Apartment Fire

Here's video I shot about 10 minutes ago. A building right behind my apartment is on fire. The neighbors are saying they saw a lady jump out of a second floor window and then she was taken off by an ambulance. I don't see anything yet in the news, so I don't know much yet. The neighbors say there was a big bang when the fire started, but I didn't hear anything, so I don't know...

It's hard to be so close but not be able to help. I'll probably post tomorrow with more info. For now, witness the insanity:



Probably time to think about renter's insurance.

Probably isn't time to boast but...I believe I broke this story! I don't see anything else about the fire online yet. Makes me feel cool. Except that the only people who will read this post will be my friends when they start getting bored at work tomorrow afternoon...

Apparently I'm Much More anti-Muslim in My Dreams...

In a dream last night, I lived in the Philippines which looked kind of like Mordor. We were ruled by Muammar Gaddafi. Gaddafi made me kill a donkey because he wanted to "teach his people how to kill". There was also some sort religious significance to the donkey-killing ceremony, but it was lost on me. I just know that having to kill an animal with just a knife made me really sick/sad.

And then all the women were having a meeting and Gaddafi came in and said he was going to lock us in the building and burn it to the ground unless we got on these green buses that would take us somewhere where we would be forced to do more killing (presumably people this time). But I escaped with my sister through the help of a man named Thomas Cross and we lived in the lava mountains in fear of being found until I woke up.

The part that was most disturbing (while the donkey-killing scene was awful), was waking up and realizing how much anti-Muslim, pro-Christian sentiment was in this dream. Down to the green (traditional color of Islam) buses and the hero being about the most Christian name my subconscious could come up with.

"When I'm Rich" To-Do List

• Throw an over-the-top themed party every three months.
• Have a home somewhere warm and on the ocean. Must include pool.
  
• Purchase some sort of good-looking, fuel-efficient vehicle that can easily hold an electric wheelchair.
  
• Give fabulous honeymoon packages for wedding gifts to any close friends/family getting married.
• Buy my parents a second house in St. George, UT.
• Start a foundation for disabled pets (why not disabled people? because cats/dogs are way cuter, duh).
• Biddy biddy bum (all day long).
• Wear at least one new outfit per week (related: give the best hand-me-down clothes ever to my sisters).
• Visit as many Wold Heritage Sites as I can.
• Get a college degree in something really interesting but fairly useless for fun (something in history or the arts).
• Put more money/effort into trying to be environmentally responsible - solar panels, buying local/organic, etc.
• Fund the professional recording/mixing/producing of a Part II album (Trevor and Tylor's semi-defunct band).
• Buy all sorts of fancy sewing equipment and spend some serious time trying to develop skill there.
• Give money to public radio to make up for years of taking advantage of free entertainment/information.
• Have a Beauty-and-the-Beast-style library in my house.
  

Oscar Fashion Trend: Sleeves

Just had a quick click-through of tonight's Oscar red carpet fashion and it looks like the sleeve trend hasn't reached its peak yet. I read an article somewhere once (can't seem to find it now...) that said that designers often turn to sleeves in a recession because they're typically the hardest things to make on a dress, making it more difficult for cheap labor to knock-off the design. Or perhaps I just notice sleeves more readily than most people having grown up Mormon and taught that sleeves are an important way to be modest. Ah, the struggle of finding prom dresses with sleeves (though it was awesome because my dresses were totally unique).

Anyway, some favorite sleeved outfits of the night, worn by Michelle Williams, Cate Blanchett, Amy Adams, and Florence Welch:

(Yes, Cate's "sleeves" are questionably categorized, but her shoulders are covered and what else would you call what's going on there? Besides, it's an awesomely unique dress and it deserves our love.)

Sleeves are more typical for older women, but I loved these looks as well (Celine Dion, Helen Mirren, Annette Bening):

But before we get too excited, let's remember that sleeves do not necessarily make your dress chic. I'm sorry, Jacki Weaver, but this heavy-looking dress does nothing for your figure. And Melissa Leo, I didn't even like your dress when it was a tablecloth.

Attention Pet Owners

This beautiful cat had to be euthanized this weekend, a victim of parvovirus. Future Cat belonged to our dear friend Trapper for just a couple weeks, and it's really sad that she's already gone. I was just getting to know her.

Please immunize your pets. Future Cat's illness has an easily-attained vaccine and deaths like these are preventable. Feline and canine distemper vaccinations are often available through animal shelters and clinics at a low price.

Upon hearing about Future Cat, I went back through my cats' medical records and found that Tiberius didn't have all of the immunizations he should (Fidel and Julius are up-to-date). Tiberius now has an appointment to get some shots on Saturday. I encourage you to make sure your pets vaccinations are all taken care of as well.

(Note: I in no way blame Trapper for what happened to Future Cat; I know for a fact that he had plans to get her vaccinated in the near future and these things do happen. I only bring up that it is something preventable because I think it is an important reminder to keep our furry friends as healthy as we can. At the risk of sounding grandiose, I'll say: if other animals can be saved because of Future Cat's story, then she will not have died in vain.)

$28 Well-Spent

Climate Change

Attention people of the world: PLEASE STOP SAYING THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CLIMATE CHANGE. There is scientifically-verifiable evidence showing clearly that earth is warming up. Denying it makes you and any other points you may have look ignorant. Glaciers are retreating, average temperatures are rising. It's happening. Get over that point and move on to:

Things you are still allowed to debate

• What are the factors contributing to climate change?
• What (if anything) can we do to slow down climate change?
• How would climate change effect life on this planet?
• How can we prepare for and/or prevent any adverse effects climate change may have?
• Who's responsibility is it to ensure climate change stays under control?
• What kind of time frame are we looking at here?

There's plenty more to be partisan about, don't you fret.

Trevie Treasure

On this, his birthday and our Valentine's Day, a list of things I think of when I think of Trevor:

The best part of my life
Reason and passion in one
Envy-inducing talent
Vats of cuddles
Omnomnom
Richard Harris

Oh look at that! My list turned into an acrostic poem! Everybody's totally going to know that wasn't on purpose!

Speaking of poems on a more serious note, I came across this one today that I felt captured (in part) my marriage. A love poem for you, darling:

Final Soliloquy of the Interior Paramour

By Wallace Stevens

Light the first light of evening, as in a room

In which we rest and, for small reason, think

The world imagined is the ultimate good.

This is, therefore, the intensest rendezvous.

It is in that thought that we collect ourselves,

Out of all the indifferences, into one thing:

Within a single thing, a single shawl

Wrapped tightly round us, since we are poor, a warmth,

A light, a power, the miraculous influence.

Here, now, we forget each other and ourselves.

We feel the obscurity of an order, a whole,

A knowledge, that which arranged the rendezvous.

Within its vital boundary, the mind.

We say God and the imagination are one...

How high that highest candle lights the dark.

Out of this same light, out of the central mind,

We make a dwelling in the evening air,

In which being there together is enough.

Callous

On the way to work this morning:

NPR Reporter: "...in response to the Tunisian man who self-immolated himself last month..."

Me: (eye roll) "Such a stonger statement than self-immolating someone else..." (pause) "WHAT HAVE I BECOME??!!"

With constant news coverage, horrific stories cease to be moving within a week or so. Not to blame the 24-hr news cycle for yet another thing wrong with this country. Because, let's face it, I have the same insatiable desire for news as anyone else.

New Years Resolution + Cry for Help

Among my New Years Resolutions: Eat out three or less times per week.

I know that eating out three times a week is a massive amount to some of you (Valerie's succeeding at not eating out at all...), but it would represent a cutback from Trevor's and my current lifestyle. We'll be making progress while still eating out for our weekly date nights (couple's tradition), comedy nights (we often have to head up to Salt Lake straight from work so a home-cooked dinner is out of the question) and a freebie here and there (because I'm still lazy).

So here's the cry for help part. If you have any awesome ideas for a) packed lunches at work, and/or b) easy-to-make dinners at home, please provide in the comments below. I feel like my rotation of things I make is far too small.

A few things to keep in mind:

• The reasons for this goal are to be more healthy and save money, so think nutritious and think cheap.
• Trevor and I do have microwave access at work.
• The reason we eat out so much is mostly because I just straight up hate cooking and/or packing a lunch for the next day in the evening after work (weekends aren't so bad). Maybe that's something I should just get over, but faster and easier things are more likely to be actually tried.
• We don't really eat out for breakfast, so no worries there (Clif bars and juice bottles are breakfast on-the-go pretty much every workday, and then cereal/oatmeal works fine for weekends).