As far as bucket lists go I've made some progress (About 8 items done this year), but I feel like I could be doing better SOOOOO....
Here are my projective goals for 2013
Item number one... We'll just say that's been a work in progress for a while. : P
I got juggling balls and a rubicks cube for Christmas so those items are underway. I also had a stick shift driving lesson so hopefully with a few more lessons I can check that off.
Germany- I've been talking about it for years but I requested the PTO for the trip this spring so hopefully it'll happen for real this time.
New Zealand- I requested this trip too. I'm not sure if I'll get the time off BUT hopefully I can see the LOTR set and have some good times with friends.
Become a temple worker- I have a set schedule so all I need to do now is ask about it. Although last time I tried asking about this I DID get a calling as Activities Committee Cochair instead so.... we'll see what happens.
Snowboard down a double black diamond... I am planning on going snowboarding again this season so we'll see what they have at the Snowbowl.
Here are some new things to add to the list
Invent a board game
Ride a gondala in Venice
Hike the Appalachian trail
Learn how to skate board
Go deep sea fishing
Participate in a lobster hunt
Go snowmobiling
Visit the Seattle Space Needle
Attend a Ted Talks seminar
Attend the Cherry Blossom Festival (in either DC or Japan... maybe both)
First of all, I don't know if any of you remember this post I wrote about Mistletoe a few years back (June 2011 to be exact) but I've been rather perplexed about what started the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe. I enjoy it in all of its ridiculous splendor. There was that time I bought mistletoe to hide in Jackie Warner Johnson's boyfriends car while they were still dating to encourage the relationship (they have a baby now so I guess that was a pranking success). I also really enjoy this video from the Cougar Eat.
But as fun as the tradition is, mistletoe is still a poisonous, parasitic plant, which really doesn't sound very romantic. I needed to make sense of things. Then last night I learned the legend and thought I'd share.
The Legend The mystical power of mistletoe, and the tradition of kissing under this plant, owes its origin to the legend of Goddess Frigga and her son Balder. Frigga was the Goddess of Love and her son, Balder, was the God of the Summer Sun. Once, Balder dreamt of his death. He was obviously worried and told his mother about the strange dream. Frigga was worried not only for the life of her son but also for the life on Earth because she knew that without Balder, all life on Earth would come to an end. Thus, she did her utmost to avoid such a mishap by going everywhere and appealing to every being in air, water, fire and earth, to promise her that they would never harm her son. She was promised the safety of her son by every animal and plant under and above the Earth.
However, Loki, the God of Evil, who was an enemy of Balder and always had evil designs in his mind, was aware that there was one plant that Frigga had overlooked. It grew on apple and oak trees and was known as Mistletoe. Thus, Loki made an arrow and placed a sprig of this plant at its tip. He then beguiled Hoder, the blind brother of Balder and the God of Winter, and made him shoot this arrow at Balder. Balder immediately died and everybody was worried as the Earth turned cold and life became dreary. For the next three days, every creature tried to bring Balder back to life but he was revived only by Frigga and with the help of mistletoe. Her tears on the plant became pearly white berries and she blessed it such that anyone who stands under the mistletoe would never be harmed and would be entitled to a kiss as a token of love.
I hope we all remember that Balder didn't die next time we smooch somebody under the festive parasitic plant this year. Hey, its an excuse to kiss someone you think is cute so you won't find me complaining.
Next item of business, I don't remember if I posted this yet but... here ya go!
I wonder if the Disney take over of Lucas Films might bring this idea back to the table. I hope it does. I would send my kids to a college I know little to nothing about if they were led by the leader of the Rebel Alliance.
Finally, I enjoyed the Hobbit quite a bit.
I'm going to talk about it now so if you haven't seen it, stop reading. I don't want anyone disappointed about how I ruined the movie and told you how...
Bilbo destroys the Death Star and then Dumbledore dies.
I enjoyed it. They took some liberties, but that was to be expected. I don't know why it needs to be made into three films instead of two (two is a stretch as is) but I suppose if it wasn't going to have three films we'd miss out on this treasure from the Silmarillion.
Call me ridiculous, but I really loved the bunny sled. If I ever have a pet rabbit, his name will be Radagast. I was planning on trying to make dog sledding happen during my trip home this year but I don't know if dogs will measure up to bunny sleds. I'm sure Santa is jealous of Radagast secretly... even if he did have bird poop on his face.
Finally, I just love LOTR quotes. This one isn't from the book but I still thought it was great. "Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? Perhaps because I am afraid, and he gives me courage." -Gandalf
You can take this one as well if you need something straight from the mouth of Tolkien/Thorin.
...I have come to know, if more of us valued your ways - food and cheer above hoarded gold - it would be a merrier world..." -- Thorin Oakenshield
But sad or merry I must leave.... this post to finish a painting of a pandacorn!!! TTFN.
Fact: although I've written songs with groups of people, I haven't ever really written a song on my own... at least not a song I was REALLY proud of. I feel like this is something that I should work on. (note: add to bucket list)
I'm trying to figure out why it feels hard to write music. I think for me the main thing holding me back is lyrics. There are too many songs in this world stating the obvious without any depth. Take this video for example.
It has amazing lyrics like "Yesterday was Thursday, Today is Friday, Tomorrow is Saturday, and then comes Sunday". I have a hard time getting through this video so I won't judge or anything if you skip it.
Or have you seen this gem that has been posted recently. It seems appropriate to post given the Thanksgiving season is at hand. I think its by the same dude wrote this song too because the same "Usher" wannabe, is in both films. The first song teaches you the days of the week and this one teaches you the holidays we celebrate each year.
But really, if you're going to teach your kids holidays like that, you'd be better off letting them watch Tim Curry as the worst witch. At least this film has some spectacular special effects.
But then I watch this video and realize in a song like Dancing in the Streets, lists like that totally work. You review countries around the world and get to watch David Bowie dance around in a leopard print jump suit. Basically amazing.
My blog background is covered in blood cells so you expect them once in a while.
Around Halloween I started reading this book called "The Hot Zone" Well, I learned quickly it was a good way to get into the Halloween spirit since its a nonfiction novel about Ebola and Ebola is SCARY!!!
I won't go into too much detail, but Ebola is filovirus that liquifies all the cells in your body. There isn't a vaccine yet either so if a strain of Ebola became a more contagious airborne agent we'd be in a LOT of trouble.
You know what else would cause a lot of trouble?
A zombie virus. There was that situation a few months ago when that one guy in Miami stripped naked and started attacking a guys face. I guess that was caused by drugs but man, that would be really horrific.
Well, after browsing the internet a bit I uncovered this little gem.
"If zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any other disease outbreak. CDC would provide technical assistance to cities, states, or international partners dealing with a zombie infestation. This assistance might include consultation, lab testing and analysis, patient management and care, tracking of contacts, and infection control (including isolation and quarantine). It's likely that an investigation of this scenario would seek to accomplish several goals: determine the cause of the illness, the source of the infection/virus/toxin, learn how it is transmitted and how readily it is spread, how to break the cycle of transmission and thus prevent further cases, and how patients can best be treated."
Lots of people have been grumbling about how Obama got re-elected and how our country is going to collapse but cheer up friends, if a zombie apocalypse occurs our government has a game plan. Still, it might be smart to have an emergency preparedness FHE to get the little ones ready. You could read this book:
Or maybe just watch this commercial Divine Comedy through together.
And here is a music video about zombies. Whats more romantic than a zombie love song.
So I bought myself a ukulele for my birthday a few months back. Seriously one of my better life decisions. Reasons that the ukulele is such a rad instrument.
1. Built for small hands. I always struggled trying to get bar chords on a guitar but with four strings there are very few chords that I REALLY just can't play.
2. Its a "Sing-along" sort of instrument. The violin is not as conducive to that sort of thing.
3. Easy to learn. This is an instant gratification instrument. By day two I could play at least a dozen songs.
4. Travel size. Its a lot easier to justify stowing away a ukulele then a guitar. Perfect for singing around the campfire.
5. FUN! Now, for your viewing pleasure, a video! I'm still a little shaky at some parts and my laptop is kind of loud so I used my headset so yeah... don't judge.
I've done music posts before but its been a while. Here are some songs that I play over and over and over and OVER again in my car.
Many of you dear readers are familiar with Vienna Teng. Don't know if you've checked out her latest cd Inland Territory but it's awesome. There's a song about reincarnation, a grandma's "stay in school" song, and this one I posted above, about unexpected love.
Most of you probably haven't heard of Zee Avi but she has an awesome sound and plays the ukulele. I like to play You and Me on my uke but this is my favorite of her songs.
And for something that has a completely different sound... am I the only person who didn't know about Muse and how awesome they are? Here is a video of their excellence. I'll warn you in advance that this video has a lot of destruction and teddy bears.
I finally decided what to be for Halloween! Here are the runner ups as well as my final decision and my latest favorites for future Hauntings.
Calvin and Hobbes
I think if I were doing a couple costume that this would be the most fantastic costume EVER! Unfortunately, I'm not so... yeah, scratch that idea.
Medusa and Statue
I toyed with this idea last year (and gave up on Mary Poppins since I saw about 4 Mary's last year) but obviously after more thought I decided to put this one on hold again. It would be a lot more fun to be Medusa if you had a Statue friend.
Mozilla Firefox
Sufficiently nerdy but I'd get tired of running around with an exercise ball AKA carrying the world on my shoulders. I also realized that I could convince a guy to dress in a blue safari costume and be "an internet explorer" so... yeah, another costume idea on hold.
Pikachu
Rather comfy looking and kind of cute but... it didn't make the final cut.
Rosie the Riveter
We can do it! Simple, classy, and femine... But I think there's a high risk I'd run into another Rosie. Next!
Ent
It'd be pretty cool and fairly cheap to throw together but not a lot of trees to work with out here in AZ... maybe another year.
Smurfette
It would be fun, girlish and quirky but require a LOT of paint makeup and that would probably get EVERYWHERE! Plus, I remember this incident where I used tattoo crayons and they didn't wash off. Do you remember that time I had to wear a long skirt to church because I had a snake slithering up my leg?
Peter Pan
I really like this one but there still is a high chance of finding a costume double. It made me think of another green costume.
Link
Zelda is a video game I haven't played in years and I thought being Link could be a fun. Its a comfy costume plus you have a sword. However, everyone kept telling me I should be Zelda...
Zelda
At first I thought it was unreasonable since that armor is obviously a lot of work. Then I did some research and well... TA DA! Final decision. Turns out you just need foam sheets, spray paint, and a glue gun for the decor and the dress isn't TOO unreasonable. We'll see how it goes!
Sometimes I hate dealing with my emotions. FACT: Even though I'm very much a scientist and nerd, I'm a VERY emotionally driven person. This is why many of my decisions might seem random or impulsive. That isn't to say I disregard reason or logic, but when I follow my gut it usually leads to positive experiences and fills me with positive energy. Ex: desire to make enormous piles of Oreo Truffles, spontaneously taking a 10 mile hike, dancing in the rain, etc.
However, it is a VERY frustrating problem when I feel bad about something and I can't explain why. There are few things as bad as having someone ask why you're feeling the way you do and having to reply "I just don't know." I wish I had something reasonable to say like "I can't date a man who kicks puppies."
So here is this video dedicated to not knowing why you feel the way you do. Maybe someday they will create colleges for our emotions and then my heart won't be so clueless. : P
I've been having weird dreams again. I have yet to determine if they indicate anything significant or if they're mental regurgitation because I'm stressed/confused. Maybe you, after reading this, will be able to better understand my inner mind.... or you'll just think I'm crazy.... maybe both
The OJ, vampire, Erma, Purple Bunny Dream
I'm going on a vacation. My friend Deseret and her brothers are helping me load food into the van. At one point they declare we can't make all the food fit. I prove them wrong using my awesome cooler sorting skills I manage to get all the orange juice into the cooler.
On the vacation my brother Jon informs me that he and my dad are doing a prank on my brother Jeff. They have a Vampire tracking app and hinting online that Jeff is likely a vampire. While we're standing in a garden courtyard Jeff calls them out on their prank. Seconds later Jon is showing me instagrams, one of which indicates he's planning on taking up gymnastics.
Then we're in a store where my old neighbor Erma used to work. Erma's coworkers insist on giving me some glass slides which are actually photos we can look at under a microscope.
Finally I'm at my home in Minnesota and there's a purple bunny on the table. Someone said I can have it if I wanted it. A few months back I had a bunny adopting dilemma but this bunny was PURPLE and I REALLY WANTED IT. Before I pick it up or anything I woke up.
The Concert, Drive of a Cliff Dream
I'm back in MN for a choral concert. I have to leave early or I'll be late for work. I have 15 minutes to drive back to AZ. I hop into my Corolla and head down the hills back home. But at one point traffic set in. There were sandstone cliffs, a stream and such (I figured it was UT). I get lost and ask for directions. At one point I drive off a cliff.
I try calling work to let them know I'll be late but to no avail. Somehow I end up at a lodge in UT and one of my supervisors Pam is there. There are seven minutes left until my shift starts and I tell her I need to go. She asks if I'd like some cocoa and proceeds to tell me that Dr. Valdez feels I could be doing better quality work. I tell her I'll be better but first I need to get to work of I'll be late.
These dreams are less recent but still just as weird.
Losing my teeth in San Fran
I'm on a trolly in San Francisco. Suddenly my teeth start falling out painlessly one by one. I turn to my dad and tell him I need to get to a dentist right away. "But we're on a trolly Jill. We can do it later." I become passionate as I try to explain to my dad that my teeth really are falling out and that we need to find a dentist right away or I'll be toothless forever.
Black and White Dream
I am at my old job reading a slide and I can't tell which cell is which because its a black and white dream. The cases are urgent and I can't do anything.
Wizard of Oz Utility Belt
I'm Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz skipping down the yellow brick road. When I get to the point where Dorothy meets the scare crow I see Batman is waiting for me. He gives me his utility belt and then vanishes. So I'm skipping down the yellow brick road in a blue dress, ruby slippers, and Batman's utility belt. I get to the location where Dorothy is in the forest with the apple trees and before I can use the utility belt I wake up.
Snow-Tubing Ninja
I was snow-tubing down a mountain on a giant red blood cell instead of a snow tube. At one point I look to my right and I see a ninja in white careening down the mountain beside me. I look back and suddenly its Kocoum from Pocahontas.
I know, I just posted a second ago... really, I wrote that post on Sunday so posting today is okay, right?
I just wanted to share this video with everyone. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: I'm kind of a fan. I'll add the disclaimer that Captain Hammer makes this PG-13 (I know that many of our readers have small children). Its also 42 minutes. If that concerns you, be aware that they'll be 42 minutes of musical, nerdy, good v. evil, tragical splendor. Also, I can no longer do my laundry without getting the first song from this stuck in my head.
ENJOY! Now I have to finish my latest oil painting, set up my fall garden, buy stamps to complete bucket list item 109, go to the temple, clean the house, tye die some shoes, swim some laps, practice my orchestra music, etc. I might go back to bed first....
Once upon a time I was a visiting teaching district leader and I realized that I needed to be better at magnifying my calling. Many of the girls in my district are MIA as in I haven't interacted with them... ever. I've tried calling, texting, and e-mailing but without any success. Sooooo... I devised a plan.
"I'll make muffins. Everyone loves muffins! I'll drop by the homes of my MIA sisters and use baked goods as a reason for the impromptu visit." At this point I threw in a maniacal laugh. ::MWA HA HA HA:: It was brilliant. Not particularly original but brilliant none the less.
So in less than half an hour the muffins were baked, on a plate, and I was ready to go. I dropped by one house... then another... then another... By the fourth house I wasn't even able to knock on the door since I learned I needed an apartment number I didn't have. I still managed to get rid off all the muffins after church but I still felt like a big fat failure for not having had a single conversation with any of my sisters.
Well, I went to a dessert party later that evening and after the dessert party my friend Kim hunts me down.
"Jill, I just kept thinking about you today. I made something for you. Do you like muffins? If you want, we can go to my car and grab them. Hows life?"
Those who aren't religious might find this scenario merely ironic. They might conclude that we Relief Society chicks just really dig muffins. However, considering I hadn't talked to Kim in over a week and she has never made me food before... I'm glad that even though I'm far from perfect, a mere fleck in this vast, infinite universe, that God is aware of me... Well, He's aware of each of us really, but I'm glad that I have the gospel in my life. When I'm feeling inadequate, confused, and the like and then when I have these sorts of experiences, I remember that God cares about me, in spite of everything.
....Now that I'm finished with that, you can all watch this movie clip from "The Importance of Being Earnest". I read the book for the first time recently and I'm kind of a fan. Enjoy!
I have something new to add to my list of socially unacceptable things I find SUPER COOL! Someday I promise I'll have a normal (ish) blog with pictures of kids or something but for now I'll lets look at some pictures of...
SEA SLUGS!!!
Isn't that crazy? It looks like a Pokemon or something. This is a Glaucus atlanticus sea slug. They eat man o' wars and as a result have a deadly stinging venom.
After seeing a picture of the blue Glaucus, I naturally became curious and google searched sea slugs. WOW!!! Here are my favorites.
This one looks like its spiky back is on fire.
Its got a tree type thing going on.
This one likes fancy hats
These snails like neon colors, unibrows, and mustaches.
This lacy looking has the coloring of a unicorn. All it needs is a horn and it would be perfect.
PERFECT! Unicorn sea slug.
Just when you thought the unicorn sea slug was the most magical creature in the ocean, this sea slug shows up. Using its magical slug powers to steal algae genes it can make chlorophyll. Not only does it look cool fluttering through the ocean, but it can photosynthesize!!
In spite of how cool sea slugs are, parasites are still my favorite socially awkward fettish. The slugs are beautiful and cool, making them a close second, but its hard to compete with something like zombie ants.
A few months ago I had a conversation with a friend Megan that went something like this:
Megan: I have a date this weekend.
Jill: Really? Tell me about him.
Megan: He seems pretty cool. I met him online. His name is Ron.
Jill: Ron, as in Ronald Weasley? Does he have red hair. I hope your date is truly magical.
Megan: I don't know about magical but we'll see how it goes.
Flash forward to the present, Megan is currently dating Ronald and whenever I ask her how its going, she always informs me that the time they do spend together is in fact "magical".
Megan's Ronald looks like this sort of, kind of, not at all.
I often envision what my life would be like if it were TRULY magical in a fairy tale sort of way.
Cleaning the house would look like this:
My job would look like this:
My love life would look like this:
Unfortunately, my life the last few months hasn't been sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows but
REGARDLESS
I still feel my life is magical. I go to work and get to fight cancer. My best friend came out to visit me for a whole three weeks. I live in a world where if I wanted to, I could eat ice cream for every meal.
Even if I didn't have those sorts of things, I feel like life is always smattered with magical, seemingly random moments. Today, for example, I was driving back from a potluck when I saw a woman holding a sign that read "Homeless, Hungry". Some might find it ironic that I happened to have a half eaten tray of brownies in the car. I call it divine intervention.
If it had been a real fairy tale she might have been a magical enchantress and given me some enchantment to help me to ride off into the sunset with prince charming. If it had been a hippy movie they might have been "magic brownies". Since it wasn't either, the woman smiled broadly before I turned onto the 51, and that had a magic all of its own.
Have I mentioned that I like to feed the birds during my lunch break? I do. I get that song from Mary Poppins stuck in my head as I through my crumbs to the Chickadees and Sparrows. There's this one bird missing a foot and I feel like such a good Samaritan making sure he gets a few crumbs.
Well, I've come to realize that this large plumpish population of birds has attracted a large population of cats.
They live in the sewers which makes me think of this story I posted about back in Febuary 2010 about the then the cats being ambushed by the rats and dragged into their rat-holes to die a slow and painful death (FYI, that story still creeps me out). Well, a few of those sewer dwelling cats are black cats and my coworker told me she saw kittens scampering around today so... I realized that
Feeding birds -> Increased bird population -> Increased black population -> Increased bad luck!
This isn't to say I don't like kittens. I love kittens. Watch this fantastic youtube video about kittens.
But the superstitious woman wonders if its wise to inadvertently support a bad luck omen that lingers around the entrance to the ER... Maybe I'll have to try to grow a four leaf clover patch by the sewers to try to balance things out.
I'm afraid we've had a bit of a falling out. Its not you, understand. I'm still crazy about Half Baked, Everything But The, Chunky Monkey, Coconut Pineapple, Chocolate Almond etc. and always will be. You're still the finest of ice creams.
I just can't justify investing so much in our relationship. You might blame it on my decision to buy groceries at Sprouts and well... Can you blame me for wanting to buy mangoes for $0.39 or red bell peppers for $0.75? You'd be right to think that all of these savings would only justify my indulging in you a little.
I hate to hurt you like this but... the truth is I've started seeing someone new. Understand this all happened so gradually that I didn't realize I had fallen for frozen yogurt until it was too late.
We were introduced while I was on an outings with friends. I didn't think much of our encounter at first. When my friends and I made our visits a more regular thing I felt there was room for both of you in my life and that my relationship with each of you was completely different. A small portion of tart with a pluthera of fruit is not really a dessert in the same way a pint of Cookie Dough ice cream is, where the vanilla is strong and the dough rich and buttery. But then I started visiting on my own, began to explore different venues, different flavors and justifying the expense since the tab was usually less than $3.00. It wasn't until recently when I found myself spooning oatmeal and chocolate swirl with Heath that it had been a long time since I had visited the frozen dairy isle. I hate to say this but...
I'm sorry. I know you tried to make things work when you decided you wanted to try the Greek Yogurt thing. I still care about you a lot and hope we can still be friends.
Technology is a love and bane of my sweet existence. I love the analyzers at work, at least when they aren't broken. When I somehow manage to tame them into subordination I feel powerful, like the Zeus of technology, just working my thunder. Then it breaks again and I want to throw it the window we don't have in our laboratory. I love facebook even though I struggle not waste my valuable time looking at pictures of other people living their lives, videos of panda bears playing on slides, snarky memes about Dr. Who, Chick Fil-A, etc. I love my cell phone and discovered upon its breaking that I last about 10 minutes before desperately racing to the Verizon store hoping my social life doesn't go down the drain because people won't be able to call me for a full 24 hours.
Then there is my GPS. Unlike the other technology, alluring yet innocent in general, my GPS is a sinister machine out to get me. Within the first week of owning a GPS I missed a flight because instead of taking me to the airport, my GPS took me to a cul-da-sac in the middle of no where. There was that time I tried to get to a fabric store and traveled an hour travelling from dead end to dead end and afterwards discovered there was a JoAnn's 5 minutes away. My last GPS tragedy occured when a 9 hour drive from Fresno to Phoenix took me 11 hour as was lead to multiple construction zones, traffic jams, down weird side roads, etc. It makes me think of this episode from The Office.
In spite of the evil intentions of my GPS, trying to lead me through horrific dust storms and down sketchy allies where I might get attacked by bandits, I'll still keep using it because frankly, I would be even more hopelessly lost without it. Owning the GPS just gives me the illusion that I can and should try to navigate when I don't really know where I'm going.
On a lighter note, does anyone want to see panda bears on a slide?
This is an official declaration that I'm out of touch with popculture. Evidence: I realized I probably wouldn't know these songs if it weren't for the bajillion remakes of them.
If there are fireworks, they better be wizard's fireworks. Didn't the Weasly twins have that fireworks dragon?
Didn't even really know this song until everyone was talking about it in Guatemala. I'd much rather listen to people sing about farming. They also have an Elmo version.
Finally lets end with a song that I would be familiar.
But my favorite "Call Me Maybe" version isn't the video.
The picture below was supposed to be steam punkish but it kind of failed. They people look okay. Her dress has nice ruffling and I'm more comfortable painting skin tones so the people in this painting look less sickly than in my last. However, if i could redo this painting, I definitely would have done a different background. The paint thinner droplets were fun but after I finished everything else I think it became a little too busy. Still, not bad...
This is my latest painting and it did turn out the way I wanted it to. I'm kind of proud of it. I wanted to try something that would let me experiment with lighting. I was nervous at first with the green surrounding the lightning bugs but as I added the girl into the portrait everything seemed to work. I think I could possibly get better contrast if I were to do this again but considering this is my... fourth painting, I think I'm making considerable progress.
My birthday is less than a week away. Usually for about a week or so before my b-day I ponder the whole year and where I'm going and today I feel pretty good about turning 26. Here's an overview.
1. Birthdays were always a big deal when I was growing up. When I was younger it was because we ate "Matilda" style chocolate cake and had epic parties. My friends would still rave about the birthday parties my mom threw months later.
Picture of young Jill consuming Matilda cake.
I still love the parties and cake and all but birthdays make me excited now because its a celebration of how I can continue to improve, pursue my dreams, change the world, etc. With the move and new job and everything I've come a long way since last year. If I take "half credits" into account, I completed about 12 bucket list items last year. Give me another few decades and I may check off bucket list item 273. Total world domination.
2. PRESENTS!! Its good to know I can get exactly what I want for my birthday. Not to say my parents did a bad job with this growing up but now that I have a full fledged career and my folks usually just send me money anyways, I can make sure my materialistic birthday wishes do come true. Here's my wish list.
A Pony
I was biking in the desert Memorial Day weekend and I saw this lady galloping by on her horse. I had severe envy. I don't think I'd want to own a horse because that would be a lot of work/money but I might seriously look into getting horseback riding lessons when my schedule becomes more consistent.
I look like a natural on a horse, right?
Ulcers
These guys have been on my gift wish list for a while. If nobody gets me one by June 5th, I'm going to buy some for myself.
Ukulele
I almost bought one the other day when I was at the musical instrument museum and I resisted the temptation... but I might finally fork over the money and buy one online. This instrument was designed for me. Its just like a guitar but has fewer strings (aka works well with smaller hands) and is designed for easy going, happy songs.
Like this song. I love this song. :)
3. The boys in my ward freshman year participated in "fight night". This meant they got together and punched each other in the head for a full minute. It didn't always last a full minute if somebody got knocked out before the timer went off. One boy came by my apartment one night to show me the bloody gash he got after his knock out.
[Side note: This isn't so much that I disapprove of Fight Night. Fight night just needs to involve Jane Austen characters (see link below) or martial arts. I'm not as enchanted with the game "punch you in the head".]
http://online.wsj.com/video/3F45ECC2-6790-45E2-A68F-415764D39F87.html
As I've aged in years, the men in my dating pool have certainly increased in maturity and quality. Although I still enjoy my dates with younger guys, I'm feeling pretty good about dating men in their late 20s/early 30s. Watch this video and you'll agree that older men are mysteriously attractive.
So recently went over to my friends place for pizza to find the gang watching a dating/relationship video. I decided since I'm still single that it couldn't hurt to get some tips. Here's what I learned.
1. Select a target.
2. Stand confident... feminine confident.
3. Get the elbow, at all costs. I don't know why it seems to matter so much (Rich Scott used to rave about the 3 grab date guaranteed rule)
4. Do the gentle finger wave.
5. Tell him you'd love if he called you.
It inspired the following picture.
Text Box: Do you like elbows? I like elbows. You have NICE elbows. I would love if you called me and we can talk more about your nice elbows.
Then I realized I hadn't posted my artwork on this blog in a while so... Here are some doodles from my church journal. I know I'm a sinner for doodling a Falconeer during institute but I guess that's more righteous that skipping altogether.
Falconry is legit if you have a fancy dagger
This could be Joan of Arc or Eowyn depending on who's looking at it. Might just be a girl with a sword.
Inspired by Mexican orphans
Ron and Hermione
This one might have been inspired by Up or by the fact that I imagined doing this a bajillion times as a kid.
You can't see the top of that very well but that bird is saying Coo Coo Kachoo!
Inspired by a conversation about the differences between a guy and girl with holding hands. For a girl its all "Oh, thats nice" floating away and for a guy its all "ZING!!" electric.
I didn't fall asleep during a dating talk after working graveyard shift. Didn't get many notes unfortunately.
Inspired by the Princess Bride
This is supposed to be a little steam punkish but its hard to see the clocks and goggles in this image since its a little blurry.
Picnic in the picnic dress would be nice...
Did this one for Christmas
Inspired by Broken Bride
Text: They sent a PLUMBER? What happened to prince charming. You have a mustache? GROSS!
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