I know this journal entry is going to sound whiny, but I want to clarify, not complain.
Dude, I swear. Everyone I ever talk to thinks being born on the 4th of July is the coolest thing in the universe. When I tell people my birthday, this is what I hear 99% of the time:
"Oh. OooooOOOH!!! JULY fourth! You're a firecracker baby! How fun! [pause] You know, July 4th has always been my favorite holiday!"
Oh, BS. Everyone knows your favorite holiday is Christmas and/or Halloween. People always say they love the 4th of July simply because they don't want to be like everyone else. Sure, maybe some people learn to like it as they get older, but come on. Kids love costumes, candy, and presents. Watermelon and fireworks just don't cut it when you're little. So don't tell me it's always been your favorite, because I know you're lying.
And while I certainly don't hate my birthday (it's WAY better than being born on Christmas), I think I need to clear up a few common misconceptions about it. First though, I will list all the positive things. I know I'm a whiner, but I don't want to sound like one all the time.
Things I Like About Being Born on July 4th:
1.) It's nice never having to do homework, take a test, or go to school on my birthday.
2.) I'm usually surrounded by my family
3.) I like ice cream cake (people always seem to opt for that in the summer)
4.) Generally speaking, it is easy for people to remember (and those who forget really have no excuse)
5.) Fireworks, when it's a decent display and you're close enough to see them, are pretty freakin' awesome to watch.
6.) I always loved swimming when I was growing up, so pool parties were a favorite of mine. (If I'd been born in March, that wouldn't have been very doable.)
7.) The weather's usually good. Sometimes.
8.).......
Okay, that's all I can think of. Now, here are some questions and comments people make to me. All. The. Time. And my real responses to them. I put them in order of popularity:
1.) "You were born on July fourth??!"
Yes. Yes I was.
2.) "How fun!!"
Not particularly.
3.) "When you were little, did you think the fireworks were for you?"
No. I have never thought that. I may have been sheltered as a kid, but I wasn't an idiot. I never believed in the tooth fairy or the easter bunny either. And when I was three, my dad told me I could either believe in Santa Claus or Jesus Christ. Which one do you think I chose?
4.) [singing] "Born on the fourth of Julyyyyyyyyy!!"
Yes. I've heard that song before.
5.) [singing] "You're a Yankee doodle Daaaaandeeeee..."
I've heard that one too.
6.) "You know, the fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday."
Bull. Everyone loves Christmas. Even the Jews I know love Christmas. They have a tree and presents and everything. I might believe you if you said Halloween. Easter? You're pushing it. July 4th? Hah!
7.) "At least you never have to go to school on your birthday."
Yeah, that's nice. Except that I've always adored school. Growing up, I used to spend my entire summer (minus a mandatory 2 week family vacation/road trip) sketching and playing games by myself in my room. By "sketching" I mean drawing pictures of the fun things I was going to do when school started, and by "games" I mean one-person mancala, one-person Yahtzee, one-person Monopoly, making shapes with Tangrams, making pot holders, knitting, making coasters with pearler beads, practicing my signature, hitting my knee with a stick to see my leg kick, and peeling all the skin off my legs as I tried to shave them. All of this was done while listening to books on tape. Yeah, I really knew how to throw a party.
Also, in elementary school I was always jealous of the kids whose mothers made cupcakes for the whole class on their birthday. Or that one kid who was born near the end of October, and his mom made dirt cups with worms and candy gravestones and candy pumpkins and everything. That was great. My mom brought in popsicles on the last day of school once. But it just wasn't the same. Plus, my MOM came to the class. Not so cool in the third grade.
8.) "I love fireworks."
So do I. When they're decent. Decent means long enough, close enough, dark enough, enough variety, and good quality fireworks that explode like flowers high in the air. (aka, not the kind you buy in the store that just spit sparks at you) I've only seen a decent display of fireworks about three times in 21 years of being alive. The thing about fireworks is, A.) They're FIRE-works. That means they burn things. That means that if the state you live in is dry and there's a drought and there are a lot of flammable plants around, the light show might get cancelled. B.) Because they're fireworks, it cannot be too wet when you set them off, either. If it is too wet, you wait till the 5th or 6th. Kind of anticlimactic. C.) Quality fireworks are expensive, and you are often required to pay money to get what I would call a "decent" seat. D.) Fireworks are very popular. This means you either save your spot for hours ahead of time, or you park three miles away. Either way, it's a two hour drive home with all the traffic. (And when I say two hours, I'm referring to the people who only live five miles away.) E.) Fireworks are loud. F.) They go on alllll night. Combine F with E, and you end up with something less than a good night's sleep.
So, you know. Pros and cons. Sure, they're worth it. But not for everyone. I certainly don't plan on going to Stadium of Fire anytime soon. To see who? Taylor Hicks? The Jonas Brothers? Hannah frickin' Montana? Riiight.
9.) "I wish I had a summer birthday."
I believe you. Summer seems to be a popular season. Personally, I detest summer because I hate hot weather, I'm not a fan of the beach, I loath amusement parks (water parks included), I burn easily in the sun, my allergies get really bad, I get tons of bug bites, and I've never had air conditioning before. Hot weather saps my energy, and I end up spending all my time indoors watching TV. It's ridiculous. It's also hard to sleep, since I can't sleep without a blanket, but if I have a blanket I get too hot. And when you sleep with a fan, you wake up with chills. And I ALWAYS get sick in the summer. WHY???
Another thing about summer birthdays that people born in the spring, fall, or winter tend to overlook: summer vacations. For some people, this is great. It means you spend your birthday at Disney Land. For most people, it means that either you spend your birthday away from all your friends, surrounded by relatives you hardly know, OR you celebrate it at home and all your FRIENDS are on vacation with their families. It's just the reality of the situation.
Of course, having my friends away on vacation was never a huge problem for me, since I thoroughly enjoyed playing one-person mancala in my room while listening to "The Indian in the Cupboard" on tape. (Sadly, this is true.)
10.) "Are you super-patriotic then?"
Uhh, is someone born on Christmas required to believe in Santa? Sure, I'm patriotic. I don't plan on moving out of the country any time soon. But I'm not enlisting in the army or anything. I don't donate tons of money to the marines. I'm not even into politics, really; apart from the Daily Show, the Colbert Report, and maybe NPR, I don't really keep up with the news so much.
But somehow, people do not seem to understand this. Somehow, everyone seems to think, "Oh, she's born on the fourth of July! That means she's patriotic, and THAT means I'm going to buy a gift for her that goes along with that theme!" Oh. My. Gosh. I do NOT want things that are red white and blue with stars and stripes. This includes hair accessories, CLOTHES, hats, pens, nail polish, anything with sequins, sunglasses, regular glasses, underwear, loofas, movies, balloons, birthday cakes, birthday candles, birthday party hats and napkins and plates and cups and spoons and ribbons and wrapping paper, dolls, stuffed animals, toys, CDs (believe it or not, I don't want to spend all year listening to the Battle Hymn of the Republic), stationary, watches, socks, purses, jewelry, books, or oversized, fire-engine-red T-shirts with an enormous picture of Uncle Sam's face on the front. Ohhhh, I could tell you stories about the T-shirts I've gotten. Ugly redwhiteandblue T-shirts are by far the MOST popular gift to give me. Even the nice T-shirts aren't all that great, seeing as how I only ever wear them about three times a year. I don't know what season I am when it comes to clothes, but I'm fairly sure that it's not "Barber Shop Pole."
That being said, I am CONSTANTLY telling people not to buy me anything for my birthday. I don't want store-bought gifts unless you give them to me on a random day, just to let me know you're thinking of me. (Maybe not even then.) I do not want presents on my birthday or Christmas unless they are homemade or intangible, like spending time with me, writing me a long letter, or making dinner for me. (Dinner is HIGHLY appreciated ANY day of the year) No one usually listens to me when I make this request, except Dot (she gave me one of her paintings last Christmas and it is AMAAAAZZZINNGGGG!!!) and Mykle. (He cooked me breakfast and did all the dishes afterwards; although you know, he's like the ONE person I would like to get something from. Oh well.)
Those who did give me presents, I thank you so much, they were and are wonderful. I am especially excited for the tickets to see "Singin' in the Rain." And I do need undershirts. And of course I love the gift card to Barnes and Noble :) But I hope you realize that despite my gratitude, I still wish I'd just gotten nothing! It's not that I feel like I don't deserve presents, but I have so much already that it's just plain ridiculous for people to give me more. Plus, why are we celebrating me? All I did was survive one more year of my life. We should be celebrating mom!
Birthdays just don't make any sense to me. I'm not excited about the way they're celebrated these days. And it sucks, because I can't NOT give my kids presents for their birthday unless I want to be seen as The Meanest Mom on the Planet. Good thing I don't HAVE kids. That's a load off my mind. And my uterus.
Dude, I swear. Everyone I ever talk to thinks being born on the 4th of July is the coolest thing in the universe. When I tell people my birthday, this is what I hear 99% of the time:
"Oh. OooooOOOH!!! JULY fourth! You're a firecracker baby! How fun! [pause] You know, July 4th has always been my favorite holiday!"
Oh, BS. Everyone knows your favorite holiday is Christmas and/or Halloween. People always say they love the 4th of July simply because they don't want to be like everyone else. Sure, maybe some people learn to like it as they get older, but come on. Kids love costumes, candy, and presents. Watermelon and fireworks just don't cut it when you're little. So don't tell me it's always been your favorite, because I know you're lying.
And while I certainly don't hate my birthday (it's WAY better than being born on Christmas), I think I need to clear up a few common misconceptions about it. First though, I will list all the positive things. I know I'm a whiner, but I don't want to sound like one all the time.
Things I Like About Being Born on July 4th:
1.) It's nice never having to do homework, take a test, or go to school on my birthday.
2.) I'm usually surrounded by my family
3.) I like ice cream cake (people always seem to opt for that in the summer)
4.) Generally speaking, it is easy for people to remember (and those who forget really have no excuse)
5.) Fireworks, when it's a decent display and you're close enough to see them, are pretty freakin' awesome to watch.
6.) I always loved swimming when I was growing up, so pool parties were a favorite of mine. (If I'd been born in March, that wouldn't have been very doable.)
7.) The weather's usually good. Sometimes.
8.).......
Okay, that's all I can think of. Now, here are some questions and comments people make to me. All. The. Time. And my real responses to them. I put them in order of popularity:
1.) "You were born on July fourth??!"
Yes. Yes I was.
2.) "How fun!!"
Not particularly.
3.) "When you were little, did you think the fireworks were for you?"
No. I have never thought that. I may have been sheltered as a kid, but I wasn't an idiot. I never believed in the tooth fairy or the easter bunny either. And when I was three, my dad told me I could either believe in Santa Claus or Jesus Christ. Which one do you think I chose?
4.) [singing] "Born on the fourth of Julyyyyyyyyy!!"
Yes. I've heard that song before.
5.) [singing] "You're a Yankee doodle Daaaaandeeeee..."
I've heard that one too.
6.) "You know, the fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday."
Bull. Everyone loves Christmas. Even the Jews I know love Christmas. They have a tree and presents and everything. I might believe you if you said Halloween. Easter? You're pushing it. July 4th? Hah!
7.) "At least you never have to go to school on your birthday."
Yeah, that's nice. Except that I've always adored school. Growing up, I used to spend my entire summer (minus a mandatory 2 week family vacation/road trip) sketching and playing games by myself in my room. By "sketching" I mean drawing pictures of the fun things I was going to do when school started, and by "games" I mean one-person mancala, one-person Yahtzee, one-person Monopoly, making shapes with Tangrams, making pot holders, knitting, making coasters with pearler beads, practicing my signature, hitting my knee with a stick to see my leg kick, and peeling all the skin off my legs as I tried to shave them. All of this was done while listening to books on tape. Yeah, I really knew how to throw a party.
Also, in elementary school I was always jealous of the kids whose mothers made cupcakes for the whole class on their birthday. Or that one kid who was born near the end of October, and his mom made dirt cups with worms and candy gravestones and candy pumpkins and everything. That was great. My mom brought in popsicles on the last day of school once. But it just wasn't the same. Plus, my MOM came to the class. Not so cool in the third grade.
8.) "I love fireworks."
So do I. When they're decent. Decent means long enough, close enough, dark enough, enough variety, and good quality fireworks that explode like flowers high in the air. (aka, not the kind you buy in the store that just spit sparks at you) I've only seen a decent display of fireworks about three times in 21 years of being alive. The thing about fireworks is, A.) They're FIRE-works. That means they burn things. That means that if the state you live in is dry and there's a drought and there are a lot of flammable plants around, the light show might get cancelled. B.) Because they're fireworks, it cannot be too wet when you set them off, either. If it is too wet, you wait till the 5th or 6th. Kind of anticlimactic. C.) Quality fireworks are expensive, and you are often required to pay money to get what I would call a "decent" seat. D.) Fireworks are very popular. This means you either save your spot for hours ahead of time, or you park three miles away. Either way, it's a two hour drive home with all the traffic. (And when I say two hours, I'm referring to the people who only live five miles away.) E.) Fireworks are loud. F.) They go on alllll night. Combine F with E, and you end up with something less than a good night's sleep.
So, you know. Pros and cons. Sure, they're worth it. But not for everyone. I certainly don't plan on going to Stadium of Fire anytime soon. To see who? Taylor Hicks? The Jonas Brothers? Hannah frickin' Montana? Riiight.
9.) "I wish I had a summer birthday."
I believe you. Summer seems to be a popular season. Personally, I detest summer because I hate hot weather, I'm not a fan of the beach, I loath amusement parks (water parks included), I burn easily in the sun, my allergies get really bad, I get tons of bug bites, and I've never had air conditioning before. Hot weather saps my energy, and I end up spending all my time indoors watching TV. It's ridiculous. It's also hard to sleep, since I can't sleep without a blanket, but if I have a blanket I get too hot. And when you sleep with a fan, you wake up with chills. And I ALWAYS get sick in the summer. WHY???
Another thing about summer birthdays that people born in the spring, fall, or winter tend to overlook: summer vacations. For some people, this is great. It means you spend your birthday at Disney Land. For most people, it means that either you spend your birthday away from all your friends, surrounded by relatives you hardly know, OR you celebrate it at home and all your FRIENDS are on vacation with their families. It's just the reality of the situation.
Of course, having my friends away on vacation was never a huge problem for me, since I thoroughly enjoyed playing one-person mancala in my room while listening to "The Indian in the Cupboard" on tape. (Sadly, this is true.)
10.) "Are you super-patriotic then?"
Uhh, is someone born on Christmas required to believe in Santa? Sure, I'm patriotic. I don't plan on moving out of the country any time soon. But I'm not enlisting in the army or anything. I don't donate tons of money to the marines. I'm not even into politics, really; apart from the Daily Show, the Colbert Report, and maybe NPR, I don't really keep up with the news so much.
But somehow, people do not seem to understand this. Somehow, everyone seems to think, "Oh, she's born on the fourth of July! That means she's patriotic, and THAT means I'm going to buy a gift for her that goes along with that theme!" Oh. My. Gosh. I do NOT want things that are red white and blue with stars and stripes. This includes hair accessories, CLOTHES, hats, pens, nail polish, anything with sequins, sunglasses, regular glasses, underwear, loofas, movies, balloons, birthday cakes, birthday candles, birthday party hats and napkins and plates and cups and spoons and ribbons and wrapping paper, dolls, stuffed animals, toys, CDs (believe it or not, I don't want to spend all year listening to the Battle Hymn of the Republic), stationary, watches, socks, purses, jewelry, books, or oversized, fire-engine-red T-shirts with an enormous picture of Uncle Sam's face on the front. Ohhhh, I could tell you stories about the T-shirts I've gotten. Ugly redwhiteandblue T-shirts are by far the MOST popular gift to give me. Even the nice T-shirts aren't all that great, seeing as how I only ever wear them about three times a year. I don't know what season I am when it comes to clothes, but I'm fairly sure that it's not "Barber Shop Pole."
That being said, I am CONSTANTLY telling people not to buy me anything for my birthday. I don't want store-bought gifts unless you give them to me on a random day, just to let me know you're thinking of me. (Maybe not even then.) I do not want presents on my birthday or Christmas unless they are homemade or intangible, like spending time with me, writing me a long letter, or making dinner for me. (Dinner is HIGHLY appreciated ANY day of the year) No one usually listens to me when I make this request, except Dot (she gave me one of her paintings last Christmas and it is AMAAAAZZZINNGGGG!!!) and Mykle. (He cooked me breakfast and did all the dishes afterwards; although you know, he's like the ONE person I would like to get something from. Oh well.)
Those who did give me presents, I thank you so much, they were and are wonderful. I am especially excited for the tickets to see "Singin' in the Rain." And I do need undershirts. And of course I love the gift card to Barnes and Noble :) But I hope you realize that despite my gratitude, I still wish I'd just gotten nothing! It's not that I feel like I don't deserve presents, but I have so much already that it's just plain ridiculous for people to give me more. Plus, why are we celebrating me? All I did was survive one more year of my life. We should be celebrating mom!
Birthdays just don't make any sense to me. I'm not excited about the way they're celebrated these days. And it sucks, because I can't NOT give my kids presents for their birthday unless I want to be seen as The Meanest Mom on the Planet. Good thing I don't HAVE kids. That's a load off my mind. And my uterus.
- Mood:
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What is the purpose of a blog? For some people, a blog is a way to update everyone they know about how they're doing. I choose to use facebook for that. My brother keeps a photo blog to get feedback (and possibly earn money); I like his photo safari blog because it allows me to see life through his lens. However, this is not the reason I keep a blog. (I don't post all that many photos, as my readers know) A lot of people keep a blog to share their happiness with the world- "My life is wonderful!" "I went skiing yesterday!" "I found a new recipe for snickerdoodles!" blah blah blah. Okay, good for you. Write about what you want, that's fine. But don't expect me to digest pure sugar. Obviously, this is not what my blog is about either.
Some blogs are more specialized: book club blogs, political blogs, fiction-writing blogs, cooking blogs, spiritual blogs, blogs about your kids or your pregnancy, etc. Dude, that is totally fine. You write what you want to write; online or on paper, it's still YOUR journal. And the thing about journals is, they are your feelings at a given place and time and point in your life. And unless you are writing very factually or objectively, there's a pretty good chance that you won't always feel the same way for the rest of your life, or even for the rest of the day. Even political and moral views are subject to change as a person grows and develops and learns more about the world around them.
Individuals progress as they get older. I keep my online journal in order to record my progression as a person, and I publish it on the internet so that my readers can appreciate where I've been, where I am now, and where I'm going. And I am selective about my readers. (speaking of which, if anyone reading this- aka Joe- has posted a link to my blog from theirs, I'd appreciate it if you would delete that) I hope that anyone who does read my blog has enough sense to filter the things I write, always keeping in mind 1) What they're reading (it's a blog, not a newspaper; I try, but I'm not always politically correct). 2) The context of the situation (if I'm angry, I'm probably venting, and if I'm venting it means I'm trying to work through my anger because I don't plan on staying angry forever; even if I say in my blog "I will always be angry about this," it's probably not true because I surprise myself all the time). 3) Who is writing this blog. Hi. It's me. I'm Sarah, and I am a direct person. If I'm mad at someone, I like to tell them about it. I also expect people to do me the same courtesy. I appreciate candidness and honesty. I don't appreciate verbal/written attacks, holding back your feelings, or passive-aggressive behavior. If someone doesn't like the way I do or say something, I need to know about it asap, preferably in the moment (unless to do so is inappropriate). My feelings get hurt when someone pretends everything is fine for awhile, and then brings up past issues later when I offend them again. Dude, if you don't give me feedback about what I'm doing wrong, it's pretty much inevitable that I'm going to do it again. Let me know! That being said, I try and do the same for others. I realize that I am blunt and lack tact about 85% of the time. I struggle with that, and I'm trying to do better.
Where am I going with this? Well, some people keep an online journal in order to play mind games with their readers; it is an easy way to criticize a specific person with generalized statements, so that most of the readers know who you're talking about, but if the person you were criticizing confronts you, you're still able to deny it. Yeah, that's not my style. And it's not my sister's style either. I don't know all the reasons why she keeps a blog, but I know she does not play those kind of games. Kate is very direct- kind of like me, except with less boldness and more tact. This usually serves her well.
However, she recently posted something on her blog that received a lot of criticism and negative comments. I won't go into it too much (some of you already know what I'm talking about), except to say that her sisters-in-law (and maybe their husbands?) made a huge fuss about it. Kate was venting about some of the annoyances of being pregnant, and they took it personally.
I don't think Danny's sisters are bad people. I have my own reasons for disliking them, unrelated to this issue, but I still think they are nice and well-meaning girls, despite my aversion. They are not malicious people, and they took Kate under their wing in her pregnancy. However, I was not pleased with the way they chose to react in this situation. Instead of asking Kate to clarify her feelings, people jumped to conclusions right off the bat. Dude! It's a blog! It's not a piece of hate mail! She didn't direct it towards a specific person- she didn't even mention people by name! Take a chill pill!
I realize I am jumping to the defense of my sister, and, by doing such, I appear to have a biased point of view here. Well of COURSE I'm biased! She's my sister! Also, BECAUSE Kate is my sister, she is someone I've known for my entire life. I've grown up with her and I've seen her at her best and at her worst. I've seen her be purposefully mean, I've seen her hurt people on accident, and I've witnessed her venting her emotions. As a kid and teenager, I spent more time listening to Kate vent than doing homework! I know what her venting sounds like, and I know what it looks like. And, more often than not, I've been around to see Kate take some time to calm down and reframe her thoughts. Kate has a fiery temper (that wasn't a comment about your red hair, Kate), but she is innately a peace maker. Her anger goes away as fast as it comes. She does not hold grudges the way I tend to, and she is ALWAYS the first to apologize (another thing I struggle with). So she wrote something you found offensive. Okay then. Go ahead and talk about it, that's fine. But seriously folks, there's effective communication, and there's waving a club around in the dark. Commenting on someone's blog without revealing your identity? Not a big deal in some cases, but if the goal is to achieve some sort of mutual understanding, anonymity is not the most mature approach out there. If you want to build a positive relationship with Kate, or anyone for that matter, you have to give them a chance to clarify what they said, and always, ALWAYS give them room to change.
You might say "But Kate was the one jumping to conclusions and making accusations and calling people names! It's her fault for being mean and starting the argument!" Uh, it's a blog. An online JOURNAL. A journal is a place where you can write about your feelings, whatever they may be. Even feelings that are crazy and irrational are valid. It's how you see the world in that moment. Yeah, you might want to censor a journal entry that you're planning to post on the internet. But the things you choose to leave out say just as much about you as the words that you publish. I've probably deleted about three posts on this blog. If I remember correctly, most (if not all) of them were rude comments about Day, directed towards Day, and published on my blog because I knew she would read them. I chose to delete them after I calmed down and realized A) how immature I was being, and B) how little she deserved it. I say some dumb things sometimes, and I do choose to erase the most asinine of my entries. However, I prefer to leave up as many posts as possible (even the ridiculous, dumb, whiny ones- of which there are many) because, who am I kidding? It's me. It's my life. I do and say dumb things all the time; if I cut those posts out, it's not me anymore. I want to BE real, and I want my blog to be real so that people who read it can SEE that I'm real. I try to share this link with people who can understand my reality. You don't have to sympathize, you don't have to agree--- heck, you don't even have to read it. But if you do, just take it for what it is.
And that is what I think Kate's readers should have done: take it for what it is. (well, "was," since she deleted it) And if they aren't sure WHAT it is, they need to ask! I mean, they've met Kate. They like her. They know she's a nice girl. And they should know that Kate is smart and informed. But then she posts something they don't like, and it turns into this argument. Dude. Kate is not an insensitive, oblivious, judgmental person. If she's acting that way, you need to take a minute to think about it: "Okay, what is she trying to accomplish by saying this? What is her underlying emotion here? Why do I feel angry about it? What are MY underlying emotions? Is this a misunderstanding, or is it possible that she's just expressing her momentary frustration here? And what would be the best way to approach her about my feelings and give her some feedback?"
I realize this is a lot to expect from casual blog readers. Still, these girls MUST have realized that they've only seen one or two sides to Kate. When Kate wants to make friends and gain approval from people, she's on her very best behavior for as long as possible. But everyone gets frustrated! And, though I've never been pregnant, everything I've heard and seen about pregnant women tells me that they are not immune to getting frustrated either! When people get frustrated, they are not always diplomatic and careful with their words. They might even choose to vent their frustrations and post it online, so people will understand how they're feeling. Is it your job to correct someone when they are insensitive or oblivious or judgmental? Hmm, maybe if you're talking to them face to face and their comments are directed towards you. (this doesn't mean that the comments have to be ABOUT you, but that they are spoken TO you) But a couple paragraphs in an online journal? Come on. It's a friggin blog, dude. You should feel privileged to be invited into such a personal part of someone's life. It means they trust you.
When I share my emotions with someone and they start picking at me for it, it sure as hell doesn't make me want to do it again. If Danny's sisters want a strong friendship with Kate, they need to put themselves out there the way she is. "Kate, I read your blog, and I am a bit confused. I thought you were sympathetic towards me/my sister on this issue, but you sounded very judgmental here. Were you just venting? If not, can you clarify what you meant when you said such-and-such?" You can confront someone without destroying the trust. I know Kate is very resilient and strong, but dude, you guys are throwing her a baby shower soon. (that's actually tonight) Who's supposed to have fun at a baby shower? And how can the expecting mother have fun when she doesn't feel comfortable being there? Yeah, the hostess needs to be comfortable too, and I am definitely glad Danny's sisters didn't choose to refrain from saying anything until after the shower. That would have been much worse. I support talking it out! But dude, your approach was not classy. If it had been, Kate would not have begged Dot and me to go with her to the shower tonight for moral support.
All I'm saying is, people need to take each other at face value (not "blog value"). This means that you have to clarify things and make sure you really understand one another before you take offense or start a fight. Chances are, if you understand each other first, you can come to some sort of agreement and prevent the fight from happening in the first place. I'm not the most diplomatic of people (hahahaha... *sigh*), and if I ever claimed to be perfect at something, it was probably a joke (even if I was serious, it's a joke). My grossest errors in communication have been (surprise surprise) through email/over the internet. It is easy to misunderstand someone in writing, especially when you're typing. My handwritten letters tend to be better thought out. Typing? Pshhh! I'm fast and sloppy and word things wrong all the time. And so does everyone else. Also, social inhibitions are different over the internet, and people are more easily offended. It's just one of the realities of online communication. It can be great when people open up more, or it can suck and people can read you wrong. If you make too many assumptions, feelings get hurt and you might even lose a friend or two. It's a tricky thing; I learned this the not-very-fun way.
Kate deleted her blog entries that were offensive and posted an apology. I respect her choice to do this (maybe it's not exactly what I would have done, but I told you, she is a peace maker), and so I'm not going to post what she wrote here. If you want to know, you can ask her. She's on facebook. If you want her email or the address to her blog, send her a message on facebook. Her name is Kate Challis. I try not to post people's information on my blog without permission. (though I think I posted the link to your blog, Day, without asking--- let me know if you want me to delete that, I'd be more than happy to)
I don't like baby showers, and I hope going tonight doesn't give me another reason to hate them. I promised Mykle I wouldn't get into any fights, and I'm pretty sure I won't. Besides, I know Kate would just get mad at me if I was rude to Danny's family. And I don't want to offend Danny, since he's an awesome guy and a great husband to Kate. So, like Obama on SNL, I will "keep it cool." I think I might have done it once before, so I should be all set ;op
Anyway, this is the comment I left on Kate's blog:
"I appreciate the honesty of your blog entries. Blogs that ignore the negative aspects of life are boring and unrealistic. I don't read them. Though it's true that you have to be aware of your audience, your audience also has to be aware of you. When you read someone's blog, you have to say to yourself "Okay, are they venting? Were they upset when they wrote this?" etc.
The night of my temple sealing, I was extremely upset and I vented about it on my blog. However, in the next entry (a few days later), after a good night's sleep and some time to think about it, I wrote another entry about how wonderful everything was. Even the greatest experiences of your life can be painful (as you probably know with your pregnancy). Fortunately, the people who read my blog understand my mood swings and need to vent; they give me time and space to come to peace with things.
Also, when I am directing a comment towards a specific person, whether the comment is positive or negative, I always say WHO I'm talking about. In my opinion, you can't take something personally unless they MAKE it personal by identifying you specifically. Though I realize that you were talking about a sensitive topic, I think people need to remember what they're reading- it's an online journal. It's not the Boston Globe. It is your feelings at the exact moment you wrote it. It's not your feelings every second of every day for the rest of your life.
I think it's great that your entry started a discussion on the topic which allowed you to see things from other perspectives. But seriously, before people go and take offense at your words, they need to take a breath, give you some time, and begin by asking you to clarify what you said as it applies to them. You mentioned early on that none of your siblings had offended you; this could very well apply to siblings-in-law as well. Obviously there is more than one way to read something, and because a blog is written and not spoken, (and it is initially a one-way conversation) a lot of things are missing. If the content is offensive to someone, they need to ask you to fill in the blanks before jumping to conclusions. Or, they can jump to conclusions and everybody's feelings get hurt, especially theirs and yours. I don't know about you, but that's not my reason for keeping a blog. Though it is my reason for being highly selective about my readers."
Some blogs are more specialized: book club blogs, political blogs, fiction-writing blogs, cooking blogs, spiritual blogs, blogs about your kids or your pregnancy, etc. Dude, that is totally fine. You write what you want to write; online or on paper, it's still YOUR journal. And the thing about journals is, they are your feelings at a given place and time and point in your life. And unless you are writing very factually or objectively, there's a pretty good chance that you won't always feel the same way for the rest of your life, or even for the rest of the day. Even political and moral views are subject to change as a person grows and develops and learns more about the world around them.
Individuals progress as they get older. I keep my online journal in order to record my progression as a person, and I publish it on the internet so that my readers can appreciate where I've been, where I am now, and where I'm going. And I am selective about my readers. (speaking of which, if anyone reading this- aka Joe- has posted a link to my blog from theirs, I'd appreciate it if you would delete that) I hope that anyone who does read my blog has enough sense to filter the things I write, always keeping in mind 1) What they're reading (it's a blog, not a newspaper; I try, but I'm not always politically correct). 2) The context of the situation (if I'm angry, I'm probably venting, and if I'm venting it means I'm trying to work through my anger because I don't plan on staying angry forever; even if I say in my blog "I will always be angry about this," it's probably not true because I surprise myself all the time). 3) Who is writing this blog. Hi. It's me. I'm Sarah, and I am a direct person. If I'm mad at someone, I like to tell them about it. I also expect people to do me the same courtesy. I appreciate candidness and honesty. I don't appreciate verbal/written attacks, holding back your feelings, or passive-aggressive behavior. If someone doesn't like the way I do or say something, I need to know about it asap, preferably in the moment (unless to do so is inappropriate). My feelings get hurt when someone pretends everything is fine for awhile, and then brings up past issues later when I offend them again. Dude, if you don't give me feedback about what I'm doing wrong, it's pretty much inevitable that I'm going to do it again. Let me know! That being said, I try and do the same for others. I realize that I am blunt and lack tact about 85% of the time. I struggle with that, and I'm trying to do better.
Where am I going with this? Well, some people keep an online journal in order to play mind games with their readers; it is an easy way to criticize a specific person with generalized statements, so that most of the readers know who you're talking about, but if the person you were criticizing confronts you, you're still able to deny it. Yeah, that's not my style. And it's not my sister's style either. I don't know all the reasons why she keeps a blog, but I know she does not play those kind of games. Kate is very direct- kind of like me, except with less boldness and more tact. This usually serves her well.
However, she recently posted something on her blog that received a lot of criticism and negative comments. I won't go into it too much (some of you already know what I'm talking about), except to say that her sisters-in-law (and maybe their husbands?) made a huge fuss about it. Kate was venting about some of the annoyances of being pregnant, and they took it personally.
I don't think Danny's sisters are bad people. I have my own reasons for disliking them, unrelated to this issue, but I still think they are nice and well-meaning girls, despite my aversion. They are not malicious people, and they took Kate under their wing in her pregnancy. However, I was not pleased with the way they chose to react in this situation. Instead of asking Kate to clarify her feelings, people jumped to conclusions right off the bat. Dude! It's a blog! It's not a piece of hate mail! She didn't direct it towards a specific person- she didn't even mention people by name! Take a chill pill!
I realize I am jumping to the defense of my sister, and, by doing such, I appear to have a biased point of view here. Well of COURSE I'm biased! She's my sister! Also, BECAUSE Kate is my sister, she is someone I've known for my entire life. I've grown up with her and I've seen her at her best and at her worst. I've seen her be purposefully mean, I've seen her hurt people on accident, and I've witnessed her venting her emotions. As a kid and teenager, I spent more time listening to Kate vent than doing homework! I know what her venting sounds like, and I know what it looks like. And, more often than not, I've been around to see Kate take some time to calm down and reframe her thoughts. Kate has a fiery temper (that wasn't a comment about your red hair, Kate), but she is innately a peace maker. Her anger goes away as fast as it comes. She does not hold grudges the way I tend to, and she is ALWAYS the first to apologize (another thing I struggle with). So she wrote something you found offensive. Okay then. Go ahead and talk about it, that's fine. But seriously folks, there's effective communication, and there's waving a club around in the dark. Commenting on someone's blog without revealing your identity? Not a big deal in some cases, but if the goal is to achieve some sort of mutual understanding, anonymity is not the most mature approach out there. If you want to build a positive relationship with Kate, or anyone for that matter, you have to give them a chance to clarify what they said, and always, ALWAYS give them room to change.
You might say "But Kate was the one jumping to conclusions and making accusations and calling people names! It's her fault for being mean and starting the argument!" Uh, it's a blog. An online JOURNAL. A journal is a place where you can write about your feelings, whatever they may be. Even feelings that are crazy and irrational are valid. It's how you see the world in that moment. Yeah, you might want to censor a journal entry that you're planning to post on the internet. But the things you choose to leave out say just as much about you as the words that you publish. I've probably deleted about three posts on this blog. If I remember correctly, most (if not all) of them were rude comments about Day, directed towards Day, and published on my blog because I knew she would read them. I chose to delete them after I calmed down and realized A) how immature I was being, and B) how little she deserved it. I say some dumb things sometimes, and I do choose to erase the most asinine of my entries. However, I prefer to leave up as many posts as possible (even the ridiculous, dumb, whiny ones- of which there are many) because, who am I kidding? It's me. It's my life. I do and say dumb things all the time; if I cut those posts out, it's not me anymore. I want to BE real, and I want my blog to be real so that people who read it can SEE that I'm real. I try to share this link with people who can understand my reality. You don't have to sympathize, you don't have to agree--- heck, you don't even have to read it. But if you do, just take it for what it is.
And that is what I think Kate's readers should have done: take it for what it is. (well, "was," since she deleted it) And if they aren't sure WHAT it is, they need to ask! I mean, they've met Kate. They like her. They know she's a nice girl. And they should know that Kate is smart and informed. But then she posts something they don't like, and it turns into this argument. Dude. Kate is not an insensitive, oblivious, judgmental person. If she's acting that way, you need to take a minute to think about it: "Okay, what is she trying to accomplish by saying this? What is her underlying emotion here? Why do I feel angry about it? What are MY underlying emotions? Is this a misunderstanding, or is it possible that she's just expressing her momentary frustration here? And what would be the best way to approach her about my feelings and give her some feedback?"
I realize this is a lot to expect from casual blog readers. Still, these girls MUST have realized that they've only seen one or two sides to Kate. When Kate wants to make friends and gain approval from people, she's on her very best behavior for as long as possible. But everyone gets frustrated! And, though I've never been pregnant, everything I've heard and seen about pregnant women tells me that they are not immune to getting frustrated either! When people get frustrated, they are not always diplomatic and careful with their words. They might even choose to vent their frustrations and post it online, so people will understand how they're feeling. Is it your job to correct someone when they are insensitive or oblivious or judgmental? Hmm, maybe if you're talking to them face to face and their comments are directed towards you. (this doesn't mean that the comments have to be ABOUT you, but that they are spoken TO you) But a couple paragraphs in an online journal? Come on. It's a friggin blog, dude. You should feel privileged to be invited into such a personal part of someone's life. It means they trust you.
When I share my emotions with someone and they start picking at me for it, it sure as hell doesn't make me want to do it again. If Danny's sisters want a strong friendship with Kate, they need to put themselves out there the way she is. "Kate, I read your blog, and I am a bit confused. I thought you were sympathetic towards me/my sister on this issue, but you sounded very judgmental here. Were you just venting? If not, can you clarify what you meant when you said such-and-such?" You can confront someone without destroying the trust. I know Kate is very resilient and strong, but dude, you guys are throwing her a baby shower soon. (that's actually tonight) Who's supposed to have fun at a baby shower? And how can the expecting mother have fun when she doesn't feel comfortable being there? Yeah, the hostess needs to be comfortable too, and I am definitely glad Danny's sisters didn't choose to refrain from saying anything until after the shower. That would have been much worse. I support talking it out! But dude, your approach was not classy. If it had been, Kate would not have begged Dot and me to go with her to the shower tonight for moral support.
All I'm saying is, people need to take each other at face value (not "blog value"). This means that you have to clarify things and make sure you really understand one another before you take offense or start a fight. Chances are, if you understand each other first, you can come to some sort of agreement and prevent the fight from happening in the first place. I'm not the most diplomatic of people (hahahaha... *sigh*), and if I ever claimed to be perfect at something, it was probably a joke (even if I was serious, it's a joke). My grossest errors in communication have been (surprise surprise) through email/over the internet. It is easy to misunderstand someone in writing, especially when you're typing. My handwritten letters tend to be better thought out. Typing? Pshhh! I'm fast and sloppy and word things wrong all the time. And so does everyone else. Also, social inhibitions are different over the internet, and people are more easily offended. It's just one of the realities of online communication. It can be great when people open up more, or it can suck and people can read you wrong. If you make too many assumptions, feelings get hurt and you might even lose a friend or two. It's a tricky thing; I learned this the not-very-fun way.
Kate deleted her blog entries that were offensive and posted an apology. I respect her choice to do this (maybe it's not exactly what I would have done, but I told you, she is a peace maker), and so I'm not going to post what she wrote here. If you want to know, you can ask her. She's on facebook. If you want her email or the address to her blog, send her a message on facebook. Her name is Kate Challis. I try not to post people's information on my blog without permission. (though I think I posted the link to your blog, Day, without asking--- let me know if you want me to delete that, I'd be more than happy to)
I don't like baby showers, and I hope going tonight doesn't give me another reason to hate them. I promised Mykle I wouldn't get into any fights, and I'm pretty sure I won't. Besides, I know Kate would just get mad at me if I was rude to Danny's family. And I don't want to offend Danny, since he's an awesome guy and a great husband to Kate. So, like Obama on SNL, I will "keep it cool." I think I might have done it once before, so I should be all set ;op
Anyway, this is the comment I left on Kate's blog:
"I appreciate the honesty of your blog entries. Blogs that ignore the negative aspects of life are boring and unrealistic. I don't read them. Though it's true that you have to be aware of your audience, your audience also has to be aware of you. When you read someone's blog, you have to say to yourself "Okay, are they venting? Were they upset when they wrote this?" etc.
The night of my temple sealing, I was extremely upset and I vented about it on my blog. However, in the next entry (a few days later), after a good night's sleep and some time to think about it, I wrote another entry about how wonderful everything was. Even the greatest experiences of your life can be painful (as you probably know with your pregnancy). Fortunately, the people who read my blog understand my mood swings and need to vent; they give me time and space to come to peace with things.
Also, when I am directing a comment towards a specific person, whether the comment is positive or negative, I always say WHO I'm talking about. In my opinion, you can't take something personally unless they MAKE it personal by identifying you specifically. Though I realize that you were talking about a sensitive topic, I think people need to remember what they're reading- it's an online journal. It's not the Boston Globe. It is your feelings at the exact moment you wrote it. It's not your feelings every second of every day for the rest of your life.
I think it's great that your entry started a discussion on the topic which allowed you to see things from other perspectives. But seriously, before people go and take offense at your words, they need to take a breath, give you some time, and begin by asking you to clarify what you said as it applies to them. You mentioned early on that none of your siblings had offended you; this could very well apply to siblings-in-law as well. Obviously there is more than one way to read something, and because a blog is written and not spoken, (and it is initially a one-way conversation) a lot of things are missing. If the content is offensive to someone, they need to ask you to fill in the blanks before jumping to conclusions. Or, they can jump to conclusions and everybody's feelings get hurt, especially theirs and yours. I don't know about you, but that's not my reason for keeping a blog. Though it is my reason for being highly selective about my readers."
- Mood:
discontent
[talking about how other people are often intimidated by her high level of intelligence):
"Yeah, it's such a drag."
"Yeah, it's such a drag."
http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/?nid=g_SMfmm
Wow! My mom was on the national news! Sweet!
Here's my list of things I need to do to prepare for being a mother:
- Keep a clean(er) house
- Learn to cook at least 12 different meals by heart, with at least 15 different sides
- Take daily vitamins
- Keep a budget
- Get a few credit cards (I don't have any right now! Maybe one? Je ne sais pas.)
- Learn to like different kinds of food (I don't know if this will ever happen where fruit is concerned.)
- Get my Bachelor's degree
- Save lots of money
- Read scriptures twice a day (once with Mykle, and again for personal study)
- Pray at least four times a day, not counting meals (morning personal/spouse, evening personal/spouse)
- Go to the temple at least once every two weeks
- Stop playing text twist and tetris online
- Exercise more than I currently am (if I exercise twice as much as I do now, I still won't be exercising!)
- Get rid of all my R rated movies (How sad; I loved "Good Will Hunting.")
- Babysit Kate's baby when she comes (if I am found to be trustworthy)
- Eat healthier foods
- Get CPR certified (and renew certification when necessary)
- Find my bowie knife (probably not a good thing to leave lying around)
- Stop drinking soda (nooooo!)
- Stop drinking alcohol/caffeine (noooo!)
- Stop taking illegal drugs (noooo!)
- Talk to my doctor
- Get better health coverage
... And probably ten million other things. But don't get too excited, dearest mother-in-law who may be reading this; It could take me a long time to do all these things. Like, at least a year and a half to graduate alone. And ten months until I can switch to a better health insurance plan. I just figure there are a lot of things here I need to start working on now.
Like cooking. I hate cooking. I never cook. I eat sandwiches and cereal, and hot meals at Kate's and Connie's. I think I need to work on that. I mean, even JOE knows how to cook 12 entrees and 15 sides- he knows MORE than that! We counted them up because I told him that his market value would go up 40% if he could do that. I can't believe my own BROTHER is a better cook than I. That's just sad. Of course, I can bake, but baking is easy. And you can't exactly eat a batch of cookies for a meal.
I can make the following without a recipe:
Instant mashed potatoes
Spaghetti/pasta
Ramen Noodles
Pancakes/waffles
Grilled cheese sandwiches
Omelets/eggs
Soup from a can
Bread (without a bread maker)
Frozen vegetables
Rice/chinese rice
Baked potatoes
Hot Pockets
Rice packets in the microwave
Tacos/taco salad
Burritos/quesadillas
Hamburgers/hotdogs
Caesar salad/seven layer salad
Rice curry
Chicken breasts
Bisquick biscuits
Ten different kinds of cookies from scratch
Muddy Buddies
Microwave popcorn
Cake from a box
Two different kinds of cake from scratch
Homemade pretzels
Homemade bagels
Rice Krispy treats
Quiche
All that, and I churn my own butter, too! Wow!
Some palindromes I came up with the other day:
I prefer pi.
Was it a bat I saw?
Gary knits a stinky rag.
There was also something about "a mall llama," but I forget the whole thing. And no, I did not get these online. The ones you find online are dumb and typical, like "Madam, I'm Adam," etc. Boring.
I wonder how/if you could program a computer to find palindromes for you. Like, first they make sure that all the things can be separated into actual words, and then they send them through Microsoft Word to see if they work as sentences/phrases. It's probably been done before.
Now I have to go do a pile of homework/housework.
Wow! My mom was on the national news! Sweet!
Here's my list of things I need to do to prepare for being a mother:
- Keep a clean(er) house
- Learn to cook at least 12 different meals by heart, with at least 15 different sides
- Take daily vitamins
- Keep a budget
- Get a few credit cards (I don't have any right now! Maybe one? Je ne sais pas.)
- Learn to like different kinds of food (I don't know if this will ever happen where fruit is concerned.)
- Get my Bachelor's degree
- Save lots of money
- Read scriptures twice a day (once with Mykle, and again for personal study)
- Pray at least four times a day, not counting meals (morning personal/spouse, evening personal/spouse)
- Go to the temple at least once every two weeks
- Stop playing text twist and tetris online
- Exercise more than I currently am (if I exercise twice as much as I do now, I still won't be exercising!)
- Get rid of all my R rated movies (How sad; I loved "Good Will Hunting.")
- Babysit Kate's baby when she comes (if I am found to be trustworthy)
- Eat healthier foods
- Get CPR certified (and renew certification when necessary)
- Find my bowie knife (probably not a good thing to leave lying around)
- Stop drinking soda (nooooo!)
- Stop drinking alcohol/caffeine (noooo!)
- Stop taking illegal drugs (noooo!)
- Talk to my doctor
- Get better health coverage
... And probably ten million other things. But don't get too excited, dearest mother-in-law who may be reading this; It could take me a long time to do all these things. Like, at least a year and a half to graduate alone. And ten months until I can switch to a better health insurance plan. I just figure there are a lot of things here I need to start working on now.
Like cooking. I hate cooking. I never cook. I eat sandwiches and cereal, and hot meals at Kate's and Connie's. I think I need to work on that. I mean, even JOE knows how to cook 12 entrees and 15 sides- he knows MORE than that! We counted them up because I told him that his market value would go up 40% if he could do that. I can't believe my own BROTHER is a better cook than I. That's just sad. Of course, I can bake, but baking is easy. And you can't exactly eat a batch of cookies for a meal.
I can make the following without a recipe:
Instant mashed potatoes
Spaghetti/pasta
Ramen Noodles
Pancakes/waffles
Grilled cheese sandwiches
Omelets/eggs
Soup from a can
Bread (without a bread maker)
Frozen vegetables
Rice/chinese rice
Baked potatoes
Hot Pockets
Rice packets in the microwave
Tacos/taco salad
Burritos/quesadillas
Hamburgers/hotdogs
Caesar salad/seven layer salad
Rice curry
Chicken breasts
Bisquick biscuits
Ten different kinds of cookies from scratch
Muddy Buddies
Microwave popcorn
Cake from a box
Two different kinds of cake from scratch
Homemade pretzels
Homemade bagels
Rice Krispy treats
Quiche
All that, and I churn my own butter, too! Wow!
Some palindromes I came up with the other day:
I prefer pi.
Was it a bat I saw?
Gary knits a stinky rag.
There was also something about "a mall llama," but I forget the whole thing. And no, I did not get these online. The ones you find online are dumb and typical, like "Madam, I'm Adam," etc. Boring.
I wonder how/if you could program a computer to find palindromes for you. Like, first they make sure that all the things can be separated into actual words, and then they send them through Microsoft Word to see if they work as sentences/phrases. It's probably been done before.
Now I have to go do a pile of homework/housework.
- Mood:
busy
Curse that game! Curse Ben for showing it to me! Now I'm stuck deconstructing words in my sleep, literally!
Of course, as of late, my brain has taken it a bit further. Instead of simply coming up with six-letter words and trying to think of all the words you can get from them, I switched to thinking of palindromes. This started simply enough, when I asked Mykle "I wonder if there are three letters that can form a word no matter what order they're in?" At first, the closest I came was R-A-E, which can spell "are," "ear," and "era." Then I thought of T-A-E, which can spell "eat," "ate," "tea," and "eta." (Also, "aet." is short for aetatis, and "T.A.E." are Thomas Alva Edison's initials, but those don't really count as words.)
Then I started thinking about three-letter words that can work forwards and backwards, like "raw" and "war," "tar" and "rat," and "sag" and "gas." This is what got me thinking about palindromes.
So in the shower last night, I started thinking about palindromic words that were longer than three letters, like "stats," "level," "seres," and "redder." The longest one I came up with (and it's only seven letters) was "reviver." (yes, that is a real word)
Then this morning, while lying in bed, waiting for Mykle to finish his run, I started combining the words to make funny phrases. The best one I could come up with was "straw warts." Of course, I could say "straw end new arts," but that doesn't exactly make sense.
Of course, when I told all of this to Mykle, his response was "A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!" Har har.
I guess the palindrome of the day is "straw warts." (I have a better one, but I'm saving it for later.)
Of course, as of late, my brain has taken it a bit further. Instead of simply coming up with six-letter words and trying to think of all the words you can get from them, I switched to thinking of palindromes. This started simply enough, when I asked Mykle "I wonder if there are three letters that can form a word no matter what order they're in?" At first, the closest I came was R-A-E, which can spell "are," "ear," and "era." Then I thought of T-A-E, which can spell "eat," "ate," "tea," and "eta." (Also, "aet." is short for aetatis, and "T.A.E." are Thomas Alva Edison's initials, but those don't really count as words.)
Then I started thinking about three-letter words that can work forwards and backwards, like "raw" and "war," "tar" and "rat," and "sag" and "gas." This is what got me thinking about palindromes.
So in the shower last night, I started thinking about palindromic words that were longer than three letters, like "stats," "level," "seres," and "redder." The longest one I came up with (and it's only seven letters) was "reviver." (yes, that is a real word)
Then this morning, while lying in bed, waiting for Mykle to finish his run, I started combining the words to make funny phrases. The best one I could come up with was "straw warts." Of course, I could say "straw end new arts," but that doesn't exactly make sense.
Of course, when I told all of this to Mykle, his response was "A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!" Har har.
I guess the palindrome of the day is "straw warts." (I have a better one, but I'm saving it for later.)
- Mood:
evitalpmetnoc
...has returned to the Mykle and Sarah (and Grandpa) household! I turned in my last exam yesterday, and Mykle finished his on Wednesday. It's AMAZING how much the stress and tension in our lives has dissipated now that school's out. Mykle and I spent all day today and yesterday together, and it (almost) feels as carefree and fun as before we got engaged!
*Note: People kept warning Mykle about when the honeymoon would be over; his response (and this is SO true) was that the honeymoon was over when he asked me to marry him. We were so young and naive when we were just boyfriend/girlfriend... We probably still are now, but it doesn't FEEL that way.
I saw the movie "Get Smart" yesterday with Kate and Danny, Brandon and his wife (Danny's friends), Joe, and Mykle. I was the only one who hadn't seen it. It was great! Some parts were weird because they completely changed it from the original version (like 99 was a TOTALLY different person, and I don't remember agent 23 from the show), but the punch line near the end was classic and the casting was great. I love Steve Carell.
I got a new job, which is good. Then it occurred to me, why do I have to work over the summer while I take 15 credit hours if Mykle is supposedly going to get a second job? (He needs a break, and we can't afford to send him to summer school.) But seeing as how he has not yet been able to find a second job, I'm willing to work in the meantime. And I'll need a job next fall, so maybe it'll be better to work in the summer as well and not have to deal with another job search in the future.
Not that this new job is going to be that great. In fact, I've only been to one training session, so I don't know what it'll be like exactly, though I imagine it will be somewhat similar to my last one. My new job is selling identity theft protection over the telephone. I only took the job because I feel confident reading scripts and talking to people over the telephone, and because it pays $10/hour or commission, whichever is higher. That's about the highest paying job I was able to find that I would be qualified to do.
I also applied to Build-a-Bear, and if I end up getting accepted I'll probably switch to that. It'll pay less, and I think people who shop there are kind of dumb because their things are ridiculously high priced, but I'd prefer to work with kids than to have grown ups yelling at me over the phone. I know that selling something I don't believe in whatsoever (aka, Build-a-Bear) indicates a sever lack of integrity, but I never said I wasn't a selfish person. So we'll see.
I would fulfill my promise right now and write about all the reasons why our anniversary was awesome (and it's certainly not hard to come up with reasons; I felt SO much better about it all the next morning), but I'm typing this at Mykle's mom's house, and am being told to get off the computer, so maybe tomorrow.
It's too bad Day got sick and the communist party was canceled-slash-postponed. I hope she feels better. (Mykle was sick too! Hey, have they been hanging out together in secret? Hmmm...) But I did get a good dose of communist chatter today when Mykle and I attended a debate between Greg Lucero and Myke's friend Robert from high school. Greg of course represented "the people," and Robert argued for capitalism. It was pretty intense. It was funny because whenever anyone from the audience asked a question (and almost all the audience consisted of communists), it would be addressed to Robert and was phrased to sound somewhat attacking. However, Greg would answer first and the first thing he would say was "First of all, your question is irrelevant/ridiculous/stupid because..." and/or "Your understanding of capitalism/communism is fundamentally wrong because..." (Except for my question; I tried very hard to phrase it in such a way that the only assumptions I made were already stated by either one of them in the debate; Greg scares me and I don't want him to insult me. Also, I was one of the only ones who actually asked a QUESTION, rather than try and second Greg's rebuttal. There should have been a rule about that.) In that way, Robert was far more gregarious than Greg.
It was extremely interesting to watch the group, from a sociological perspective. After the debate, Mykle and I went to talk to Robert (me, to be introduced), and Greg went off to talk to everyone else (the communists). I glanced over and it was hard to keep from smiling; Everyone was perched on tables and chairs and desks, with Greg in front of them, listening to him speak and nodding after almost everything he said. For someone so critical, he certainly has some avid followers (with "fundamentally wrong understandings of capitalism/communism"). I wonder if Greg ever feels lonely because so few people actually understand his beliefs (myself included), let alone agree with him. Even the crowd he has managed to amass at UVU, (and I highly doubt any of these people would be friends if not for Greg, the common thread) none of them really "get" what it is he's trying to say. I wonder if he'd have a better time of it at a really elite college on the east coast. Or maybe it'd be worse. I have no idea.
Robert's beliefs are just as "out there"; he is a self-described Nietszcheist, Taoist, and capitalist. (He says if you give him three hours, he can explain himself; I'll just trust him on that.) He was really nice, very cheerful and a lot easier to understand than Greg. And no, it's not necessarily because he didn't use as many long words; I think it was more due to the fact that he didn't make assumptions about what everybody else in the room knew. And this might have been because the only person in the room Robert was acquainted with was Mykle. At any rate, I have a lot of respect for him, not only for being brave enough to debate in front of a bunch of people he'd never met (almost all communists, at that), but also because he was brave enough to debate against Greg. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Both of them did an awesome job, at least in my opinion. And with only one day of preparation, too. I was impressed. Some of the analogies made were kind of dumb (like the abusive-boyfriend analogy, or the getting-paid-for-taking-a-dump-in-someon
It was strange for me to listen to the debate, seeing as how I am neither a communist nor a capitalist. In fact, capitalism in general disgusts me, and I find communism to be kind of ridiculous. Going by everything that was said this afternoon however, I have to say that I am more inclined to lean towards the former than the latter. It seems more realistic, and if people weren't as corrupt as they are today (like AIG executives, GM executives, etc), it has the possibility of succeeding to an extent.
Also, in case anybody has any misconceptions about this, yes, I really enjoyed the book "the Fountainhead." I also liked what I read of "Atlas Shrugged." (I'm on page 500 or so; it got a bit preachy in the middle) No, I do not support objectivism, "the virtue of selfishness," or "going Galt." I'm probably not going to round up a bunch of geniuses and move away to an island to watch society crumble without us. I just liked the book, okay? She's got some great (if a bit flat) characters going there. They're interesting to read about.
As the teacher says in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower": "Read it like a sieve, not a sponge."
*Note: People kept warning Mykle about when the honeymoon would be over; his response (and this is SO true) was that the honeymoon was over when he asked me to marry him. We were so young and naive when we were just boyfriend/girlfriend... We probably still are now, but it doesn't FEEL that way.
I saw the movie "Get Smart" yesterday with Kate and Danny, Brandon and his wife (Danny's friends), Joe, and Mykle. I was the only one who hadn't seen it. It was great! Some parts were weird because they completely changed it from the original version (like 99 was a TOTALLY different person, and I don't remember agent 23 from the show), but the punch line near the end was classic and the casting was great. I love Steve Carell.
I got a new job, which is good. Then it occurred to me, why do I have to work over the summer while I take 15 credit hours if Mykle is supposedly going to get a second job? (He needs a break, and we can't afford to send him to summer school.) But seeing as how he has not yet been able to find a second job, I'm willing to work in the meantime. And I'll need a job next fall, so maybe it'll be better to work in the summer as well and not have to deal with another job search in the future.
Not that this new job is going to be that great. In fact, I've only been to one training session, so I don't know what it'll be like exactly, though I imagine it will be somewhat similar to my last one. My new job is selling identity theft protection over the telephone. I only took the job because I feel confident reading scripts and talking to people over the telephone, and because it pays $10/hour or commission, whichever is higher. That's about the highest paying job I was able to find that I would be qualified to do.
I also applied to Build-a-Bear, and if I end up getting accepted I'll probably switch to that. It'll pay less, and I think people who shop there are kind of dumb because their things are ridiculously high priced, but I'd prefer to work with kids than to have grown ups yelling at me over the phone. I know that selling something I don't believe in whatsoever (aka, Build-a-Bear) indicates a sever lack of integrity, but I never said I wasn't a selfish person. So we'll see.
I would fulfill my promise right now and write about all the reasons why our anniversary was awesome (and it's certainly not hard to come up with reasons; I felt SO much better about it all the next morning), but I'm typing this at Mykle's mom's house, and am being told to get off the computer, so maybe tomorrow.
It's too bad Day got sick and the communist party was canceled-slash-postponed. I hope she feels better. (Mykle was sick too! Hey, have they been hanging out together in secret? Hmmm...) But I did get a good dose of communist chatter today when Mykle and I attended a debate between Greg Lucero and Myke's friend Robert from high school. Greg of course represented "the people," and Robert argued for capitalism. It was pretty intense. It was funny because whenever anyone from the audience asked a question (and almost all the audience consisted of communists), it would be addressed to Robert and was phrased to sound somewhat attacking. However, Greg would answer first and the first thing he would say was "First of all, your question is irrelevant/ridiculous/stupid because..." and/or "Your understanding of capitalism/communism is fundamentally wrong because..." (Except for my question; I tried very hard to phrase it in such a way that the only assumptions I made were already stated by either one of them in the debate; Greg scares me and I don't want him to insult me. Also, I was one of the only ones who actually asked a QUESTION, rather than try and second Greg's rebuttal. There should have been a rule about that.) In that way, Robert was far more gregarious than Greg.
It was extremely interesting to watch the group, from a sociological perspective. After the debate, Mykle and I went to talk to Robert (me, to be introduced), and Greg went off to talk to everyone else (the communists). I glanced over and it was hard to keep from smiling; Everyone was perched on tables and chairs and desks, with Greg in front of them, listening to him speak and nodding after almost everything he said. For someone so critical, he certainly has some avid followers (with "fundamentally wrong understandings of capitalism/communism"). I wonder if Greg ever feels lonely because so few people actually understand his beliefs (myself included), let alone agree with him. Even the crowd he has managed to amass at UVU, (and I highly doubt any of these people would be friends if not for Greg, the common thread) none of them really "get" what it is he's trying to say. I wonder if he'd have a better time of it at a really elite college on the east coast. Or maybe it'd be worse. I have no idea.
Robert's beliefs are just as "out there"; he is a self-described Nietszcheist, Taoist, and capitalist. (He says if you give him three hours, he can explain himself; I'll just trust him on that.) He was really nice, very cheerful and a lot easier to understand than Greg. And no, it's not necessarily because he didn't use as many long words; I think it was more due to the fact that he didn't make assumptions about what everybody else in the room knew. And this might have been because the only person in the room Robert was acquainted with was Mykle. At any rate, I have a lot of respect for him, not only for being brave enough to debate in front of a bunch of people he'd never met (almost all communists, at that), but also because he was brave enough to debate against Greg. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Both of them did an awesome job, at least in my opinion. And with only one day of preparation, too. I was impressed. Some of the analogies made were kind of dumb (like the abusive-boyfriend analogy, or the getting-paid-for-taking-a-dump-in-someon
It was strange for me to listen to the debate, seeing as how I am neither a communist nor a capitalist. In fact, capitalism in general disgusts me, and I find communism to be kind of ridiculous. Going by everything that was said this afternoon however, I have to say that I am more inclined to lean towards the former than the latter. It seems more realistic, and if people weren't as corrupt as they are today (like AIG executives, GM executives, etc), it has the possibility of succeeding to an extent.
Also, in case anybody has any misconceptions about this, yes, I really enjoyed the book "the Fountainhead." I also liked what I read of "Atlas Shrugged." (I'm on page 500 or so; it got a bit preachy in the middle) No, I do not support objectivism, "the virtue of selfishness," or "going Galt." I'm probably not going to round up a bunch of geniuses and move away to an island to watch society crumble without us. I just liked the book, okay? She's got some great (if a bit flat) characters going there. They're interesting to read about.
As the teacher says in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower": "Read it like a sieve, not a sponge."
- Mood: contemplative
So Mykle and I leave for the temple after checking to make sure we have everything. We get two blocks away and I shriek "WAIT! I forgot my engagement ring!" So we turn around and get it. Phew. No problem. We're still early, and we've made sure that we didn't forget anything.
... Except my temple dress, Mykle's glasses, and our camera. Whoops.
Despite all the mishaps, (like the temple workers ditching us and completely forgetting an essential part of the ceremony- don't worry, we got that straightened out; it only put everyone about a half hour behind schedule) things went fairly smoothly. Only a few things bothered me:
1) Mykle's aunt [and uncle] chewing GUM during the ceremony, and then afterwards her coming up to us and saying in an off-handed voice, "You said you would do it, and you did! Good job!" ... Like our marriage wasn't worth anything until this day. Like my process of being worthy enough to go through the temple is even her business, and she has a right to make comments about it. Like she's trying to remind us that today isn't nearly as meaningful as it would have been if we had waited to get married.
Yeah, call me crazy, but I ALWAYS saw the day we got married (at Mary and Dan's house) as the beginning of eternity. Today was never the START of something beautiful and wonderful, merely the confirmation that it would never end. So, thanks a lot, Sue, for downplaying that.
2) The temple sealer saying, "I now pronounce you, Mykle Scott Law, and SUSAN Ellen Vasicek..." Yeah, thanks. Thanks a LOT. That REALLY did not feel good. In fact, that really pissed me off. Thank you for ruining what could have been a special moment.
3) No one got a picture of Dr. Berrett? Uh, though I wouldn't say he was the most IMPORTANT guest there, he WAS the guest I was most thrilled to see. I know he ran out really quickly, but seriously, people. Have some foresight.
4) Dot being gracious enough to stop by the supper for half a minute in a wife beater and immodest workout shorts to include herself in a picture or two and give me the most sincere hug I received today. Thanks, Dot. Thanks a lot. That was very big of you. Not only did you make mom's 50th birthday dinner perfect for her, but you were also nice enough to make my happiness complete on my special first anniversary/sealing day. You're the best sister/daughter ever.
Note: Right now, I am very upset. It has been a long day. Despite all the things that went wrong today, there were MANY more things that went right, and I REALLY appreciate all the people who worked so hard to make my day so wonderful. Mom, Pop, other Mom and Dad, Kate and Danny (thank you for seating us next to them, by the way, mom!), Mary and Dan, Grandma and Grandpa Stephenson, Grandpa Merryweather, Eric, Ben, Greg and Esther and Esther's family, Joe, Dr. B, Keaton, Conner, and all the others who contributed to make it such a good experience. Thank you. I PROMISE that I will write a long blog entry tomorrow about all the things that went right and how wonderful it turned out.
But what is a blog for if you can't vent when you're upset, right?
... Except my temple dress, Mykle's glasses, and our camera. Whoops.
Despite all the mishaps, (like the temple workers ditching us and completely forgetting an essential part of the ceremony- don't worry, we got that straightened out; it only put everyone about a half hour behind schedule) things went fairly smoothly. Only a few things bothered me:
1) Mykle's aunt [and uncle] chewing GUM during the ceremony, and then afterwards her coming up to us and saying in an off-handed voice, "You said you would do it, and you did! Good job!" ... Like our marriage wasn't worth anything until this day. Like my process of being worthy enough to go through the temple is even her business, and she has a right to make comments about it. Like she's trying to remind us that today isn't nearly as meaningful as it would have been if we had waited to get married.
Yeah, call me crazy, but I ALWAYS saw the day we got married (at Mary and Dan's house) as the beginning of eternity. Today was never the START of something beautiful and wonderful, merely the confirmation that it would never end. So, thanks a lot, Sue, for downplaying that.
2) The temple sealer saying, "I now pronounce you, Mykle Scott Law, and SUSAN Ellen Vasicek..." Yeah, thanks. Thanks a LOT. That REALLY did not feel good. In fact, that really pissed me off. Thank you for ruining what could have been a special moment.
3) No one got a picture of Dr. Berrett? Uh, though I wouldn't say he was the most IMPORTANT guest there, he WAS the guest I was most thrilled to see. I know he ran out really quickly, but seriously, people. Have some foresight.
4) Dot being gracious enough to stop by the supper for half a minute in a wife beater and immodest workout shorts to include herself in a picture or two and give me the most sincere hug I received today. Thanks, Dot. Thanks a lot. That was very big of you. Not only did you make mom's 50th birthday dinner perfect for her, but you were also nice enough to make my happiness complete on my special first anniversary/sealing day. You're the best sister/daughter ever.
Note: Right now, I am very upset. It has been a long day. Despite all the things that went wrong today, there were MANY more things that went right, and I REALLY appreciate all the people who worked so hard to make my day so wonderful. Mom, Pop, other Mom and Dad, Kate and Danny (thank you for seating us next to them, by the way, mom!), Mary and Dan, Grandma and Grandpa Stephenson, Grandpa Merryweather, Eric, Ben, Greg and Esther and Esther's family, Joe, Dr. B, Keaton, Conner, and all the others who contributed to make it such a good experience. Thank you. I PROMISE that I will write a long blog entry tomorrow about all the things that went right and how wonderful it turned out.
But what is a blog for if you can't vent when you're upset, right?
- Mood:
pissed off
When I got home today, I slowly and silently crept inside and tip-toed downstairs as quietly as possible. I didn't turn on the TV, radio, or microwave, and I didn't use any running water, lest the sound of the pipes give me away. About an hour later, Mykle's grandpa called down the stairs, saying "Mykle? Mykle?" He paused. Then came the inevitable "SARAH?? Saaaaaraaahhhh???" I kept very still and waited. After half a minute, he gave up and walked off.
I successfully avoided detection from Mykle's grandpa for five hours this afternoon, and I do NOT regret it.
Of course, if I heard a thump indicating that he had fallen down, I would have gone upstairs to help. But Myke's grandpa seems to think that if I am home, I should be running stupid, pointless errands for him, most of which he is perfectly capable of doing himself! Like tying his bathrobe: I've seen him do it a million times. But when I'm home, what happens? "Sarah, I need your help!" And putting his food in the microwave because "I can't reach"? Oh come ON, if that were true you wouldn't be able to eat when Myke and I are gone, and I can see by your dishes and your paunch that you are well-fed.
I have done my time. I cleaned up his "little mess" in the bathroom (he shat his pants, put his garment bottoms IN the toilet with his crap, wiped his hands on the CARPET, and then put his shat-on pants back ON!!! I highly advise all readers of this to avoid any/all physical contact with this man), and THEN, at his REQUEST, I had to REACH INTO HIS PANTS AND UNFOLD HIS DIAPER. Dude, that is NOT okay with me. Final straw. This camel's back is broken. I am not your nurse, and I am not your maid. I will help make sure you don't fall down, and I will empty your trash can now and then, but I WILL NOT clean up your crap. I have now seen him naked, what...five times?
NEVER AGAIN. I QUIT. And if anyone thinks I am being mean, I will tell you where you can put your opinion.
I successfully avoided detection from Mykle's grandpa for five hours this afternoon, and I do NOT regret it.
Of course, if I heard a thump indicating that he had fallen down, I would have gone upstairs to help. But Myke's grandpa seems to think that if I am home, I should be running stupid, pointless errands for him, most of which he is perfectly capable of doing himself! Like tying his bathrobe: I've seen him do it a million times. But when I'm home, what happens? "Sarah, I need your help!" And putting his food in the microwave because "I can't reach"? Oh come ON, if that were true you wouldn't be able to eat when Myke and I are gone, and I can see by your dishes and your paunch that you are well-fed.
I have done my time. I cleaned up his "little mess" in the bathroom (he shat his pants, put his garment bottoms IN the toilet with his crap, wiped his hands on the CARPET, and then put his shat-on pants back ON!!! I highly advise all readers of this to avoid any/all physical contact with this man), and THEN, at his REQUEST, I had to REACH INTO HIS PANTS AND UNFOLD HIS DIAPER. Dude, that is NOT okay with me. Final straw. This camel's back is broken. I am not your nurse, and I am not your maid. I will help make sure you don't fall down, and I will empty your trash can now and then, but I WILL NOT clean up your crap. I have now seen him naked, what...five times?
NEVER AGAIN. I QUIT. And if anyone thinks I am being mean, I will tell you where you can put your opinion.
- Mood: (toe doing better)
Before:
After:
Wow! what a difference a good pair of glasses can make! Don't you agree?
After:
Wow! what a difference a good pair of glasses can make! Don't you agree?
- Mood:
(but my toe still hurts)
...was an ordeal, let me tell you.
We shot it all this afternoon. From the beginning it became apparent that Erika and myself were probably the only ones who would be capable of actually speaking french. So it was decided to record it in english and then dub it afterwards. (I'm pretty sure we'll lose points for that, but whatever, I'm already getting a 103% in the class)
This ended up being a lot harder than it should have been. Not only could no one remember the lines in french, but they also couldn't remember them in english either. A few people hadn't read the script more than once, and the others just aren't so good with memorization I guess. We also had big problems with spontaneous laughter, lighting, and the fact that Shara arrived late and couldn't stay long. (??? What is UP with that?? She skips class half the time, hardly EVER does the homework, and can't speak french to save her life. Why is she even TAKING this class if she's so determined to fail it?? Whatever. I don't really care, except when it affects me, like today when she left early. And how she hasn't contributed anything to this project.)
Of course, after we finished filming (I swear, we had to do every shot at least three times) We had to record everyone saying their lines in french. I don't think the others are going to realize that their voices sound monotone until they see the actual movie. Their faces will be smiling exuberantly as they speak like an automated recording. Or worse, when they end every sentence sounding like a question? Yeah, not so great. But whatever. This movie isn't that big of a deal to me. I'm just perfectionistic and wish I could be working with my classmates in high school, some of whom either knew how to speak french, or cared about their grade enough to try and learn.
Once we finished that, I realized that I didn't bring the cord with me, so I couldn't give Lee the camera and have him put the movie together over the weekend. Great. I'll probably end up doing it myself. This is JUST like elementary school, middle school and high school. I am ALWAYS the one who ends up doing all the work. Like that one time when we had to make a fake Israeli newspaper; I wrote three quarters of the articles, and I had two or three other partners! (by the way, the name of our newspaper was "The Daily Israeli"- catchy, neh?) That is why I HATE group projects, especially group MOVIES. Teachers think they're being all cool and fun by assigning us to make a movie, but that is totally not even true. Take it from me: ALL STUDENTS HATE MOVIE PROJECTS, especially when you can't even pick your own group members! If I could pick, I would have chosen Lee and Jen (both in my group), and Zach (not in my group, but really dedicated to the class) and Liz (same). But I did not get the worst partners in the class, so that's good. Apparently, Keisha doesn't even show up, and the other Keisha's accent is worse than my brother speaking franglais.
Do not ask me why there are two Keisha's in one class. Personally, I had no idea it was such a popular name. But they pronounce it differently. The first one should have an umlaut.
On the plus side, our script is really good (thank you, me), and our teacher will laugh when he reads it. I wish I could say he would laugh when he sees our movie, but I think most people in the class will be too confused to find it funny.
By the way, if you read the script, you should know that two of the lines I say are quotes from a movie and a book: "Her hair is so big because it's full of secrets" is from "Mean Girls," and "I have flies in my eyes" is from "Catch 22." (I highly recommend this book to all my non-Mormon friends/anyone who has a good mental filter and can ignore the fact that all the girls in the book are whores. Other than that, it is easily one of the funniest books I have read in my entire life.
I hope my toe gets better. I'd take a picture, but I don't think anyone wants to see that. If you REALLY want to see, send me an email and I will laugh at you and send you to a naughty website.
just kidding... or am I?
We shot it all this afternoon. From the beginning it became apparent that Erika and myself were probably the only ones who would be capable of actually speaking french. So it was decided to record it in english and then dub it afterwards. (I'm pretty sure we'll lose points for that, but whatever, I'm already getting a 103% in the class)
This ended up being a lot harder than it should have been. Not only could no one remember the lines in french, but they also couldn't remember them in english either. A few people hadn't read the script more than once, and the others just aren't so good with memorization I guess. We also had big problems with spontaneous laughter, lighting, and the fact that Shara arrived late and couldn't stay long. (??? What is UP with that?? She skips class half the time, hardly EVER does the homework, and can't speak french to save her life. Why is she even TAKING this class if she's so determined to fail it?? Whatever. I don't really care, except when it affects me, like today when she left early. And how she hasn't contributed anything to this project.)
Of course, after we finished filming (I swear, we had to do every shot at least three times) We had to record everyone saying their lines in french. I don't think the others are going to realize that their voices sound monotone until they see the actual movie. Their faces will be smiling exuberantly as they speak like an automated recording. Or worse, when they end every sentence sounding like a question? Yeah, not so great. But whatever. This movie isn't that big of a deal to me. I'm just perfectionistic and wish I could be working with my classmates in high school, some of whom either knew how to speak french, or cared about their grade enough to try and learn.
Once we finished that, I realized that I didn't bring the cord with me, so I couldn't give Lee the camera and have him put the movie together over the weekend. Great. I'll probably end up doing it myself. This is JUST like elementary school, middle school and high school. I am ALWAYS the one who ends up doing all the work. Like that one time when we had to make a fake Israeli newspaper; I wrote three quarters of the articles, and I had two or three other partners! (by the way, the name of our newspaper was "The Daily Israeli"- catchy, neh?) That is why I HATE group projects, especially group MOVIES. Teachers think they're being all cool and fun by assigning us to make a movie, but that is totally not even true. Take it from me: ALL STUDENTS HATE MOVIE PROJECTS, especially when you can't even pick your own group members! If I could pick, I would have chosen Lee and Jen (both in my group), and Zach (not in my group, but really dedicated to the class) and Liz (same). But I did not get the worst partners in the class, so that's good. Apparently, Keisha doesn't even show up, and the other Keisha's accent is worse than my brother speaking franglais.
Do not ask me why there are two Keisha's in one class. Personally, I had no idea it was such a popular name. But they pronounce it differently. The first one should have an umlaut.
On the plus side, our script is really good (thank you, me), and our teacher will laugh when he reads it. I wish I could say he would laugh when he sees our movie, but I think most people in the class will be too confused to find it funny.
By the way, if you read the script, you should know that two of the lines I say are quotes from a movie and a book: "Her hair is so big because it's full of secrets" is from "Mean Girls," and "I have flies in my eyes" is from "Catch 22." (I highly recommend this book to all my non-Mormon friends/anyone who has a good mental filter and can ignore the fact that all the girls in the book are whores. Other than that, it is easily one of the funniest books I have read in my entire life.
I hope my toe gets better. I'd take a picture, but I don't think anyone wants to see that. If you REALLY want to see, send me an email and I will laugh at you and send you to a naughty website.
just kidding... or am I?
- Mood: toe still hurts
- Music:"Rio" by Goldfinger
Here's the french script I wrote for our group movie project. Keep in mind that I am in a beginner class (SOOOO easy...) and that the english part probably sounds totally corny.
I wrote it in english and then inserted the french translations. No accents or anything, courtesy of livejournal.com. Oh, and if I got any of the french wrong, it's probably just a typo...
Lee’s Family Reunion: A Play in French
Characters:
Jen: Brigitte. Cheerful, naive, quirky hostess who loves having people at her house.
Shara: Gigi. Gossipy rich snob who thinks she is better than everyone else.
Sarah: Katrine. Edgy kid with sunglasses. Says cryptic things when spoken to.
Erica: Soleil. A complete stranger wearing a ski mask pretending to be a distant aunt who is allergic to the sun, and who is only there to steal things. Not very concerned about hiding her theft from the others.
Lee: Himself.
Scene I
The scene opens with Brigitte looking eagerly through the blinds, waiting for her guests to arrive.
B: [Talking to herself] I’m so happy! I haven’t seen the rest of the family for so long! What time is it? [Checks her watch] Are they late? I told them to turn left at the big intersection. Maybe...
Je suis tres heureuse! Je n’ai pas voire toute la famille pour longtemps! Quelle heure est-il? Est-ce qu’ils sont en retard? Je les ai dit de tournez a gauche au grand carrefour. Peut-etre...
[Doorbell rings]
B: Oh! [Opens door] Welcome, Gigi! How are you?
Oh! Bienvenue, Gigi! Comment-allez vous?
G: I’m doing well, thank you. And how are you Brigitte?
Je vais bien, merci. Comment allez-vous, Brigitte?
B: I’m fine, thank you!
Ca va ca va, merci!
G: [Looks around the room in a nosy way] What an...interesting house you have. So... [Trails off, looking for the right word]
Votre maison est tres...interessant. Tres...
B: Modern?
Chic?
G: [Snickers] Well, that wasn’t exactly the word I was looking for...
Ehn, ce n’est pas le mot que je desire...
[Doorbell rings]
B: [Runs to get the door] Welcome, Lee!
Bienvenue, Lee!
L: Hi. [Looking at Gigi] Hi, Aunt Gigi.
Salut. Salut, Tante Gigi.
G: Hello...what was your name again?
Bonjour...comment vous appellez-vous, encore?
L: ...Uh...Lee?
Uh... Lee?
G: Oh yes. Lee. [Insultingly] The democrat.
Ah oui. Lee. Le democrate.
L: Huh?
Ehn?
B: Lee, can you get the door? I need to finish making dinner.
Lee, est-ce que tu peux regarder la porte? J’ai besoin de finir faire la cuisine.
L: Sure.
Oui.
[Brigitte leaves for the kitchen]
[Doorbell rings]
L: Hello, Katrine. We’re cousins, right?
Bonjour, Katrine. Tu est ma cousine, n’est-ce pas?
K: [Long pause and flat expression] The family is a promise that is never kept.
La famille est une promesse manquee.
G: Hello, Katrine! You look so...happy today!
Bonjour, Katrine! Votre visage est tres...heureuse aujourd’hui!
K: [Long pause and flat expression] Is it hard to hear through your hypocrisy?
Est-ce qu’il est difficile d’entendre aves vos oreilles hypocrites?
[Doorbell rings]
L: [Confused. Has never seen this person before.] Hi... Who are you again?
Salut...Qui est-ce?
S: Silly boy, you know me! It’s Aunt Soleil! My favorite nephew! How are you... [Obviously cannot remember Lee’s name] ...boy?
Petit garcon, c’est moi! Je suis sa tante Soleil! Oh, mon neveu prefere! Comment vas-tu...garcon?
L: I’m fine. [Moves to help take off Soleil’s enormous, bulky coat]
Ca va bien.
S: NO! No no no... [Laughs] I’m cold, boy. The weather is absolutely freezing outside!
NON! Non non non... J’ai froid, garcon. Il fait froid aujourd’hui!
L: [Gives her a weird look] It was warm and sunny a few minutes ago.
Il a fait du soleil il y a un moment.
K: Maybe it’s snowing in her nonexistent heart.
Peut-etre il neige dans son coeur inexistant.
G: It’s so dark in here. I’m going to open a window.
Je ne peux pas voire dans cette chambre. Je vais ouvrir la fenetre.
S: NO! Gigi, didn’t you know that I’m allergic to the sun?
NON! Gigi, tu ne sais pas que je suis allergique au soleil?
L: [To Katrine] She’s allergic to herself?
Elle est allergique a elle-meme?
S: Aren’t we all?
Comme tout le monde.
[Brigitte enters]
B: Dinner time, everyone! Let’s go eat!
Diner! On sert le repas! Allons-y pour manger!
[Gigi sniffs in disdain and follows Brigitte into the dining room. Katrine follows silently. Soleil has been eying a knick-knack on the mantle. She casually slips it into her coat without bothering to conceal it from Lee, and then follows the others to the dining room. Lee’s eyes widen in shock and his mouth gapes open]
L: Wha-?
Quoi?
B: [From the other room] Come on, Lee! We’re eating!
Vennez-ici, Lee! Nous mangeons!
[Lee blinks and quickly exits into the dining room.]
Scene II
All the guests are seated around the table. The order goes: Brigitte (at the head), Lee, Soleil, Katrine, Gigi. Everyone is eating except for Katrine and Gigi, who takes one bite, chokes, makes a disgusted face, and pushes her plate away. There is no plate in front of Katrine. Brigitte enters and approaches her.
B: Don’t worry! I didn’t forget you, Katrine! I have your special favorite! [Gives Katrine a candy cane and sits down]
Ne t’inquietes pas, Katrine! Je n’ai pas oublie! J’ai ton repas prefere!
K: Now I can die a happy woman.
Et maintenant, je peux mourir une femme heureuse.
B: So Lee, how is school for you? Aren’t you taking a French class?
Lee, tu vas a l’universite. Comment ca va? Est-ce que tu apprends le francais?
L: Yes, my teacher’s name is Jeramy Keetch. He-
Oui, mon professeur s’appelle Jeramy Keetch. Il est-
S: [Interrupting and holding up her fork after taking a bite off it] Are these real silver?
Est-ce que ces forchettes sont formees d’argent veritable?
B: Oh, yes. They’re a family heirloom.
Oh, biensure. Elles sont des objets de famille.
S: [Raises her eyebrows and immediately sticks her fork under her hat. Turns to Katrine] Hey, can I have your fork? Thanks. [Takes Katrine’s fork without waiting for an answer]
He, est-ce que je peux avoir ta forchette? Merci.
G: [In a whisper to Katrine] I don’t trust this “Soleil” person at all. Do you think she’s a little weird?
La femme qui s’appelle “Soleil” est tres bizarre, n’est-ce pas?
K: Her hair is so big because it’s full of secrets. [Gigi makes a weird face and withdraws]
Sa coiffure est tres grande parce qu’elle est plein des secrets.
S: [Standing up] Hey, I have to use the bathroom. Where’s your television?
J’ai besoin d’aller a la salle de bains. Ou est la television?
Lee: What??
Quoi??
B: [Smiles welcomingly] It’s to the right, in the living room.
Elle est a droite, dans le salon.
S: Thanks. [Exits. Lee stares after her in disbelief.]
Bien.
B: So, Lee, what were you saying about your French teacher?
Alors, Lee, qu’est-ce que tu as dit de ton professeur?
L: [Blinks and turns to Brigitte] What? Oh yeah, French. Well, my teacher’s name is Jeramy Keetch, and he likes sports a lot. There’s also this girl in my class named Jen Draper. She has blond hair and is completely crazy. She-
Quoi? Oh, oui, le francais. Mon professeur s’appelle Jeramy Keetch, et il aime faire du sport. Il y a aussi une fille dans la classe qui s’appelle Jen Draper. Elle a les cheveux blonds, et elle est completement folle. Elle-
[Lee looks out the window and sees Soleil walk across the lawn, carrying a television to load into her car.]
L: Oh my gosh!
Sacre bleu!
B: I know! This “Jen Draper” sounds delightful! What a nice girl!
Je comprends! Cette fille, “Jen Draper,” il semble qu’elle est tres aimable! Quelle belle fille!
G: Blond hair? How boring.
Les cheveux blonds? C’est ennuyeux.
L: [To Katrine] Did you see that??
Est-ce que tu l’a vu?
K: My eyes have flies in them.
J’ai les mouches dans mes yeux.
L: What?
Ehn?
[Soleil walks by the window again, this time carrying a large piece of furniture. Lee pokes Brigitte and points her out. Brigitte peers out the window and Soleil looks up. Brigitte smiles and waves. Soleil smiles and waves back.]
B: I simply adore family reunions! It’s a great way to meet new people!
J’adore les reunions de famille! C’est une bonne occasion pour faire des nouvelles connaissances!
L: But...but-
Mais...mais-
[Soleil reappears.]
S: Hey, lady, I’m going now. Bye!
He, Madam, Je partis maintenant. Au revoir!
B: Oh wait! Let me get some dessert for you to take with you! [Gets up and goes off to the kitchen]
Oh, attendez-vous! J’ai un dessert pour vous!
S: [To Gigi] Hey, you, can I use your cell phone for a second? [Gigi hands it to her. Soleil puts it in her pocket. Brigitte enters with desert in a tupperware container and gives it to Soleil.]
He, toi, est-ce que je peux avoir ton telephone portable pour une moment?
B: Here you go! Thanks so much for coming...what was your name again?
Voila! Merci beaucoup d’etre venu...comment vous appellez-vous encore?
S: [Thinks to herself for a minute] Uh... [Snaps her fingers] Soleil! Yeah, yeah. That’s my name. Soleil.
Ehn...Soleil! Ouais, ouais. C’est mon nom. Soleil.
B: Goodbye, Soleil!
Au revoir, Soleil!
S: Bye... [Squints her eyes, trying to remember Brigitte’s name] Ummm...
Au revoir...uhhh...
B: Brigitte.
Brigitte.
S: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Brigitte. See ya. [Turns to Lee] Nice to meet you, Leland.
Oh, ouais ouais ouais. Brigitte. Salut. Enchante, Leland.
[Soleil exits]
G: What a strange person. There’s something about her that seems a little odd... [Shrugs] Oh, well. I don’t know. Families are always crazy, right?
Elle est une personne tres etrange, tres...bizarre. Eh bien! Je ne sais pas. La famille est toujours un peu folle, n’est-ce pas?
K: My mother was a vampire.
Ma mere etais une vampire.
L: My name isn’t Leland!
Je ne m’appelle pas Leland!
END
Fin
I wrote it in english and then inserted the french translations. No accents or anything, courtesy of livejournal.com. Oh, and if I got any of the french wrong, it's probably just a typo...
Lee’s Family Reunion: A Play in French
Characters:
Jen: Brigitte. Cheerful, naive, quirky hostess who loves having people at her house.
Shara: Gigi. Gossipy rich snob who thinks she is better than everyone else.
Sarah: Katrine. Edgy kid with sunglasses. Says cryptic things when spoken to.
Erica: Soleil. A complete stranger wearing a ski mask pretending to be a distant aunt who is allergic to the sun, and who is only there to steal things. Not very concerned about hiding her theft from the others.
Lee: Himself.
Scene I
The scene opens with Brigitte looking eagerly through the blinds, waiting for her guests to arrive.
B: [Talking to herself] I’m so happy! I haven’t seen the rest of the family for so long! What time is it? [Checks her watch] Are they late? I told them to turn left at the big intersection. Maybe...
Je suis tres heureuse! Je n’ai pas voire toute la famille pour longtemps! Quelle heure est-il? Est-ce qu’ils sont en retard? Je les ai dit de tournez a gauche au grand carrefour. Peut-etre...
[Doorbell rings]
B: Oh! [Opens door] Welcome, Gigi! How are you?
Oh! Bienvenue, Gigi! Comment-allez vous?
G: I’m doing well, thank you. And how are you Brigitte?
Je vais bien, merci. Comment allez-vous, Brigitte?
B: I’m fine, thank you!
Ca va ca va, merci!
G: [Looks around the room in a nosy way] What an...interesting house you have. So... [Trails off, looking for the right word]
Votre maison est tres...interessant. Tres...
B: Modern?
Chic?
G: [Snickers] Well, that wasn’t exactly the word I was looking for...
Ehn, ce n’est pas le mot que je desire...
[Doorbell rings]
B: [Runs to get the door] Welcome, Lee!
Bienvenue, Lee!
L: Hi. [Looking at Gigi] Hi, Aunt Gigi.
Salut. Salut, Tante Gigi.
G: Hello...what was your name again?
Bonjour...comment vous appellez-vous, encore?
L: ...Uh...Lee?
Uh... Lee?
G: Oh yes. Lee. [Insultingly] The democrat.
Ah oui. Lee. Le democrate.
L: Huh?
Ehn?
B: Lee, can you get the door? I need to finish making dinner.
Lee, est-ce que tu peux regarder la porte? J’ai besoin de finir faire la cuisine.
L: Sure.
Oui.
[Brigitte leaves for the kitchen]
[Doorbell rings]
L: Hello, Katrine. We’re cousins, right?
Bonjour, Katrine. Tu est ma cousine, n’est-ce pas?
K: [Long pause and flat expression] The family is a promise that is never kept.
La famille est une promesse manquee.
G: Hello, Katrine! You look so...happy today!
Bonjour, Katrine! Votre visage est tres...heureuse aujourd’hui!
K: [Long pause and flat expression] Is it hard to hear through your hypocrisy?
Est-ce qu’il est difficile d’entendre aves vos oreilles hypocrites?
[Doorbell rings]
L: [Confused. Has never seen this person before.] Hi... Who are you again?
Salut...Qui est-ce?
S: Silly boy, you know me! It’s Aunt Soleil! My favorite nephew! How are you... [Obviously cannot remember Lee’s name] ...boy?
Petit garcon, c’est moi! Je suis sa tante Soleil! Oh, mon neveu prefere! Comment vas-tu...garcon?
L: I’m fine. [Moves to help take off Soleil’s enormous, bulky coat]
Ca va bien.
S: NO! No no no... [Laughs] I’m cold, boy. The weather is absolutely freezing outside!
NON! Non non non... J’ai froid, garcon. Il fait froid aujourd’hui!
L: [Gives her a weird look] It was warm and sunny a few minutes ago.
Il a fait du soleil il y a un moment.
K: Maybe it’s snowing in her nonexistent heart.
Peut-etre il neige dans son coeur inexistant.
G: It’s so dark in here. I’m going to open a window.
Je ne peux pas voire dans cette chambre. Je vais ouvrir la fenetre.
S: NO! Gigi, didn’t you know that I’m allergic to the sun?
NON! Gigi, tu ne sais pas que je suis allergique au soleil?
L: [To Katrine] She’s allergic to herself?
Elle est allergique a elle-meme?
S: Aren’t we all?
Comme tout le monde.
[Brigitte enters]
B: Dinner time, everyone! Let’s go eat!
Diner! On sert le repas! Allons-y pour manger!
[Gigi sniffs in disdain and follows Brigitte into the dining room. Katrine follows silently. Soleil has been eying a knick-knack on the mantle. She casually slips it into her coat without bothering to conceal it from Lee, and then follows the others to the dining room. Lee’s eyes widen in shock and his mouth gapes open]
L: Wha-?
Quoi?
B: [From the other room] Come on, Lee! We’re eating!
Vennez-ici, Lee! Nous mangeons!
[Lee blinks and quickly exits into the dining room.]
Scene II
All the guests are seated around the table. The order goes: Brigitte (at the head), Lee, Soleil, Katrine, Gigi. Everyone is eating except for Katrine and Gigi, who takes one bite, chokes, makes a disgusted face, and pushes her plate away. There is no plate in front of Katrine. Brigitte enters and approaches her.
B: Don’t worry! I didn’t forget you, Katrine! I have your special favorite! [Gives Katrine a candy cane and sits down]
Ne t’inquietes pas, Katrine! Je n’ai pas oublie! J’ai ton repas prefere!
K: Now I can die a happy woman.
Et maintenant, je peux mourir une femme heureuse.
B: So Lee, how is school for you? Aren’t you taking a French class?
Lee, tu vas a l’universite. Comment ca va? Est-ce que tu apprends le francais?
L: Yes, my teacher’s name is Jeramy Keetch. He-
Oui, mon professeur s’appelle Jeramy Keetch. Il est-
S: [Interrupting and holding up her fork after taking a bite off it] Are these real silver?
Est-ce que ces forchettes sont formees d’argent veritable?
B: Oh, yes. They’re a family heirloom.
Oh, biensure. Elles sont des objets de famille.
S: [Raises her eyebrows and immediately sticks her fork under her hat. Turns to Katrine] Hey, can I have your fork? Thanks. [Takes Katrine’s fork without waiting for an answer]
He, est-ce que je peux avoir ta forchette? Merci.
G: [In a whisper to Katrine] I don’t trust this “Soleil” person at all. Do you think she’s a little weird?
La femme qui s’appelle “Soleil” est tres bizarre, n’est-ce pas?
K: Her hair is so big because it’s full of secrets. [Gigi makes a weird face and withdraws]
Sa coiffure est tres grande parce qu’elle est plein des secrets.
S: [Standing up] Hey, I have to use the bathroom. Where’s your television?
J’ai besoin d’aller a la salle de bains. Ou est la television?
Lee: What??
Quoi??
B: [Smiles welcomingly] It’s to the right, in the living room.
Elle est a droite, dans le salon.
S: Thanks. [Exits. Lee stares after her in disbelief.]
Bien.
B: So, Lee, what were you saying about your French teacher?
Alors, Lee, qu’est-ce que tu as dit de ton professeur?
L: [Blinks and turns to Brigitte] What? Oh yeah, French. Well, my teacher’s name is Jeramy Keetch, and he likes sports a lot. There’s also this girl in my class named Jen Draper. She has blond hair and is completely crazy. She-
Quoi? Oh, oui, le francais. Mon professeur s’appelle Jeramy Keetch, et il aime faire du sport. Il y a aussi une fille dans la classe qui s’appelle Jen Draper. Elle a les cheveux blonds, et elle est completement folle. Elle-
[Lee looks out the window and sees Soleil walk across the lawn, carrying a television to load into her car.]
L: Oh my gosh!
Sacre bleu!
B: I know! This “Jen Draper” sounds delightful! What a nice girl!
Je comprends! Cette fille, “Jen Draper,” il semble qu’elle est tres aimable! Quelle belle fille!
G: Blond hair? How boring.
Les cheveux blonds? C’est ennuyeux.
L: [To Katrine] Did you see that??
Est-ce que tu l’a vu?
K: My eyes have flies in them.
J’ai les mouches dans mes yeux.
L: What?
Ehn?
[Soleil walks by the window again, this time carrying a large piece of furniture. Lee pokes Brigitte and points her out. Brigitte peers out the window and Soleil looks up. Brigitte smiles and waves. Soleil smiles and waves back.]
B: I simply adore family reunions! It’s a great way to meet new people!
J’adore les reunions de famille! C’est une bonne occasion pour faire des nouvelles connaissances!
L: But...but-
Mais...mais-
[Soleil reappears.]
S: Hey, lady, I’m going now. Bye!
He, Madam, Je partis maintenant. Au revoir!
B: Oh wait! Let me get some dessert for you to take with you! [Gets up and goes off to the kitchen]
Oh, attendez-vous! J’ai un dessert pour vous!
S: [To Gigi] Hey, you, can I use your cell phone for a second? [Gigi hands it to her. Soleil puts it in her pocket. Brigitte enters with desert in a tupperware container and gives it to Soleil.]
He, toi, est-ce que je peux avoir ton telephone portable pour une moment?
B: Here you go! Thanks so much for coming...what was your name again?
Voila! Merci beaucoup d’etre venu...comment vous appellez-vous encore?
S: [Thinks to herself for a minute] Uh... [Snaps her fingers] Soleil! Yeah, yeah. That’s my name. Soleil.
Ehn...Soleil! Ouais, ouais. C’est mon nom. Soleil.
B: Goodbye, Soleil!
Au revoir, Soleil!
S: Bye... [Squints her eyes, trying to remember Brigitte’s name] Ummm...
Au revoir...uhhh...
B: Brigitte.
Brigitte.
S: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Brigitte. See ya. [Turns to Lee] Nice to meet you, Leland.
Oh, ouais ouais ouais. Brigitte. Salut. Enchante, Leland.
[Soleil exits]
G: What a strange person. There’s something about her that seems a little odd... [Shrugs] Oh, well. I don’t know. Families are always crazy, right?
Elle est une personne tres etrange, tres...bizarre. Eh bien! Je ne sais pas. La famille est toujours un peu folle, n’est-ce pas?
K: My mother was a vampire.
Ma mere etais une vampire.
L: My name isn’t Leland!
Je ne m’appelle pas Leland!
END
Fin
- Mood: (my toe hurts!)
I only have a few. And I know that some of these were necessary in order for me to be who/where I am now. But still...
1.) Going to work at Wilderness Quest before I was ready and subsequently crashing a truck and getting fired (not for crashing the truck- for something else)
2.) Going to that party right after the temple trip when I was living in Long Beach
3.) Putting those pictures on my laptop that one time
4.) Not going to prom with Sam Kurtis
Of course, if I had gone to prom with Sam, that would mean I didn't relapse, which means I'd never have gone to WQ or CFC again or CA, which means I probably wouldn't have dropped out of BYU to go to UVU since I wouldn't have been arrested on campus and put on honor code probation, which means I would probably never have met Mykle and gotten married to him. And I would never want to give any of that up (yes, even the arrests), so obviously it was better that I missed my prom.
...but STILL!! I was SO looking forward to that! I would probably have had to ask him myself, and maybe even pay my own way, but it would have been SO worth it. Dang it!
1.) Going to work at Wilderness Quest before I was ready and subsequently crashing a truck and getting fired (not for crashing the truck- for something else)
2.) Going to that party right after the temple trip when I was living in Long Beach
3.) Putting those pictures on my laptop that one time
4.) Not going to prom with Sam Kurtis
Of course, if I had gone to prom with Sam, that would mean I didn't relapse, which means I'd never have gone to WQ or CFC again or CA, which means I probably wouldn't have dropped out of BYU to go to UVU since I wouldn't have been arrested on campus and put on honor code probation, which means I would probably never have met Mykle and gotten married to him. And I would never want to give any of that up (yes, even the arrests), so obviously it was better that I missed my prom.
...but STILL!! I was SO looking forward to that! I would probably have had to ask him myself, and maybe even pay my own way, but it would have been SO worth it. Dang it!
- Mood:
aggravated
As if I needed another reason not to go into geriatrics.
Mykle: "I have a LOT of homework tonight?"
Endyn: "Where's Connie when you need her?"
...Grandpa's doing a little better. Wish I could say the same for me.
- Mood:
sick
- Mood:delighted!
Well, Mykle and I had about the scariest institute lesson I've ever sat through last Friday. The topic: Multiply and Replenish the Earth. Subtitle: Parturition or Conflagration. He gave us a packet containing such quotes as:
"Young married couples who postpone parenthood until their degrees are attained might be shocked if their expressed preference were labeled idolatry," and
"It is the duty of every righteous man and woman to prepare tabernacles for all the spirits they can," and
"We believe that those who practice birth control will reap disappointment by and by," and
"I know of no scriptures where an authorization is given to young wives to withhold their families and go to work to put their husbands through school."
Hmmm. Of course, Spencer W. Kimball bothers me, because over and over again he keeps referring to the fact that women are working to put their husbands through school. Like, did it ever cross your mind that the woman might be going to school too? It's like that's not even a possibility in his mind, or something. And then he says that The Way to do it is to not use birth control EVER and just let whatever happens happen, naturally. Well, I think that is kind of a dumb idea. Specifically in my case, of course, where I'm recovering from an eating disorder, but in several other cases as well. I always thought the Lord says not to run faster than you have strength. If I'm having kids every two years until I turn forty-five, that could not be a good thing. That's like thirteen kids. I'd rather raise three kids and be attentive to them than do a halfway job with thirteen.
So anyway, after school Mykle and I had a long talk. I was really surprised by the lesson, because it had never occurred to me that the choice of how many kids I have is up to anyone but ME, (and maybe Mykle) and I wasn't sure what to do. Mykle kept trying to tell me to calm down, and that we didn't have to have kids for awhile, but I kept saying "that's not what the prophet said! We're not supposed to wait until after we finish school!"
Finally, after I reflected on it by myself for awhile, I came to the conclusion that I am far too immature to have children just yet. Kids annoy the crap out of me. This is a recent development that came about when I was attending the married student ward where every couple seemed to have a little baby, and they were so very enamored with their offspring that they refused to take them to nursery and likewise would not leave the room when they started crying. So Relief Society, an organization I have NEVER been fond of, turned into a screamfest half the time. During the time when the babies weren't crying, every single person within a six foot radius of the baby would be cooing and making faces at it. I found it distracting (to use a nice word) and disgusting (not quite so nice), and preferred to sit in the lobby until Mykle was done with Priesthood.
I am curious if Kate's baby will be a little terror as well, or if I will be so proud to be an aunt that I will be able to overlook that.
I decided I probably shouldn't have any kids until I spend some real quality time with one, and feel comfortable doing so. If Kate allows me to babysit after she reads this (IF she does, which she probably won't), then I will give it a shot. For now, I am pretty darn content living with Mykle and going to school. Plus, if I had kids, I would need to learn how to cook. Right now, I can count the things I know how to cook on one hand: rice, pesto noodles, instant mashed potatoes, and pancakes. Personally, I could probably eat the same thing everyday and never get sick of it. (exception: Costco muffins) Mykle is used to a little more variety than that, since he had lived at home practically his whole life minus his mission and a month in Vegas selling pest control. And his parents both cook very well. I sure wish I had learned a little more about homemaking before I got shipped off to treatment, because I don't like it when Mykle cooks. The food he makes is fine, but the mess he makes is not.
If only I knew how to use my crock pot...
Also, I do believe that one of the first things children learn how to eat after they're done nursing is mushed up bananas. The mental picture I get of mushed up banana flying everywhere is a hundred times more repulsive to me than that of getting sprayed when changing a baby boy's diaper. Either I need to get over my aversion to fruit (unlikely- if it's lasted this long, it's probably not going anywhere) or else my children will be deprived of the whole fruit experience (fine with me). Biggest fear of getting pregnant: not losing the weight afterwards. Second biggest fear of getting pregnant: having my tastes change so much that I will actually crave fruit. (shudder)
Mykle and I are reading the Worthing Chronicle. I still say Ender's Game is better.
"Young married couples who postpone parenthood until their degrees are attained might be shocked if their expressed preference were labeled idolatry," and
"It is the duty of every righteous man and woman to prepare tabernacles for all the spirits they can," and
"We believe that those who practice birth control will reap disappointment by and by," and
"I know of no scriptures where an authorization is given to young wives to withhold their families and go to work to put their husbands through school."
Hmmm. Of course, Spencer W. Kimball bothers me, because over and over again he keeps referring to the fact that women are working to put their husbands through school. Like, did it ever cross your mind that the woman might be going to school too? It's like that's not even a possibility in his mind, or something. And then he says that The Way to do it is to not use birth control EVER and just let whatever happens happen, naturally. Well, I think that is kind of a dumb idea. Specifically in my case, of course, where I'm recovering from an eating disorder, but in several other cases as well. I always thought the Lord says not to run faster than you have strength. If I'm having kids every two years until I turn forty-five, that could not be a good thing. That's like thirteen kids. I'd rather raise three kids and be attentive to them than do a halfway job with thirteen.
So anyway, after school Mykle and I had a long talk. I was really surprised by the lesson, because it had never occurred to me that the choice of how many kids I have is up to anyone but ME, (and maybe Mykle) and I wasn't sure what to do. Mykle kept trying to tell me to calm down, and that we didn't have to have kids for awhile, but I kept saying "that's not what the prophet said! We're not supposed to wait until after we finish school!"
Finally, after I reflected on it by myself for awhile, I came to the conclusion that I am far too immature to have children just yet. Kids annoy the crap out of me. This is a recent development that came about when I was attending the married student ward where every couple seemed to have a little baby, and they were so very enamored with their offspring that they refused to take them to nursery and likewise would not leave the room when they started crying. So Relief Society, an organization I have NEVER been fond of, turned into a screamfest half the time. During the time when the babies weren't crying, every single person within a six foot radius of the baby would be cooing and making faces at it. I found it distracting (to use a nice word) and disgusting (not quite so nice), and preferred to sit in the lobby until Mykle was done with Priesthood.
I am curious if Kate's baby will be a little terror as well, or if I will be so proud to be an aunt that I will be able to overlook that.
I decided I probably shouldn't have any kids until I spend some real quality time with one, and feel comfortable doing so. If Kate allows me to babysit after she reads this (IF she does, which she probably won't), then I will give it a shot. For now, I am pretty darn content living with Mykle and going to school. Plus, if I had kids, I would need to learn how to cook. Right now, I can count the things I know how to cook on one hand: rice, pesto noodles, instant mashed potatoes, and pancakes. Personally, I could probably eat the same thing everyday and never get sick of it. (exception: Costco muffins) Mykle is used to a little more variety than that, since he had lived at home practically his whole life minus his mission and a month in Vegas selling pest control. And his parents both cook very well. I sure wish I had learned a little more about homemaking before I got shipped off to treatment, because I don't like it when Mykle cooks. The food he makes is fine, but the mess he makes is not.
If only I knew how to use my crock pot...
Also, I do believe that one of the first things children learn how to eat after they're done nursing is mushed up bananas. The mental picture I get of mushed up banana flying everywhere is a hundred times more repulsive to me than that of getting sprayed when changing a baby boy's diaper. Either I need to get over my aversion to fruit (unlikely- if it's lasted this long, it's probably not going anywhere) or else my children will be deprived of the whole fruit experience (fine with me). Biggest fear of getting pregnant: not losing the weight afterwards. Second biggest fear of getting pregnant: having my tastes change so much that I will actually crave fruit. (shudder)
Mykle and I are reading the Worthing Chronicle. I still say Ender's Game is better.
- Mood: nauseated
So, obviously (or not so obviously) I just joined an online book club, goodreads.com, and you can read my book reviews there.
Incidentally this has got me started reading again, and I have slipped into the bad habit of reading several different books at the same time. Some of this can't be helped because it's for school, but most of it isn't. I believe I'm at eight as of today, when I started two more books (one for school, one recommended by Kate).
"The Handmaid's Tale" is pretty depressing so far, and I don't have a lot of hope for a happy ending there. It's like one of those "1984" stories about how the world went sour, except here the focus is on women. I don't think Mykle would like it.
Sometimes I wonder if I would enjoy books more if I read them one at a time. I HAVE actually done this before. Like the Harry Potter books: I just read those all straight through. Of course, that SUCKED because it meant I was done with the book about two days after it came out, and had to wait another year and a half until she wrote the next one. Also, it seemed like I didn't soak it up enough. That could be a special case, though, since I read those pretty fast. Fast for me, at least. Maybe that's why I like listening to books on tape- it goes a little slower and allows you time to catch all the little details. Not that I skip words when I read, but I think my retention is a bit lower than when I hear it. I never listened to more than one book on tape at a time; I only started a second one when I was through with the first.
Hey, know what totally ticks me off?? I bought "The Brothers Karamazov" on tape, because it seemed like it was one of those books I would have to hear in order to understand, and I really want to know the story. I bought it on ebay from some seller called something-something-unabridged. Um, false advertisement; it came and it's two freakin tapes. I would definitely call that ABRIDGED. Suck! I guess I'll have to go to the library for the book now. (I refuse to listen to an abridged book. They're like Clean Flicks movies; somebody else's twisted up version of what used to be a good story. Not that all the movies Clean Flicks remade were good. But the director made them a certain way for a reason, and if it's too dirty for you, don't watch it. Pretty simple, really.)
School is fine, I guess. I'm only behind in two classes, one of which doesn't seem that hard at all (Physical Science) and the other of which is my most difficult class (Dang! How could I let this happen so fast??). French is easily the most boring class I have ever taken in my life, with the obvious exception of the school at CFC; their idea for a great lesson was to teach us the difference between primary colors and secondary colors. (Extra credit: do some pencil rubbings of different kinds of textures!) ... Yes, that was my senior year. But French 1010 at UVU is a close second. Like today, we learned the days of the week. The day before, we learned how to say the numbers 11-19. The day before that, we learned how to say "desk," "chair," and "book."
I knew it would be easy, seeing as how I have already had four years of French and done quite well in it, but this is just laughable. Too bad none of the intermediate classes fit into my schedule and I already bought the way too expensive book. I hate paying (or having my parents pay, rather) for nothing. I also hate going to a class for an hour everyday and coming out feeling like it was virtually a waste of time. Mykle says I should stick with it for an easy A this semester and switch out next time. Blech.
What bothers me most about the class (aside from how dumb all the other students are) (not that I expect them to know french, but it's still annoying) is that the teacher talks in english ALL THE TIME. Dude, if Susan sat in on one of our classes, she would DIE. Speak one word of english in her class, even accidentally, and you're in big trouble. But he's better than Mr. Diaw. Which is the equivalent of saying that he's better than my worst nightmare. Not an impressive statement, but encouraging.
I think Mykle's mad at me because he was driving and I yelled at him to stop when he was trying to pull out at an intersection just as another car was passing, thus saving both of our lives and/or a lot of car damage to pay for. I told him he didn't pull forward enough when he paused to check both ways (he didn't), and he said no, it was the other guy's fault for driving too fast. I said no, you're wrong, and if he had been paying any attention at the time he would have known that this was a true statement, but instead he said you're just upset because you got scared and you don't know what you're talking about right now. HAH! Sometimes I think I am a better driver than him, and that is a pretty big insult if you've ever seen my driving. At least I'm overly cautious instead of forgetful and spastic. True, I suck at driving stick, but I think this is understandable. I have spent a lot of time in treatment centers instead of out on the road.
Incidentally this has got me started reading again, and I have slipped into the bad habit of reading several different books at the same time. Some of this can't be helped because it's for school, but most of it isn't. I believe I'm at eight as of today, when I started two more books (one for school, one recommended by Kate).
"The Handmaid's Tale" is pretty depressing so far, and I don't have a lot of hope for a happy ending there. It's like one of those "1984" stories about how the world went sour, except here the focus is on women. I don't think Mykle would like it.
Sometimes I wonder if I would enjoy books more if I read them one at a time. I HAVE actually done this before. Like the Harry Potter books: I just read those all straight through. Of course, that SUCKED because it meant I was done with the book about two days after it came out, and had to wait another year and a half until she wrote the next one. Also, it seemed like I didn't soak it up enough. That could be a special case, though, since I read those pretty fast. Fast for me, at least. Maybe that's why I like listening to books on tape- it goes a little slower and allows you time to catch all the little details. Not that I skip words when I read, but I think my retention is a bit lower than when I hear it. I never listened to more than one book on tape at a time; I only started a second one when I was through with the first.
Hey, know what totally ticks me off?? I bought "The Brothers Karamazov" on tape, because it seemed like it was one of those books I would have to hear in order to understand, and I really want to know the story. I bought it on ebay from some seller called something-something-unabridged. Um, false advertisement; it came and it's two freakin tapes. I would definitely call that ABRIDGED. Suck! I guess I'll have to go to the library for the book now. (I refuse to listen to an abridged book. They're like Clean Flicks movies; somebody else's twisted up version of what used to be a good story. Not that all the movies Clean Flicks remade were good. But the director made them a certain way for a reason, and if it's too dirty for you, don't watch it. Pretty simple, really.)
School is fine, I guess. I'm only behind in two classes, one of which doesn't seem that hard at all (Physical Science) and the other of which is my most difficult class (Dang! How could I let this happen so fast??). French is easily the most boring class I have ever taken in my life, with the obvious exception of the school at CFC; their idea for a great lesson was to teach us the difference between primary colors and secondary colors. (Extra credit: do some pencil rubbings of different kinds of textures!) ... Yes, that was my senior year. But French 1010 at UVU is a close second. Like today, we learned the days of the week. The day before, we learned how to say the numbers 11-19. The day before that, we learned how to say "desk," "chair," and "book."
I knew it would be easy, seeing as how I have already had four years of French and done quite well in it, but this is just laughable. Too bad none of the intermediate classes fit into my schedule and I already bought the way too expensive book. I hate paying (or having my parents pay, rather) for nothing. I also hate going to a class for an hour everyday and coming out feeling like it was virtually a waste of time. Mykle says I should stick with it for an easy A this semester and switch out next time. Blech.
What bothers me most about the class (aside from how dumb all the other students are) (not that I expect them to know french, but it's still annoying) is that the teacher talks in english ALL THE TIME. Dude, if Susan sat in on one of our classes, she would DIE. Speak one word of english in her class, even accidentally, and you're in big trouble. But he's better than Mr. Diaw. Which is the equivalent of saying that he's better than my worst nightmare. Not an impressive statement, but encouraging.
I think Mykle's mad at me because he was driving and I yelled at him to stop when he was trying to pull out at an intersection just as another car was passing, thus saving both of our lives and/or a lot of car damage to pay for. I told him he didn't pull forward enough when he paused to check both ways (he didn't), and he said no, it was the other guy's fault for driving too fast. I said no, you're wrong, and if he had been paying any attention at the time he would have known that this was a true statement, but instead he said you're just upset because you got scared and you don't know what you're talking about right now. HAH! Sometimes I think I am a better driver than him, and that is a pretty big insult if you've ever seen my driving. At least I'm overly cautious instead of forgetful and spastic. True, I suck at driving stick, but I think this is understandable. I have spent a lot of time in treatment centers instead of out on the road.
- Mood: apathetic
A survivor's story of the Holocaust, done in comic book form. The Jews are portrayed as mice, the Nazis (Germans) are cats, Polish are pigs, etc.
This is a book everyone should have on their shelf, especially those who are interested in comics/animation/graphic novels. (like me) It is told from the perspective of the son, who was born after World War II, as he interviews his father about his experiences. So there is the story of the past (how the dad survived the camps with his wife) and the story of the present (how the dad is getting older and is impossible to live with, and his strained relationship with his son).
I loved the drawings, I loved the narrative voice, I loved the flow of the story. There are even funny parts, though most of it is serious. It is effective. I loved it. Five stars.
I just finished the ninth (and last) book of this series, called "All is Well."
Overall, the series is pretty good. They're long books but fast and easy to read. Pros: I learned a whole lot of stuff about church history. The author is also kind enough to tell you at the end of each chapter which parts were true and which parts were fictional. Cons: The writing is fair at best, with a lot of repetition, especially in the first few books of the series. (It's like in "Harry Potter 3" when J. K. Rowling would try and sum up what happened in the first and second books in a few paragraphs so no one would be left behind. I hate it when authors do that. They should just assume that you've read the first two already. Those who skip will ultimately be left behind anyway, and it's annoying and unnecessary for EVERYONE else.) Also, the author is EXTREEEEEMELY cheesy. Every time someone in the family says something loving to someone else in the family, they both tear up. Next thing you know, everyone's crying. Oh, I'm sorry, I live in a little place called the real world! Also in regards to cheesiness, he makes some things happen that would NEVER HAPPEN, not EVER. Example: when the train of wagons passes through Indian territory for the first time, the fictional nine year old daughter sees a nine year old Indian girl looking at her. She presents her with her best porcelain doll. The father of the Indian girl is so grateful, he decides to give the fictional girl an Indian name. There is even an illustration of this in the book, subtitled, "The Gift." I wanted to rip my hair out when I read that part. I had to laugh for about an hour before I could continue on.
Overall, pretty much only a good book for people who want to know more about church history and don't care very much about things like "the quality of the writing," and "the author taking liberties." It was worth reading for me, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they were reallly interested. I have no desire to own the collection. Two out of five.
- Mood: contemplative
I would not recommend this book to anyone who is LDS, since it is really dirty/graphic at several different points, especially the beginning. Of course, I am LDS and I finished the whole thing, so I guess you could try it if you're daring.
For those who don't know, the story is pretty much a glorified fan fiction of "The Wizard of Oz," which follows the wicked witch from the day she was born to the day Dorothy throws the bucket of water on her and she dies. The witch's name, Elphaba, is taken from the initials of the original author of the Oz books: LFB for "Frank L. Baum." Her sister, the witch of the east, is also in there, as well as other familiar characters like Glinda and the Wizard. It isn't told even 50% from Elphaba's point of view; it changes back and forth from her parents' to her friends' to hers and back again. Also, though the musical "Wicked" is supposedly a takeoff of the book, they change a LOT of things. I haven't seen it, but I've read some of the script and all of the songs, and it has a very different tone and message, and they leave out well over half of what happens in the book. So don't expect it to be the same.
Before you read this book, be prepared to be frustrated and depressed, because it is very tragic. Misfortune follows the antagonist wherever she goes. I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that everyone she gets close to lets her down or dies in the end. Also, everything she tries to do in her life, she ends up failing at. There is a really surprising twist at the end which explains a lot, so don't just read the first half and then drop it.
I very much enjoyed reading the first half and was really depressed reading the second half, but overall I do not regret picking it up. It's worth it, despite the raunchy bits. I do wish someone had told me that her college years would be the happiest part of her life so that I was more prepared for what came next, but whatever. The ending is perfect nevertheless, and it proves that you don't need a "happily ever after" to make a great novel. I give this book a four out of five. (points off for sleeze)
- Mood: contemplative
-Don't get any cavities this year
-Work enough to get $11/hour by the end of the year (hopefully by October)
-Apply for Medicade
-Apply for a Pell grant in the fall
-Continue getting good grades as much as possible
-Make a dent on my book list
-Review all the books I read on my blog
-Host Saturday Sibling Dinner every month or two, maybe more if Kate needs help
-Keep a clean house (set up a chore schedule with Mykle)
-Bite my nails less
-Read scriptures everyday
-Read another book with Mykle everyday
-Get sealed in the temple (obviously)
-Grow out my hair (do not let anyone persuade me otherwise!!)
-Don't dye it either, because then I'll just have to cut it off again
-Don't skip class (I did well this semester, except for that one time I blew off english to do a crossword puzzle. Bad Sarah.)
-Try and get used to the new ward
-Think about accepting a calling if they give me one
-Do the calling if I end up accepting it
-Try not to refuse when they ask me to give a talk in church
-Remember to take pictures on important days so I'll have something to scrapbook
-Make Mykle get rid of two guitars and the bass
-Take down the Christmas tree before my birthday
-Overcome my fear of vacuuming
-Be more physically active (yeah, right)
-Hike the Y for the first time (maybe. maybe not.)
-Go to the temple more often (at least once a month)
-Write to Grandma every week (at least every other week)
-Be nice to my lovely Mykle. Also, make him cut his hair.
What a goof.
-Work enough to get $11/hour by the end of the year (hopefully by October)
-Apply for Medicade
-Apply for a Pell grant in the fall
-Continue getting good grades as much as possible
-Make a dent on my book list
-Review all the books I read on my blog
-Host Saturday Sibling Dinner every month or two, maybe more if Kate needs help
-Keep a clean house (set up a chore schedule with Mykle)
-Bite my nails less
-Read scriptures everyday
-Read another book with Mykle everyday
-Get sealed in the temple (obviously)
-Grow out my hair (do not let anyone persuade me otherwise!!)
-Don't dye it either, because then I'll just have to cut it off again
-Don't skip class (I did well this semester, except for that one time I blew off english to do a crossword puzzle. Bad Sarah.)
-Try and get used to the new ward
-Think about accepting a calling if they give me one
-Do the calling if I end up accepting it
-Try not to refuse when they ask me to give a talk in church
-Remember to take pictures on important days so I'll have something to scrapbook
-Make Mykle get rid of two guitars and the bass
-Take down the Christmas tree before my birthday
-Overcome my fear of vacuuming
-Be more physically active (yeah, right)
-Hike the Y for the first time (maybe. maybe not.)
-Go to the temple more often (at least once a month)
-Write to Grandma every week (at least every other week)
-Be nice to my lovely Mykle. Also, make him cut his hair.
What a goof.
- Mood: good
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