I've heard Rock Me Amadeus on the radio three times on three different stations in the last three days. Did Falco die and take Michael Jackson's place on the airwaves?
This video could have easily been filmed at Neverland Ranch.
7.07.2009
7.01.2009
Down South
I wonder sometimes if southerners are as captivated by the west as we 'cowboys' are about southern belles and plantations. We don't have hot, slow summers like in Gone With the Wind or the Notebook (Ever seen 310 to Yuma? There's nothing romantic in the dusty desert). More importantly, there are more songs about the south than about any other region (see later post). Unfortunately, seeing as the south isn't so on the way to anywhere but Florida, it doesn't make too much sense to just stop by. So, I was beyond elated at the chance to hit a few hot spots earlier this month.
After years of talking about it and an arduous qualification process, little miss Kendall joined the Air Force. She spent 3 long months in Montgomery, AL in Officer Training (left, in her army moon suit surrounded by uniformed ... hunks?) and then had a weekend to pack up and drive to San Antonio. I missed her graduation/ceremony where she was given her new rank, whatever that's called. But, to make up for it, I flew down to make the drive with her. Flights to Montgomery were outrageously priced, but I got a steal to Jackson, MS, which by the way, is an adorable little airport. I jammed to Mississippi Queen in my head as we then drove down to New Orleans, and spent the night there.
My mom lived in N'awlins for 5 years in elementary school way back in the days of segregation and pickled pigs feet (I s'pose those are prolly still being eaten). We took the Causeway across from the mainland to the city- it was like driving across the ocean. I've never seen a longer stretch of bridge in my life. The I-90 floating has got nothing on this.
I found the French Quarter charming, highlights being easter pink and yellow colored houses with fabulously intricate cast-iron balconies. Jackson Square was nothing like Mason Jennings described, but rather filled with overpriced psychics and caricature artists. A long walk down Bourbon Street reminded me just how flip-flopped my life is from the rest of the world. Apparently no other city in the world allows you to carry open glasses of alcohol through the streets. I can't imagine why not. Bourbon Street lived up to its name as the Vegas of New Orleans. More importantly, live jazz music blaring throughout the city lived up to its reputation. French cafes were also a pleasant treat for breakfast.
The drive west from New Orleans was incredibly beautiful. The freeway winds through the marshes of southern Louisiana so there is water and trees Everywhere. The second we crosses the Texas border, however, both trees and water disappeared and were replaced by flat expanses of either ranch-land or, closer to Houston, buildings. We were going to stop at the Single's Ward in Houston, but got a late start. We also spent a good amount of time trying to figure out how to get her truck weighed at the semi-truck weigh station.
By Sunday night we were in San Antonio. We got Kendall settled at the Air Force Base and her and Jered's apartment set up and enjoyed a night on the River Walk and at the Alamo (which is apparently not a region of Texas but an actual building where some hoo-ha battle went down in the War against Mexico). San Antonio has zero street parking (frustrating but it made for clean streets) but the river walk was more charming than even the Miss America Pageant made it look (besides the creepy red tunnel a la Seattle Library 2nd floor). And before I left on Tuesday, I even got to see Matt Terry!
After years of talking about it and an arduous qualification process, little miss Kendall joined the Air Force. She spent 3 long months in Montgomery, AL in Officer Training (left, in her army moon suit surrounded by uniformed ... hunks?) and then had a weekend to pack up and drive to San Antonio. I missed her graduation/ceremony where she was given her new rank, whatever that's called. But, to make up for it, I flew down to make the drive with her. Flights to Montgomery were outrageously priced, but I got a steal to Jackson, MS, which by the way, is an adorable little airport. I jammed to Mississippi Queen in my head as we then drove down to New Orleans, and spent the night there.
My mom lived in N'awlins for 5 years in elementary school way back in the days of segregation and pickled pigs feet (I s'pose those are prolly still being eaten). We took the Causeway across from the mainland to the city- it was like driving across the ocean. I've never seen a longer stretch of bridge in my life. The I-90 floating has got nothing on this.
I found the French Quarter charming, highlights being easter pink and yellow colored houses with fabulously intricate cast-iron balconies. Jackson Square was nothing like Mason Jennings described, but rather filled with overpriced psychics and caricature artists. A long walk down Bourbon Street reminded me just how flip-flopped my life is from the rest of the world. Apparently no other city in the world allows you to carry open glasses of alcohol through the streets. I can't imagine why not. Bourbon Street lived up to its name as the Vegas of New Orleans. More importantly, live jazz music blaring throughout the city lived up to its reputation. French cafes were also a pleasant treat for breakfast.
The drive west from New Orleans was incredibly beautiful. The freeway winds through the marshes of southern Louisiana so there is water and trees Everywhere. The second we crosses the Texas border, however, both trees and water disappeared and were replaced by flat expanses of either ranch-land or, closer to Houston, buildings. We were going to stop at the Single's Ward in Houston, but got a late start. We also spent a good amount of time trying to figure out how to get her truck weighed at the semi-truck weigh station.
By Sunday night we were in San Antonio. We got Kendall settled at the Air Force Base and her and Jered's apartment set up and enjoyed a night on the River Walk and at the Alamo (which is apparently not a region of Texas but an actual building where some hoo-ha battle went down in the War against Mexico). San Antonio has zero street parking (frustrating but it made for clean streets) but the river walk was more charming than even the Miss America Pageant made it look (besides the creepy red tunnel a la Seattle Library 2nd floor). And before I left on Tuesday, I even got to see Matt Terry!
6.17.2009
Foundations of the American Dream
De Tocqueville (1840/2000) famously wrote that every American is "devoured by the desire to rise" (p. 599).
Rise from poverty, rise from failure, rise from mediocrity.
I would debate whether or not every American is so devoured (especially while I'm staring at Utah's depressing poverty statistics and reflecting on our church's struggling activity rates), but I maintain that simply wanting success does not merit success. It is those who voraciously seek it who achieve it.
Rise from poverty, rise from failure, rise from mediocrity.
I would debate whether or not every American is so devoured (especially while I'm staring at Utah's depressing poverty statistics and reflecting on our church's struggling activity rates), but I maintain that simply wanting success does not merit success. It is those who voraciously seek it who achieve it.
6.15.2009
What the Swine Flu?
If you haven't heard, the MTC is a dirty breeding ground for communicable diseases. Close quarters, shared food, unsanitary 19-year-old boys- a bad recipe when the H1N1 virus rears its ugly swine head. Add in travel plans to hundreds of countries and it's a worldwide problem.
I showed up today to work to find out that Elder Partridge, a native Washingtonian who has had a cold for a little over a week has officially been diagnosed with the disease-which-shall-not-be-named. He's stuck in quarantine all week and all who have come in some contact with him are now on the watch list. They dished me out some Tamiflu to prevent any spread.
6.12.2009
6.06.2009
Window Seat View
I usually choose the aisle seat when possible - makes for less awkward multiple trips to the bathroom (thank you airline bankruptcy for scrimping on in-flight beverages, by the way. I'm not missing those extra few rounds to the VIP water closet up front.
When aisle isn't an option, I'll still usually opt for a middle seat, believe it or not - for the same reason (climbing over two people is way trickier than just one. It's worth being a bit more crowded if it means a bit more mobility [oxymoron?]. You can sneak past one sleeper, as long as their tray is clear, but two? Good night! Better to pass on the Ginger Ale and hold it til landing).
So I don't often make it to the window seat, even though I live for views of clouds and erosion lines. But the regional carriers for American Airlines offers the one-two layout where there are no middle seats and the lucky passenger assigned to seat A gets both a window AND an aisle (pure luck).
My seat was over the wing, so my view was still somewhat obstructed but what a view. I like being reminded that we are small and that our whole lives make up the tiniest fraction of the world, but our tiny lives still shape the landscape and patterns of our world make up the patterns of the whole world.
Jagged highways and winding lanes sliced through patches of trees or across mountains;
Suburban sprawl- with Walmart rooftops and well-planned cul-de-sacs;
Where are there bridges, which cities are hubs...
My favorite bird's eye views are farms, which seem to go on forever on the ground but have such obvious lines from above, especially out west. The flight from Cambodia leaving Siem Riep back to Bangkok showed me that even the most rural of farms (and I mean in the middle of Nowhere) clearly delineate property and crops, usually with precisely straight lines. The grids over the Great Plains are multi-colored. In the South they seem much more haphazard. These grids don't just decorate the land, they're proof of little lives.
These grids don't just decorate the land, they're proof of the little lives.
When aisle isn't an option, I'll still usually opt for a middle seat, believe it or not - for the same reason (climbing over two people is way trickier than just one. It's worth being a bit more crowded if it means a bit more mobility [oxymoron?]. You can sneak past one sleeper, as long as their tray is clear, but two? Good night! Better to pass on the Ginger Ale and hold it til landing).
So I don't often make it to the window seat, even though I live for views of clouds and erosion lines. But the regional carriers for American Airlines offers the one-two layout where there are no middle seats and the lucky passenger assigned to seat A gets both a window AND an aisle (pure luck).
My seat was over the wing, so my view was still somewhat obstructed but what a view. I like being reminded that we are small and that our whole lives make up the tiniest fraction of the world, but our tiny lives still shape the landscape and patterns of our world make up the patterns of the whole world.
Jagged highways and winding lanes sliced through patches of trees or across mountains;
Suburban sprawl- with Walmart rooftops and well-planned cul-de-sacs;
Where are there bridges, which cities are hubs...
My favorite bird's eye views are farms, which seem to go on forever on the ground but have such obvious lines from above, especially out west. The flight from Cambodia leaving Siem Riep back to Bangkok showed me that even the most rural of farms (and I mean in the middle of Nowhere) clearly delineate property and crops, usually with precisely straight lines. The grids over the Great Plains are multi-colored. In the South they seem much more haphazard. These grids don't just decorate the land, they're proof of little lives.
These grids don't just decorate the land, they're proof of the little lives.
Travelling high down south
I love traveling. L-O-V-E it. Love new places, love new cultures, I love being forced to talk to strangers whose lives are such a flip flop of mine. I don't get excited about much, but I love the high I get the night before I go anywhere. Like in my mind I've got that scriptures from Mosiah 24 "Be of good comfort, for on the morrow, I will deliver you out of bondage" except bondage is the tedium of life and the deliverance is a trip ANYWHERE.
I accidentally left my phone on during my first flight so now it's almost out of batteries. When I saw the last bar flashing green (why green, anyway? Since when does green mean danger: loss of communication on its way?) I first congratulated myself for remembering to pack my charger, and brainstormed when I might charge it most efficiently. Then I had one of those aha! moments that seems desperate and pathetic for a minutes until the pure elation of unattached freedom sets in. I don't have to report to anyone! My green flashing last bar could go entirely blank the minute Kendall picks me up and it won't matter one bit. Ahhh... liberating, isn't it.
I accidentally left my phone on during my first flight so now it's almost out of batteries. When I saw the last bar flashing green (why green, anyway? Since when does green mean danger: loss of communication on its way?) I first congratulated myself for remembering to pack my charger, and brainstormed when I might charge it most efficiently. Then I had one of those aha! moments that seems desperate and pathetic for a minutes until the pure elation of unattached freedom sets in. I don't have to report to anyone! My green flashing last bar could go entirely blank the minute Kendall picks me up and it won't matter one bit. Ahhh... liberating, isn't it.
6.02.2009
I love my sister!
Without her I WOULD GO INSANE. Or I at least would not know how to deal with my insanity.
5.21.2009
Seattle!
Thanks to Southwest's $90 funfares, I got to go to Seattle a couple weeks ago. When I got off the plane, I wandered into the Made in Seattle gift store and was literally overwhelmed with how much I love the Pacific Northwest. Salmon, Native Americans, Mountain and Ocean views wrapped in green, art and local hippie-friendly industry. My home town rocks!
I wish more than anything that I had pictures to upload but alas, I lost my camera (and everything else that allows me to function day to day) so I hope my bullet list of highlights paints a vivid enough picture to compete with my old Nikon Coolpix (RIP).
Highlights:
Sunday dinner with the whole (growing) family. Nothing beats crock pot cookery and mashed potatoes. My bedroom empty but still intact.
Coconut ice cream at a random (but really nice) restaurant in downtown Seattle
Enjoying the Washington State Ferry System for what it's meant for (public transportation)
Spending time with a family that resembles how mine was ten years ago (busy and hectic but safe and happy)
Being peer pressured to jump (15 feet!) into the FRIGID Puget Sound and climb up a barnacley ladder --- in the rain! (worth the jump)
Sitting (in my pjs, at my house, in front of the fire, in those plush leather couches that make it impossible to do anything productive)
Playing the Brothers Knudson's newest prototype - Hecho
Brainstorming for Brent's musical
Snoqualmie Falls after a downpour (you could feel the mist all the way from the lookout point)
St. Helens Fresh Honey from a little orchard stand
Prosser, Washington (who knew it was so delightful! Amazing appetizers at a high-so restaurant, pizza at a charming pizzeria, milkshakes
Catching up with the Scrivners (and Baker City, OR)
Getting back to Provo (home sweet home!)
5.02.2009
Sisters!
The last weekend in April we had sisters reunion with all the girls from my mom and aunt's families. I have such a fun family, seriously. We spent a lot (a lot) of time beading (I came home with new earring and several new bracelets) and eating snacks that I am most definitely not allowed to be eating (good bye allergy diet, hello stomach ache). Thanks to my mom, the queen of everything matchy patchy same same, we all had matching sweaters (so when we wore them out we looked like we were either a dental office on break or promoting breast cancer awareness) and the Knudsons in attendance had matching jammies too! Very adorable on both accounts.
We spent the weekend at a condo up in Park City so we got in some time on Main Street and at the outlet malls. Thanks to my mom and aunt for organizing and funding the party and raising such wonderful ladies, and to all the men in the family for marrying such high quality women.Unfortunately I don't have the pictures of our night in the 80's-roller-rink-esque hot tub (complete with sweaty rental shoe smell and studio lights) but here's one of the beading table where we spent the bulk of our time.
I'm looking for the sisters reunion round II!
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