earth, Laura Byrd is trapped by extreme weather in an Antarctic research station. She’s alone and unable to contact the outside world: her radio is down and the power is failing. She’s running out of supplies as quickly as she’s running out of time.

This book had an incredibly interesting concept and makes you think a lot. But it is really slow and as you get towards the end, it just gets weird. If you're looking for something a little of the beaten path, give it a try, but it's not exactly a must read.

The Other Bolyn Girl by Philippa Gregory:

When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family¹s ambitious plots as the king¹s interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king, and take her fate into her own hands.

A rich and compelling tale of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue, The Other Boleyn Girl introduces a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe and survived by following her own heart.

This book was really interesting. As historical fiction, you know from the start pretty much what's going to happen, but this book still manages to handle the character development in such a way that it remains interesting. Warning, though, this is not a book you would want to read aloud to your mother. At one point I was a bit queasy over what I was reading and described the book as "historical smut" to a friend. But those parts are few and far between. For the most part I would recommend this book, especially with the movie coming out at the end of the month.

Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger:

A collection of nine classic Salinger short stories. It includes two of his most famous short stories, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and "For Esmé with Love and Squalor."

I've read this several times before, and I like to keep it by my bed for when I'm sick of everything else I'm reading. They're clever, insightful, engaging stories that you can enjoy without feeling tried down to another book. Everyone should have a favorite book of short stories handy at all times. If you haven't read these short stories, try them. You won't regret it. (I also keep Roald Dahl's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More in my locker at work... just in case of emergency)

The Chosen by Chaim Potok:

The Chosen is a story of the friendship between two orthodox Jewish boys growing up in 1940s Brooklyn. Reuven Malter, the narrator of the story, is the son of a writer and scholar who follows modern methods of studying Judaism. Danny is the genius son of a Hasidic rabbi, whose people live completely within the bounds of traditional Jewish law.

I have just barely started reading this, so I suppose I don't have a very firm opinion on it. It's been on my list of stuff the read ever since I borrowed it from my sister Martin almost a year ago. I'm excited to read it, because I've heard good things. You should be excited too.

The Hornblower Novels by CS Forester:

Hornblower is iconic in Age of Sail traditional naval fiction, and any writer in the genre must deal with comparisons to Forester. There are many parallels between Hornblower and real naval officers of the period, especially Thomas Cochrane and Horatio Nelson. Forester wrote the body of the works carefully to avoid entanglements with real world history, so Hornblower is always off on another mission when a great naval victory occurs during the Napoleonic Wars; concurrently, whatever he has Hornblower dealing with is usually important too, if less heralded.

I read all of the Hornblower novels in high school, and I really love them. They're the ultimate adventure story! A dashing hero with a sensitive soul who must appear staunch and unemotional to maintain discipline and order. No matter what impossible task is placed before him, he always manages to weasel his way to victory against all odds. And the writing is good too. The masterful use of metaphor just astounds me. If you're looking for something classic and engaging, try these books. I suggest starting with either Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, the first chronologically, or Beat to Quarters, the first written. Both are good. I'm currently reading Beat to Quarters, and it's just as good as it was the first time. No... it's better.

"The Shoe Books" by Noel Streatfeild:

As discussed in quirky romantic comedy staring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, You've Got Mail:

WOMAN SHOPPER: Do you have the "Shoe" books?
SALESPERSON: The "Shoe" books? Who's the author?
WOMAN SHOPPER: I don't know. My friend told me my daughter has to read the "Shoe" books, so here I am.
KATHLEEN: Noel Streatfeild. Noel Streatfeild wrote Ballet Shoes and Skating Shoes and Theater Shoes and Movie Shoes...[she starts crying] I'd start with Skating Shoes, it's my favorite, although Ballet Shoes is completely wonderful.
SALESPERSON: Streatfeild. How do you spell that?

When I was much younger, I read Ballet Shoes, Dancing Shoes , and Theater Shoes. But I was disappointed that the others were out of print. I recently rediscovered these three books put away on a seldom used bookshelf while I was home over Christmas, and I brought them back with me. I am now reliving my childhood with these cute little books books: all of them manage to have the same plot, and yet each is charmingly unique. If you ever have daughters, you should read them these books. (Also Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie)

My One-hundred-and-forty-third Post

So Hamburger and I have been looking at apartments for this summer. And I think I'm in love. We found this place that has huge bedrooms, two bathrooms (for 4 girls), a washer and drier in the apartment, a roomy living room, and--the biggest selling point--a MAGNIFICENT kitchen. I really want to live here. Even if I can only afford to do it for the summer and have to find some crappy cheap place again next fall.

Also, I totally achieved a goal of mine yesterday. That goal was entitled "Taking Back Sunday." My Sundays have recently become cluttered with meetings, rehearsals, appointments, social engagements, and a myriad of other time-sucking activities. Well, yesterday, I was able to do things that I wanted to do and actually rest from the rest of my week. My one meeting was before church, so I was able to come home after church and just relax. I finished my book. I took a nap. I made scalloped potatoes and Italian chicken. It was wonderful.

But somehow, I don't think I can justify doing that every week. There are too many other important things to do, and Sunday is just a good time to do them. It sure was nice, though.

My One-hundred-and-forty-second Post

So I made soup last night. But it wasn't just soup. It was SOUP! It was my Mom's homemade chicken noodle soup. Where everything is homemade. And let me tell you something--it's difficult raising chickens in BYU-approved housing.

Anyway, so along with this soup, I decided to make bread bowls. Turns out, bread bowls are much better with a cream based soup, so I ended up just slicing the bread bowls and eating it with my soup.

It was fantastic, but I stayed up too late making it. So this morning when I woke up I was more groggy than usual. I reheated some soup (I love leftovers--of any kind--for breakfast) and cut off a hunk of bread bowl to go with it. I started dipping the bread into the broth and eating it that way, but after a while the bread and the broth were gone, leaving large chunks of vegetables, noodles, and chicken in the bottom of my bowl. I just stared at it for a while, trying to figure out how to eat it. Should I get more bread? But then, how would that help? The noodles would not balance well on the bread, and it would be a mess to eat. Then, miraculously, I found this strange utensil lying on the table by my bowl. It was somewhat like a small spade, but the edges were curled up on the end, forming a small shallow bowl. This would be perfect for scooping up the goodness in my bowl and escorting it to my mouth! What luck!

The end.

My One-hundred-and-forty-first Post

What’s wrong with the world (Installment 2): Cereal

Cereal is evil. Especially cheap cereal. Every once in a while, Smith's has a 8 for $8 sale on brand name cereal.

I enevitably end up participating in some way because, let's face it, good cereal is usually pretty expensive, so $1 is a great deal. Once in a while, Hamburger will go to the store together. She'll buy 4 boxes, and I'll get 4 boxes and we'll both be happy.
But most of the time, the evil cereal gods conspire against us and we'll end up going to the store seperately. We'll be so despreate for the diabolically cheap cereal, we'll end up with 8 boxes each.

Let me tell you something, there is not a whole lot of room in a small kitchen shared by 4 girls. So my massive amounts of cereal end up being stored in my closet.

Which means most of the stuff that's supposed to go in my closet ends up in other less logical places.

So, clearly, cereal makes my life less organized and the world would be better off without it.

And don't even get me started on the case lot sales.

My One-hundred-and-fourtieth Post

My eye shadow right now is called "Dance Party." I definitely look like I'm going to a dance party...

My One-hundred-and-thirty-ninth Post

I'm cleaning out my drafts. Here are the snippets I found that might be of interest:

7/9/07
When I was in high school, I took AP Government, and I really liked it. In fact, I like it so much that at one time in my college career, I wanted to major in Political Science, get my MPA, and go run somebody’s campaign somewhere. Not so much now. But still. Studying the American Government had a big impact on my life. The problem was that, although I was very conversant in landmark Supreme Court cases, knew the rules for a filibuster, and could talk intelligently about the political spectrum, I really had no sense of current events. This was worrisome to me, because I just knew that the AP exam would somehow find my weakness and exploit it. So I found one quaint aspect of current government events to cling to: the McCain-Feingold Act (aka the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002). It was intended to tackle some of the loopholes surrounding the use of soft money and issue ads, as well as to address some of the other issues that had been surfacing in national elections.

9/4/07
I have never hated the first day of school this much. I'm usually excited and anxious and over-eager and all sorts of other good stuff. Today, I was just blasé in the worst possible way. Do you realize the only vacation days we have this semester are for Thanksgiving? I looked it up. I need to get a better attitude about my classes, or I'm never going to have the motivation to keep up with them.

Today also marked my first official shift at Job #1 in over two weeks (I've had a couple unofficial shifts, but some how they were different). I had to deal with a person that I have nicknamed "Condecending Bob," which was quite an unpleasant experience.


9/27/07
I was walking and sort of just thinking to myself when my attention was caught by the most appalling pair of shoes. These were not just some of weird fashionably trendy atrocities that exist out there. They were a more common kind of ugly. They were also well-worn and dingy, making them even less attractive. I spent about 30 seconds examining the shoes as I walked toward their owner, and I finally looked up just as were about to pass each other. When I finally made eye contact with the girl whose shoes I had been silently condemning, I found one of the prettiest, charming looking people I'd ever seen.


11/1/07
So my roommates freshman year were about as dramatic as you would expect 18-year-old girls to be. Consequently, they were heavily involved in the ward-wide drama of boy/girl relations. At one point, my roommate J was really mad at a friend in the ward for something he had done that had hurt another girl's feelings. I didn't think it was all that bad, but it did have most of the girls in the ward up in arms against him. J was all ready to storm over to his apartment and give him a piece of her mind when I pointed out that he could probably have used a friend right about then. She was adamant that what he really needed was to have her yell at him. I tried to convince her to take some time to cool off before going over to talk with him, but she didn't agree. At one point she asked me for one good reason why she should go over right then. I responded, "He's a child of God! He doesn't need you yelling at him!"


11/3/07
I hate the people in one of the areas I work with. They are elitist snobs who can’t abide anyone who doesn’t fit into their predefined constraints of acceptability. I’ve spent the last two years attempting to placate them and be their “buddy,” but you know what? I’m done. If they’re doing something that is inhibiting the productivity of my people, I’m going to yell at them. And they are going to yell back, and their unkind words will crush me. But I’m sick of trying to be nice but having them be jerks anyway. At least this way I can help out my people. I don’t care if this doesn’t make sense to you, but one more rude, disdainful comment, and I’m going to inflict serious injury on these people. But hopefully venting about it will get it out of my system so that I can be nice when I have to work with them again next week.

My One-hundred-and-thirty-eighth Post

What’s wrong with the world (Installment 1): Twins

Twins are evil. Especially when you know Twin A but don’t even know that Twin B exists.

That can cause all sorts of confusion when you see Twin B and wave enthusiastically, but Twin B refuses to acknowledge you.

Then, when you sit by him and start talk to him, he turns to you and says “Do you know my brother, Twin A?” You immediately feel silly, even though there’s really no way you could have known that you were talking to a complete stranger.

So I'm sure you'll agree that the world would be a better place without twins. I mean--really--who likes to feel silly all the time?

(PS- I suppose this applies to identical siblings of any denomination, not just twins. Also, clones.)