Christmas Songs

Hate:

• "Santa, Baby" - The main message of this song: "Women are extremely materialistic. The way they can get the sparkly things they desire: Be as sexually appealing as possible to men who have the power to give them what they want." And too many versions of this song are sung in that stupid annoying baby voice some women use when trying to be sexy despite the fact that the voice is only acceptable when used by Alison Brie.
• "The Little Drummer Boy" - The melody is so boring and the song drags along sooo slowly. And, to quote Dave Barry, "If I were taking care of a newborn baby, and somebody came around whacking on a drum, that person would find himself at the emergency room having his drumsticks surgically removed from his rum-pa-pa-pum." I will, however, give a pass to the Bing Crosby/David Bowie version because it is just awesome that it exists (and the "Peace on Earth" stuff spices up the totally drab melody of "The Little Drummer Boy" stuff).
• "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" - I'm sorry, but the kid is way too nonchalant about catching his mother kissing another man. Makes you wonder what other things the kid has seen Mommy doing.  Also, I'm not a fan of children's solo voices for some reason that I can't quite put my finger on (children's choirs are fine). And it weirds me out when adults sing it, so you lose either way.
• "Christmas Shoes"- Cloyingly sentimental. And it would be better if it was told from the point of view of the cashier or in the third person instead of being all "Look at how I'm a great guy who gave the poor kid money to help his dying mother. That's what Christmas is all about!" And what kind of dying person wears shoes? The woman's probably not out-and-about a lot at this point. Come on now.

Okay-In-General, But Have Lines that Infuriate Me:

• "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" - "You know Dasher and Dancer...but do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?" - Umm, duh? He's the most famous reindeer of all. That's like saying "You've know Himmler and Koch and Goebbels and Heydrich, but have you heard of Hitler? The most famous Nazi of all!"
• "Do You Hear What I Hear?" - "A child, a child, shivers in the cold. Let us bring him silver and gold." - Really helpful, guys. How about a blanket?

Love:

• "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentleman" - Awesome.
• "Sleigh Ride" - Awesome.
• "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - Awesome.
• "Silent Night" - Awesome.

Life Plan #682

Like most other plans in this non-existent series, this one has been floating around in seriousness for only a few weeks or so and is subject to change. Allow me to talk it out, though.

We are planning on moving to Chicago in a year. A year give or take a few months, because this would be a terrible time of year to move.

Why move?

As you know, my darling and hilarious husband is pursuing a career in comedy. Because we're still young and starry-eyed and unattached enough to shoot for it. And he needs to make people laugh and I need to go to a ton of free comedy shows because I'm with him.

In order to take this thing seriously, though, at some point we need to get out of Utah. It's not exactly a state that's in good touch with the entertainment industry. Short of starring in a Halestorm Entertainment LDS comedy feature (are they even still doing those? I can't think of anything since Church Ball...), Trevor's already about as Utah Comedy Famous as you can be. He's in ComedySportz and has done stand-up at Wiseguys and The Complex...what else is there for this state?

As improv and sketch are Trevor's main comedy loves (stand-up is a distant 3rd), the best next step is going to be to study at one of the big improv schools (Second City, iO, UCB or Groundlings). This leaves us with four options of places to move to: New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Chicago.

Why Chicago?

Toronto won't work because it's in Canada and that just makes moving more complicated. Also, it's scarier because it's the one option I haven't been to before, which is enough to cause me to never give it serious consideration. (Trevor has never been to any of the four cities, but he doesn't matter, he's just the talent. What really matters is what I, the logistics person, feel comfortable with. Also, the ComedySportz International Competition for 2012 is in Chicago, so at least he will have been there once by the time we get there?)

Los Angeles has the best weather and the most TV/film opportunities, so there was definitely some debate about moving there, but cost of living, lack of good public transportation, and the general superficial vibe ultimately ruled the city out. Public transportation is definitely necessary for Trevor to get to/from classes/auditions/performances without relying on me. Also, the Second City location in Hollywood isn't wheelchair accessible. Groundlings would probably be the first choice improv school in LA anyway, but yeah, I just wanted to say how lame that is.

New York is the most expensive and doesn't have the best options for improv schools (it's more of a stand-up-centered town, comedy-wise).

Probably the biggest factor is cost of living. Statistically speaking, Chicago means only a 13% cost of living increase for us, which is more easily done than the 35% for Toronto, 43% for Los Angeles, or 55% for New York.

So yes, Chicago. And if we're going to Chicago, we better get Trevor enrolled with the mecca of improvisational comedy, Second City. The list of ComedySportz alumni that you've head of is pretty small (Jason Sudekis, Dan Harmon, Nick Swardson...uhh, there are probably others, but no way there are more than like, five). Second City is a much more established outfit and far more likely to get industry recognition for their performers. The list of Second City Chicago alumni that you've heard of is insanely impressive (Dan Aykroyd, Steve Carell, Chris Farley, Tina Fey, Bill Murray, Jane Lynch, Stephen Colbert, John Belushi, Mike Meyers, etc., etc., etc.). Of course, most people who have studied comedy at Second City don't go on to a life of wealth and fame, but it's still definitely a good next step for trying to make a career out of making people laugh.

Why in a year?

The plan is to save up enough money to survive (and pay for Second City classes) for six months in Chicago without employment. Realistically, we won't be able to do that in less than a year.

Hopefully, once we're out there, we'll find employment quickly and most of the saved money will remain saved, but that remains to be seen. The unemployment rate has typically been higher in Chicago than Provo (currently 9.7% vs. 6.8%), so there is some worry about that, but I think six months should be enough time to find something. If we don't find work and just run out of money, we don't deserve life in the city and will run home to family or something. I don't know. I don't want to worry about that yet.

Second City requires a year of progressive improv training before you can audition for their professional-level classes. Trevor will have reached that point with ComedySportz in January, so that'll be no problem. However, we are also in the process of starting a sketch comedy group with a first show planned for January and we'd like to see that project through for at least several months before leaving. (Yes, I'm saying "we" for this one, as I'm doing a little writing and performing myself).


So yeah, that's the plan. As I discover flaws, we'll adjust. Or come up with something completely different. Doesn't hurt to save up to move to Chicago even if we don't, right? But we will. Because I'd hate for you to have wasted sweet minutes of your time reading this post for nothing.

That's right. It's all about you. Just like you thought it was.

Radio

We listen to the radio all day at my work, so I am much more current with pop music than I have typically been.

Songs I Originally Loved But Have Heard So Many Times I Now Hate Them
"Party Rock Anthem" - LMFAO
"Someone Like You" - Adele

Songs I Originally Hated But Have Heard So Many Times I Now Love Them
"Tonight Tonight" - Hot Chelle Rae
"Stereo Hearts" - Gym Class Heroes

Songs I Hated From the Get-Go
"Moves Like Jagger" - Maroon 5
"Jet Lag" - Simple Plan

Twenty-five

On Monday, I will turn 25. I think this is the first birthday where I've felt a little bummed about getting older. To me, 25 marks when you're really not a kid anymore. And yes, this means a magical drop in my car rental and insurance rates, but is that really worth the fact that I'll likely never be better-looking than I am at this point in my life? And the fact that it's no longer an appropriate age to have still not committed to any sort of semblance of a life plan?

My parents had college degrees and three kids at 25. My dad was working for the same institution he does now. Their life was pretty much set. I know it's a grass-is-greener thing and people tied to careers and families and mortgages envy the freedom of people like me, but I definitely envy the stability of people who've figured out where they want to be and are putting down roots. And the sense of fulfillment that I imagine comes with working towards something.

Growing up, I always figured I'd do the stereotypical Mormon housewife thing when I was older. It's worked for a lot of women that I admire, but turns out it's not my thing. I didn't admit it to myself at the time, but I definitely lived the sad cliche of going to BYU to get married. That's how you fail out like I did, kids.

So I got married and realized having babies sounds exhausting and expensive and is such a tremendous commitment and here we are. I never really knew what I wanted to be when I grow up. So I'll just grow up and be nothing and then die.

Not that being nothing is all that bad, I suppose. I have a job that I'm okay at and allows us to live comfortably enough. We have a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs and clothes on our backs and still can go out and do fun things on a regular basis. It'd be nice to have a car again and maybe nice to own a house and/or have children and/or go back to school someday, but I'm still young enough to worry about those things later, right? I'm still a kid until at least 26, yes?

Slack

Man, I've really been slacking on the blogging lately. I've been sitting on notes that were supposed to be "Series Premiere Thoughts, Part II - Free Agents, Whitney, Terra Nova, Heart of Dixie, How to Be a Gentleman" for weeks now. As well as notes for a post where I ramble about my new job that will likely never see the light of day as most of the opinions expressed in those notes have changed with a few more weeks of employment.

So instead you get this lame post saying that I'm still alive and I am not happy that the weather's been so cold lately and I am otherwise generally content.

And I can't decide if my favorite holiday-time flavor is pumpkin or egg nog. Both so delicious..

And I need to go to bed.

Series Premiere Thoughts, Part I - Up All Night, 2 Broke Girls, The Playboy Club, New Girl

Assortment of thoughts about a few new television shows. I'm trying to watch as many series pilots this week as I can manage. For you, dear readers. Not because I care about actually sharing with you, of course, but because I want you to think I'm on the cutting edge of television knowledge.

Rating indicates likelihood that I'll watch more of the show: 0 = no way, 1-4 = depending on my boredom level and/or popular and critical sentiment, 5 = definitely. Show title picture links to a promo for each show because I'm not rehashing the premise. I don't care about you THAT much.

--------------------

Rating: 5

This pilot shows great potential. Will Arnett's and Christina Applegate's characters are unique but relatable. Maya Rudolph's is not so much, but has her moments. I would say the show provided the most genuine laughs of the new comedies I've watched so far. It wasn't supremely funny, but rare is the sitcom that reaches that level with one pilot episode (Community is the only one I can think of off-hand), and I have high hopes that it will come into its own soon enough.

One complaint I've heard about the show is that most of the humor is based on cliches about parenthood that have been played out over countless films/television programs, but I didn't personally find that to be the case. Will Arnett plays out the Mr. Mom trope, certainly, but the writing and acting take a unique enough perspective on it that it didn't feel tired. And when the inevitable diaper-changing scene happens, it doesn't focus on poop, thank goodness.

The one complaint I have have was the story didn't flow particularly well. The end of the episode felt a little forcibly tacked on for some sort of resolution after what was more a compilation of sketches about being new parents than a story.

The best thing about the show was I could definitely see bits myself in both of the new parents. They have their selfish moments and their idiotic moments; they're still kids themselves in some ways. But they love their child and want what's best for her, and in the end, you think it'll turn out all right. It's how I imagine I'd be as a parent. Minus the glamorous job as an assistant on a talk show and lawyer husband. Oh television, why must you always make the career part of the show look so much better than real life?

--------------------

Rating: 0

First things first: why on earth do laugh tracks still exist? All they do is remind us how not laughable most of the moments they follow are.

Aaaaand we hit the ground running with a joke where the punchline is "boobs" followed a minute later by a joke whose punchline is "vagina". The charm of Kat Dennings can't save this. Whitney Cummings, why? I've seen her stand up act; I should have known the humor would be based on girl quasi-shock humor. At least now I know not to watch Whitney, the other show Ms. Cummings is involved in. The one that all the buzz says will be inferior to 2 Broke Girls.

Maybe the rest of the episode got better, but I'll likely never know. I turned it off about five minutes in when the other female lead showed up and it became clear that she was 100% rich girl stereotype. Nothing to see here. Move along.

--------------------

Rating: 3

This show is lucky I'm a sucker for period pieces. Even if Mad Men weren't as fabulous as it is, there would be a decent shot that I'd watch it for love of the furniture and clothes and little references to news events of the day and such. Unfortunately, thus far there doesn't seem to be much going for the show other than sitting around and imagining what life would be like during the 60s (I'd look best in the emerald green bunny outfit).

The plot is a little ridiculous. Right off you have to suspend reality and believe that a kick from a tiny thing like Amber Heard would kill a grown man. Maybe it was a thing in the 60s to have razor blades glued to the heels of your pumps, and we're all supposed to know this so they didn't bother mentioning it?

Biggest problem of the show is they keep defining the playboy bunny in contradictory ways. It's the job you take to feel empowered. It's the job you take to get raped. "A girl can't be a bunny forever." "The bunnies were the only women in the world who could be anything they want to be." "More lipstick. More cleavage. Lose the wedding ring. Smile more." I understand that there is a dichotomy to these women, but it wasn't explored in any sort of smart way. Just everyone smiling and nodding that "Yep, that's what being a bunny is."

Also, I can't quite put my finger on what the deal is, but something about the show felt...not quite 60s. The men wear the suits and the women wear the dresses like they are costumes, not like clothes, somehow. Maybe I'm just comparing too much to Mad Men, which is hard not to do. I can't expect every period drama to have Matthew Weiner's completely obsessive attention to detail, but still. I think maybe it is the way people talk? There's no 60s slang, no referencing technology that we wouldn't reference today, hardly anything at all dialog-wise that puts the show firmly into it's setting. The one black bunny mentions discrimination, but do we see anything that looks like racism at all? No. We see the homosexual characters being careful to keep their sexuality a secret, but it's hard to feel any real conflict there when I don't recall anything derogatory said about gays or lesbians at all. Hopefully the dark side of the 60s will be explored a little better as the show goes on. The only thing dark at all about the pilot was the involvement of the mob, which so far isn't portrayed as a particularly intimidating group. And is kind of cliche for any film/television program set in Chicago.

--------------------

Rating: 4

It's kind of impossible to dislike Zooey Deschanel because she's just that adorable, but I think her character might be the worst thing about this show. I don't blame Zooey, of course; her hair is so cute, after all, and hello, vintage-y summer dresses. But yeah, her character is all over the place in a completely unrealistic way. She's supposed to be an emotional wreck about a recent break-up and she is maybe 50% of the time. In other scenes, her problem is that she doesn't know how to get guys? How does this make any sense? If you want to work a story about a girl being helped along to love with her new roommates, wouldn't it make way more sense that her big problem is fear of repeating the bad break-up she just went through? And then they're asking her how she can be so happy all the time? After watching her cry and watch Dirty Dancing for a week? No sense.

The inconsistencies in personality I'm sure are all attributed to "quirkiness". But I'm sorry, you can't just make your character weird and assume it will be cute just because it's Zooey Deschanel. She randomly sings stuff she's saying, and talks in these funny forced-sounding voices from time to time, among other childish things. It's just kind of...well I don't know anybody like that and it's not funny so why is it happening? The episode ended on what would've been a sweet note if it didn't bug me so much that Deschanel's character was in 6-year-old-mode. "Hey, it the guys entertaining their easily-entertained new roommate" instead of "Hey, they're all sharing a moment."

There was exactly one laugh-out-loud moment for me (a Lord of the Rings reference, of all things), but that's not too terrible for a 22-minute program watched by myself (watching with others encourages laughter, there are studies on these things). Toss on a few other smile-to-myself moments, and I'll say they do okay in the humor department. Certainly not impressively funny, but there's potential there.

Overall, I'd still say I enjoyed the show. The three guy roommates have good chemistry and somewhat more realistic characters. One of my favorite bits was the "douchebag jar" where the guys have to put a dollar each time one of them says/does something particularly douchebaggy. It felt like something many guys I know would set up AND it was involved in some of the stronger humor points. And Zooey Deschanel is still so cute. I hate how much that matters, but it does. Hopefully her character will become stronger as the season goes on.

Sweet Employment

So after a month and a half of moping around, depleting my savings account, and contributing to the federal deficit, I finally decided to get serious about looking for new work last week. Yes, I should've done that back when my hours were cut at my job months ago, but I just needed to mope around, okay?

And low and behold, after only three days of finally being serious about finding work: an offer of employment! The base pay is slightly less than my old job, but commission opportunities should make up the difference. And even minimum wage would be better than what I was getting off unemployment, so I'm not being too picky.

I start on Monday, and I'm definitely looking forward to it. Between starting work and new television seasons/series starting up next week, I'll never be bored again!

Memories of Grandma

My grandmother, Winona Wonnacott, passed away last week. I spent the weekend in St. George where the funeral was held. She was a beautiful, creative, witty, hard-working, loving woman and I (along with the rest of her impressive number of posterity) will treasure her memory for the rest of my life.

When I was a very young child, Grandma and Grandpa Wonnacott were a house more than they were people. When told we were going to visit Grandma and Grandpa, I'd ask, "the stairs ones?" My hometown of Ridgecrest, CA is a small town with very few 2+-story buildings, and as silly as it seems now, at the time the #1 best reason to go to St George, UT was Grandma and Grandpa had a house with stairs and the possibilities of games you could play on those things were endless.

As I got a little older, the house and yard were also endless. While it is a somewhat large house (5 bed, 3 bath) on a decent bit of land, the imagination of youth expanded this to something of near mythical characteristics (There are four different doors to the backyard! The stuff of legends!). These childhood impressions last; even at the age of 24, I still have dreams about going to that house and discovering rooms I'd never seen before or hidden gardens in the yards.

And all so tastefully decorated! As I grew old enough to notice such things, I definitely recognized Grandma was the kind of woman who really took pride in making things look good. Many of my memories of Grandma involve helping in the gardens or with various home improvement projects. She was a hard-working woman who could make a lot out of a little. At the funeral, a couple of my aunts shared memories of her always finding old furniture to reupholster and/or refinish. And rocks! She'd always take home big rocks she'd come across that were interesting colors or shapes and find some way to incorporate them into her yards.

A couple years ago, Trevor and I stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Wonnacott's house on our way back from Christmas with my family in California. While I've seen her at various family functions since, this was the last time I had any significant one-on-one time with her. She decided to skip church that morning and just sit and chat with us for a good long while. She told us the story of her courtship with Grandpa (met and got married during various home leaves as he was in the military during WWII). Her version had a lot to do with how she looked (what she was wearing, whether or not she had lipstick on), which I loved (I may have inherited this tendency to focus my stories on these important details). The best bit of their story is on the day of their first date, Grandpa asked her "Now you're going to do your hair before the dance tonight aren't you?" and Grandma responded "Of course! You don't think you'll be the only fella there, do you?"

Grandma and Grandpa had a sweet long-lasting relationship that gives me hope that there is such thing as lasting love. They were always supportive of each other and making each other laugh during their 66 years of marriage.

She was one of the kindest people I've ever known; her house was open to anyone who needed a meal or a place to stay, and she always took the time to let all of us know how much she loved us.

She wasn't just a ball of love all the time, though. She was also a fiery woman. The frustration she would exhibit trying to get her hair curled right or trying to keep her plants alive or watching BYU sports during a bad game was kind of adorable (old woman anger is hilarious). She had a great passion for the things that were important to her, something I'd really like to emulate in my too-often wishy-washy passive life.

She was a good woman, and I will miss seeing her, but the love I still feel from her will stay with me. I'm grateful to come from the good stock that I do and have her example in my life.

Also, note to my siblings: I call the name Winona for my firstborn daughter.

I had a plan that was built on thinking too long...

The best part of being in a down mood is music is way better. You can really feel it, man. This month's soundtrack:

"In Love with a View" - Mojave 3
"Plastic Man" - Seether
"Overdue" - The Get Up Kids
"Fake Plastic Trees" - Radiohead

Again! Again!

• I've been going swimming each afternoon the last three days. I think I'll try to continue that trend until either I get a job or it's too cold to swim. It feels pretty amazing to be doing something physical each day. And swimsuits are way cuter than gym clothes, so this is obviously my choice for exercise. And I get to use the fact that I went swimming in the morning as an excuse to eat all sorts of horrible-for-me things throughout the rest of the day. So it's terrific all around.
• I thought that attending my dear friend Melanie's fabulous 20s-themed garden party would help quell my thirst to host a 20s-themed party myself, but all it did was add fuel to the fire. Because I just can't get enough of the fashion and music of that era.

When there's nothing else to blog about...

...it's time for cat pictures.

Julius

Tiberius

Fidel

Indiana Ramble

Trevor's been in Indianapolis all week participating in the ComedySportz International Competition (I don't think I have any regular readers in Indianapolis, but if you're there, the Provo team plays Houston at 7pm tonight; you should go see my hilarious husband).

So naturally I've spent some time thinking about Indiana this week.

I lived in West Lafayette, IN during my junior and senior years of high school, but I haven't stepped foot in the state since then (graduated in '04, so it's been seven years). I haven't really had a compelling reason to. I liked Indiana just fine, but I haven't stayed particularly in good touch with anyone there and there's nothing particularly exciting to visit in the state.

I liked fireflies and I liked corn fields and I liked the high school I went to. Would I go back for any of these things? Maybe. I might go to my 10 year high school reunion. Though reunions seem a little unnecessary in the days of facebook. I already know who got fat and who got rich and who got married and who got hot. Hm, but I suppose a Burroughs High School reunion still sounds appealing, even if a West Lafayette High School one makes me feel "meh". Even though I haven't seen much of many of the Burroughs people since I left for Indiana in '02, I'm more in touch with those friends. And it's still the hometown.

I've been to Indianapolis a few times, but don't remember much. I couldn't think of anything to recommend doing/eating there to Trevor. Chicago was more our big city when I lived in West Lafayette.

Prior to this week, Trevor had never been east of Colorado ("I've never seen so many black people in my life!"). It kind of makes me a little sad that he's out on new adventures without me, but I've enjoyed my time home alone as well. It's very relaxing to not have to answer to anyone for a few days. There will probably be more traveling in his future as he continues to pursue the comedy thing, so I guess I should get used to it.

LT-B = :(

Living on a tighter budget, fast food consumption has been significantly cut down. However, I still indulge once in a while. Imagine the fattest person you can saying "I just get so hungry," and you are imagining what I feel like every day about two hours into my work day (yes, out of a whopping four hours...I just get so hungry, okay?). I just want something fast with lots of bacon.

Even when I try, the universe is denying me. Probably this means I should stick to bringing in lunch.

July 1st - Subway
I order a BLT sandwich with all the veggies. Sandwich, once unwrapped, turns out to be an Italian BMT. Which has Genoa salami, spicy pepperoni, and Black Forest ham aka way too much meat. It was pretty gross, it took me forever to get through that sucker. Also, I have no idea what BMT could possibly stand for. I just wanted bacon with my vegetables!

July 8th - Wendys
I order a BLT Cobb salad without chicken. Salad, once uncovered, turns out to be a BLT Cobb salad with chicken and without bacon or blue cheese crumbles aka the most delicious parts of a BLT Cobb salad from Wendys. And they put warm chicken on their salads which is almost as gross as 8 tons of Genoa salami, spicy pepperoni, and Black Forest ham. Why would anyone want warm chicken on their salad? It makes your lettuce hot. Which is disgusting. Also, the chicken soaks up all the delicious avacado ranch dressing (which actually might be the most delicious part of a BLT Cobb salad from Wendys...it's a huge toss up). I just wanted bacon with my vegetables!

The moral of the story: I need to buy bacon on the way home from work and eat BLTs for every meal. Because they are delicious.

In a funk

It has been brought to my attention that it's been two weeks since I last posted something on my blog and that is longer than I am allowed to go. You, dear readers, are a insatiable bunch.

But I am in a funk. And I don't use the word "funk" lightly since July 2nd, 1979. The day the funk died.

My hours at work were cut in half a couple weeks ago. I'm still feeling angry/depressed about it, even though I understand the company's decision. I could go on and on about this (some of you can already attest to that), but I don't believe it's wise to publicly bad-mouth my employer. So yeah, just know that I am not pleased with my current work situation.

It's not about the money. Trevor left his work to do comedy full-time a couple months ago, which has had it's own ups and downs, so we are mostly living off of savings for the time being. However, there are promising things in the future for both me and Trevor; I think we should be okay financially. But I just feel so purposeless. I know I should fill up the extra time in my schedule with something worthwhile, but I mostly just sleep more. Like a ton. I need to feel excited about something again. Not that I've been excited about work much in the last year or so, but it at least passed the time.

I don't really get fireworks. They're kind of neat. And it is nice to have an excuse to be out on warm summer nights because I love those. And I'm all for celebrating the day Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum saved us from alien invaders. But still...what are you supposed to be thinking about when watching fireworks? Oh! Noise and light! Oh! More noise and light! And they are essentially the same thing year after year after year.

I was going to title this post "I'm not living. I'm just killing time." But apparently I had a post titled that back in January '07. It's a song lyric that's really stuck with me over the years, I guess.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips Review

About a month ago, I tried out Sally Hansen's Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips. I just liked the idea of stickers made of nail polish, and while I'm not a tremendous fan of nail art, some of the options available were pretty appealing.

I opted for Glitz Blitz (top image), and I loved them. I got a lot of compliments and they lasted for a good two weeks without any hassle (much better than typical nail polish). I considered writing a glowing review of them back then, but decided to be fat and watch massive amounts of television while squirting ranch in my mouth, instead.

Around the same time, one of my coworkers tried out the same product in Laced Up (lower image) and she was not as pleased with them as I was. She said they chipped and came off really easily and felt like a huge rip-off. Since I had loved the ones I had tried, I chalked this up to what I supposed was my superior application skills. When I have a different experience from others, it's naturally because I'm better than them, right?

Then a few days ago, I tried Laced Up for myself.  The strips weren't nearly as flexible or as sticky as Glitz Blitz, and have not stayed on well at all. I have only three fingers where the stickers remain, and I'll probably pick those off by the end of the night, since they kind of look ridiculous with just the three (I know, I know, nail polish remover won't destroy my nails nearly as much, but I just love picking at things, okay? Allow me these simple pleasures.)

I don't know for sure, but my guess is that the more opaque styles (like Laced Up) are all worthless, while the more transparent ones (like Glitz Blitz) are fantastic. This will require further experimentation that you may or may not hear about, depending on how lazy I want to be about follow-up (guess: pretty dang lazy). Also, I'm probably already way over my nail-care budget for the month (usually $0 plus a hope to get some polish in my Christmas stocking once a year...I'm definitely not a regular manicures kind of girl), so it's actually probably best for me to hold off on the experimentation. So actually the verdict is: Glitz Blitz rules, Laced Up drools, and you can find out for yourself what you think about the others.

Application Note #1: It took a long time (at least compared to polish) to put these on, but it's worth it to do them perfectly or you'll want to pick them off immediately. However, still try to do everything within an hour of opening the package. Remember that these strips are made of nail polish. I found that the longer they were out of the package, the less sticky they got and were harder to apply.

Application Note #2: The instructions are not entirely clear about this, but you want to use both ends of each strip, or you will run out. There are two packages in each box, and they should be good for two separate applications. Cut the strips in half to use both ends; there should be plenty length for two nails. If there isn't, go cut your nails. Long nails are gross and tacky (I know a lot of people who don't feel this way, but they are wrong).

Summer Watching List

A lot of people are posting summer reading lists this time of year. I'm looking to put together a summer TV list. Because, let's be honest, I have developed myself a nice little addiction here. And while there are a few shows I'm interested in with new episodes starting this summer, most shows I love won't have new episodes until the fall. So we need to fill my need somewhere.

So I'm turning to the infinite wisdom and good taste that is you, dear readers, to help me find suitable programming. Let me know what current shows I'm missing out on or what old shows I never saw, but should have.

Here are all the shows I have seen every episode of (that I can think of) so you can know a) what not to recommend me because I've already seen all there is to see, and b) what my general taste is (note that there are no reality shows and a lot of comedies...). *'s indicate how much I like each show on a 1-3 scale.

• 30 Rock***
• Arrested Development***
• Californication*
• Community***
• Dexter***
• Entourage*
• Gossip Girl**
• Happy Endings**
• Life on Mars**
• Louie**
• Mad Men***
• Modern Family***
• Parks and Recreation***
• Party Down**
• Pushing Daisies**
• Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip*
• The X-Files***

So White

1. It's that sunburn time of year again; the skin that has gotten nice and pasty all winter is suddenly being exposed to a lot of sunlight. I've had a hard time finding people who feel the same way as me about this, so maybe I'm weird, but I really don't like the feeling of sun on my skin. It always feels like it's hurting it. And I don't like sunburns. Or skin cancer. Or even tan skin. Tan skin is vastly overrated. Pale skin is totally prettier, in my opinion. So I will stay out of the sun when I can and wear lots of sunscreen. I should also take to wearing big-brimmed straw hats. Perhaps that will be the new addition to my summer style this year.
2. I took a color code personality test the other day (if you care to, you can here). It's a fairly common personality assessment tool, so you may already know this, but here's a basic rundown: reds are motivated by power, blues are motivated by intimacy, whites are motivated by peace, yellows are motivated by fun. I was not surprised that I came out white, but I was surprised by how incredibly unbalanced my scores were:
   
   
   I feel like reds are the worst people, so I'm glad I've got next to nothing there, but I feel like blues are the best people, and I've got hardly anything there either. Oh well. At least everybody likes whites and yellows. And I'll just need to work on being more ambitious and more attached to other people. Balance myself out a little.
   

On Being Married, to my sister

My little sister got married a week ago. As someone who has been successfully married for 3.5 years, I'd like to address some advice to her.

When I say I'm successfully married, I mean I am still happy to be married to my husband and I believe he's still happy to be married to me. I do not mean that we have not had moments of meanness, disappointment, frustration, or bitterness. Dear sister, your marriage, like all human relationships, will never be perfect. But never fear, committing your life to someone you love will also bring your life more joy and fulfillment than anything else I'm aware of.

The culture of Mormonism that we grew up with has a very idealized version of marriage. While there is something to be said for shooting for an ideal, I know that in my experience and the experience of many others I know, this has led to a somewhat naive perception of what it is to be married. The hardest thing about my first couple years of marriage was addressing misconceptions I had about what it would be like. Keeping your eyes open early on will help you develop healthy ways of dealing with the inevitable struggles that come with matrimony.

Marriage is hard. Ask any married person to be completely honest with his or herself and they will all admit that they occasionally want out. This is 100% normal. You will not have the freedom you did when single or dating. All decisions you make will now effect a partner and not just you. All decisions he makes will effect you and not just him. You will not always agree on what decisions are best. You will fight. You will have to make sacrifices.

Make decisions now, early in marriage, about what you will sacrifice and what you won't for your husband and hold to them. Do not allow yourself to be lost to the unit. Having a partner in life will make everything more meaningful; the unit is a wonderful thing. But it is not the only thing. You are more than your husband's wife. Have goals and activities that are different from his. Encourage him to pursue goals and activities that are different from yours. Only you can allow yourself to feel tied down by your marriage. Having separate pursuits will also make you more interesting to each other, which helps keep the romance alive.

Being married does not mean that you or your spouse will magically stop being attracted to other people. Objectively, it makes total sense that this would be the case, but for so many people in their bubbles of we're-so-happy-we're-getting-married-and-the-rest-of-our-lives-will-be-perfect, this may hit you by surprise. It is better to be prepared for these feelings than caught-off-guard. Talk to your husband about what you're comfortable with and what you're not as far as interactions with other people of the opposite sex. This will help reduce risk of jealousy and/or infidelity.

Plan for time together. Just living together isn't going to cut it, as life has a way of keeping you busy even as you share an apartment and share a bed. Regular date nights are a terrific way to enjoy each other's company. You'd also be surprised how much things as simple as "we always watch this TV show together on Thursday nights" foster a feeling of togetherness.

Regularly address your relationship and what's going well and what can be improved. It's cliche, but it's because it's true: communication is the key to a successful relationship. If you're unhappy about anything in your relationship (this will happen more than you think...not to keep ringing the marriage-is-hard bell), learn to bring it up in a positive way and not as a personal attack on your husband. "We can get the bathroom cleaned faster if we do it together" will go much farther than "You never help clean the bathroom." When your husband brings up things he is unhappy with, try not to take it personally, but see it as an opportunity for relationship improvement (I'm terrible at this one, but it's still good advice).

Despite what much in American and particularly Mormon culture may tell you, marriage does not equal happily ever after. Rather than be disappointed, embrace this! You still have the majority of your life ahead of you. Do something meaningful with it, keeping your husband by your side.

Good luck. You've got this.

Don't Work It

Upfronts ended earlier this month, and the award for new show I'm looking forward to the least goes to....ABC's Work It. The premise seems more like a mediocre SNL skit than a sitcom:

Ick. Jokes about how men are different from women are so original! And cross-dressing is always funny! And this couldn't possibly be very insensitive to the transgender community!

Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman

I'm young because:

I check facebook before I check my email when I get onto my computer.

I'm old because:

I didn't wear makeup to work a good four or five days this month. I'm pretty sure this is how it starts. Soon my friends will be nominating me for What Not To Wear. And this doesn't even worry me.

Let's Not Get Political

I took Pew Research Center's political typology quiz today (http://people-press.org/typology/). I wanted to see if I'm truly a wishy-washy moderate like I say to please everyone or if I really need to start standing up for something. According to this quiz, I'm a post-modern...the lightest shade of blue (there was no non-red or blue option):

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Post-Moderns

13% OF ADULT POPULATION /14% OF REGISTERED VOTERS
 
Basic Description: Well-educated and financially comfortable. Post-Moderns are supportive of many aspects of government though they take conservative positions on questions about racial policy and the social safety net. Very liberal on social issues. Post-Moderns were strong supporters of Barack Obama in 2008, but turned out at far lower rates in 2010.

Defining values: Strongly supportive of regulation and environmental protection. Favor the use of diplomacy rather than military force to ensure peace. Generally positive about immigrants and their contributions to society.


Who they are: The youngest of the typology groups (32% under age 30); a majority are non-Hispanic white (70%) and have at least some college experience (71%). Nearly a third (31%) are unaffiliated with any religious tradition. Half live in either the Northeast (25%) or the West (25%). A majority (58%) lives in the suburbs.

Lifestyle notes: 63% use social networking. One-in-five (20%) regularly listen to NPR, 14% regularly watch The Daily Show, 10% read the New York Times. 31% trade stocks and 53% have a passport.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think this fits me somewhat accurately. Though I'm not a huge fan of Wall Street, which I feel is a main contributor to the vast gap between rich and poor in this country. And I don't know if I qualify as well-educated and financially-comfortable; I am compared to some, I'm not compared to others. Anyway, I don't really have any major analysis. I just thought I'd post my results because it's an easy excuse for a blog post. Yes, I'm lame.

More Bullets

• My calves are really sore for no reason. I haven't done anything strenuous with my legs that I can think of lately. Goodness knows I don't work out.
• Trevor is growing a mustache which is "stylish because it's out of style; that's really in right now." He wants to be Ron Swanson. So I tell him it makes him look like Freddie Mercury.
• When I first read the headline "Osama bin Laden is Dead" on Slate, I figured the article would be some sort of editorial on how he has ceased to be relevant in the new Middle East and didn't click to read more. It wasn't until I got on facebook a few minutes later that I realized he's physically dead.
• When people ask what kind of music I like, I typically give very vague answers. I thought about attempting an in-depth analysis of my music taste in a blog post, but it's too much work. So here are the 25 most-played songs from my computer's iTunes (you can click to expand if need be...I realize it's kinda small wording). It'll give you an idea of my taste. I'm pretty stuck in 2006, the last year I really cared about music. When it comes to more contemporary stuff, I mostly like stupid pop songs about wearing all your favorite brands brands brands brands brands, but this kind of thing is on the radio enough that I feel no need to download it. And no, I don't want to talk about how Mmmbop got so high on the list. And yes, I might be a little in love with Josh Ritter.

Tiberius

On very good days, fluffy cats fall from the sky and land on my desk.

News Bulletin

 Things going on:

• I really want to get more into sewing. Because I like having unique clothes and because it's something to keep my hands busy while chain-watching past seasons of every TV show available on Netflix (something way too much of my time goes to). I've started on a purple dress for my little sister's wedding in May. We'll see how that goes. I'm totally inspired by an old BYU friend of mine, Ellie, who has this amazing sewing blog and only started sewing ten months ago.
  
• We're likely moving to a new place when our apartment contract is up in July. There's little point in living in Provo when Trevor and I both work in Pleasant Grove, so it's back to north Utah County for us. I'm tempted to pick a much nicer place than our current apartment since our financial situation is much better now than it was when we moved last, but I suppose it's best to live in some crap apartment again and continue saving money so we can go for the much nicer place when we've saved enough to buy rather than rent. The plan is to join the landed gentry spring/summer 2013, though there's of course plenty of potential for the goal to be pushed earlier/later depending on job fortune/misfortune.
  
• I constantly get Gertrude Stein and Gloria Steinem mixed up in my head. Also Liz Taylor and Liv Tyler. I guess this isn't news, just something I was thinking about.
• In other not-really-news-but-evidence-that-Andrea-is-not-as-bright-as-she-likes-to-think news: I am incapable of not spelling "tomorrow" with just one 'm' (it's always "tommorrow") or "sandwich" without and extra 'h' ("sandwhich"). Seriously. These are common words, what's wrong with me? Luckily, the vast majority of writing I do is automatically spell-checked. Yay, computers!
  
• I went to the dentist last week for the first time in about four years. I have five cavities to be filled tomorrow. Probably should be better about regular dentist visits in the future. Fun fact: all five of my cavities are on the right side of my mouth. Apparently I'm right-toothed as well as right-handed (note: I don't think right-toothed is a thing).
• I had a dream last night that Ricky Martin was not really gay and just came out for the press. Then I woke up and realized that we all knew he was gay long before he came out.
• You've probably seen this on facebook, but I've started a book club that I'm pretty excited about. I had a phase when Trevor worked at Verio where I'd read a least one book a month while waiting for him to get off monstrously-long calls, but now that those days are behind us, I'm going to need to make more time for reading to be a good book club member. Probably means less Netflix TV shows.
  

Let's Talk Lipstick

I am a fan of lipstick on other people when done right. Whenever I wear it, however, I feel silly unless it's involved in a costume of some sort. I don't know if this is because I haven't figured out how to do it right yet, or if I just don't have the guts for it. If it's the former, please help me figure this stuff out. If it's the latter, I need a little encouragement.

Or maybe lipstick is just a bad idea. I have a very difficult time not ending up with some on my teeth. And I'm skeptical about claims of long-lasting-ness. I talk and eat and drink and kiss and make faces with my lips so much that I just can't imagine it can stay on for long without wearing off.

And what's the deal with lip-liner? When you read beauty magazines or talk to department store makeup people about lipstick, they always seem to recommend it, but it seems iffy to me in real life. I really don't want the lip-liner-without-lipstick look when/if the lipstick part wears off. I don't know. I've never really worn lip-liner.

Figuring out shades is difficult, too. I've been told I have cool coloring so I need more pink/purple tones. I've been told I have warm coloring so I need more brown/red/orange tones. I'm guessing this means that nobody knows what they're talking about and I'm pretty neutrally-shaded. Which should mean I can wear whatever tones I like. But I mostly just feel like nothing looks that good on me. Here are the six colors I currently own:

Now out to you dear readers: What are your thoughts on lipsick? Any recommendations for me?

You Know You're a Girl When...

You get a little teary-eyed during cat food commercials.



It's so fluffy, I'm going to die!

Character Strength Test

Inspired by Allison's time-wasting with this questionnaire, I spent a chunk of my time today answering 240 questions to find out what my Character Strengths are. They have 24 different strengths that the rate you on. Here are my top ten:

#1 - Humor and playfulness
You like to laugh and tease. Bringing smiles to other people is important to you. You try to see the light side of all situations.

#2 - Love of learning
You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn.

#3 - Appreciation of beauty and excellence
You notice and appreciate beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in all domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.

#4 - Curiosity and interest in the world
You are curious about everything. You are always asking questions, and you find all subjects and topics fascinating. You like exploration and discovery.

#5 - Creativity, ingenuity, and originality
Thinking of new ways to do things is a crucial part of who you are. You are never content with doing something the conventional way if a better way is possible.

#6 - Capacity to love and be loved
You value close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated. The people to whom you feel most close are the same people who feel most close to you.

#7 - Forgiveness and mercy
You forgive those who have done you wrong. You always give people a second chance. Your guiding principle is mercy and not revenge.

#8 - Leadership
You excel at the tasks of leadership: encouraging a group to get things done and preserving harmony within the group by making everyone feel included. You do a good job organizing activities and seeing that they happen.

#9 - Fairness, equity, and justice
Treating all people fairly is one of your abiding principles. You do not let your personal feelings bias your decisions about other people. You give everyone a chance.

#10 - Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness
Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who you are. You do not jump to conclusions, and you rely only on solid evidence to make your decisions. You are able to change your mind.

I feel like this is pretty accurate, though I kind of hate that my number one strength seems kind of frivilous compared to some of the others. Though that's perhaps why it's number one in the first place; when self-reporting, I'm far more confident in saying "yep, I'm funny" than "yep, I'm fair" (or whatever the case may be), because I don't over-think it as much as some of the more serious personality traits. Though I guess my ability to make life fun has been an asset in many aspects of my life, and, I daresay, the lives of those I associate with (yeah..."Modesty and Humility" was way down at #20...).

My #24 (last place) strength: "Bravery and Valor". I'm a total wuss.

Sibling Wedding Extravaganza

MacKenna got married in December, Jared got married this month, and now Melissa is (surprise!) getting married in May. Because she must've known I haven't had my fill of sibling weddings yet...

At least I'm getting my money's worth out of those adorable yellow slingbacks I bought a few months ago (the wedding colors have been/will be, respectively: gray and yellow, red and yellow, purple and yellow).

I was teasing Nate that Melissa beat him to the altar, because he would be next birth-order-wise and he said that we should trick Lowell (Melissa's fiance) into marrying him first and then make him work another seven years to marry Melissa. That is why Nate is awesome.

The Boulders Apartment Fire Update

Two women were confirmed dead in the fire last night. My heart goes out to their families and to all the people who lost everything they own in the fire. I can't imagine having to start from scratch like that.

The worst part of the night was how helpless I felt. I wanted to help, but there wasn't much I could do. I was able to loan a couple camp chairs to the displaced people watching their building burn. Unfortunately, that's all I've got.

Oh what a night. The light and noise of firefighters and police officers didn't really die down until 3am or so. That plus the general nervous atmosphere made it very difficult to sleep. Julius, who was outside during the whole thing came home around 4am pretty anxious. I'm sure all the commotion was scary for him.

Apparently the cause was arson. By this woman who I totally recognize from around the complex.

Some pictures I took of the aftermath this morning:

Trevor and I have been debating whether we want to renew our contract at The Boulders when it's up in July. We like the neighbors and the cheap rent and how the management isn't full of sticklers for rules (like the last apartment complex we lived in). But the place is pretty old. There are sparks when you plug things into certain outlets in our apartment and the heating never worked very well. Until the arson reports came out this morning, we were both convinced that the fire had been caused by something wrong with the apartment, electrical or gas problems of some sort. So we knew we needed to get out. There was another fire in this complex that killed a woman in 2009. As far as I can find, the cause of that fire was never determined. We don't really feel safe. Now that we know it was arson and the building itself wasn't the cause, I feel like I should feel safer, but I don't really.

The good news is, Trevor and I spent a good amount of time last night talking about the best emergency routes out of our apartment and where we would meet in case we were separated in some sort of emergency and that sort of thing. I feel like we're better prepared now. I encourage you to make sure you have emergency plans in place for your family if you don't already. I remember my parents were good about this when I was growing up. We'd have fire drills where my dad would be the fire -- waving his arms around and blocking different paths. And we all knew to meet at the mailbox so we could make sure everyone was out. It was kind of fun as a kid to crawl around (to avoid the smoke) and climb out windows and such, but it was also a valuable teaching time. I hope to be good about this kind of thing when I'm a parent. For now, I'll just have to be sad that you can't really run cats through fire drills.

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).