Thursday, December 8, 2011

Hawaii: Day 2

Yesterday didn't go quite as planned, but it was still really fun! I was hoping to watch some surfing, but I guess there weren't good waves, so the Vans Triple Crown competition starts back up today and I'll hopefully be able to see some of it later this morning. Yesterday morning, instead of watching surfing, I saw the Laie Temple and the BYU-Hawaii campus with my friend Phillip. But before we got to either of those places, we stopped at a park on the coast to look at the Chinaman's Hat and see my first Hawaii rainbow. The rainbow was cool because it was a complete rainbow--I could see both ends at the same time! I also got to put my feet in the Pacific Ocean for the first time! (That's a first I forgot about on yesterday's post--it was my first time seeing the Pacific Ocean.)



 I loved visiting the Laie Temple. I didn't go in, but I did go in the visitor's center learned lots of neat things about the temple from Sister Eubanks. Did you know that the Laie Temple was the fifth temple built in the church? It was built in 1919! Crazy! I love the strong feeling of the Spirit at the temple grounds. Also, you can see the ocean from the temple--talk about location!


BYU-Hawaii is right next to both the temple and the Polynesian Cultural Center (where I'm going today!). It's REALLY small. I liked that everybody there seemed relaxed even with finals coming up. Also, there were about a billion old-style bikes there. Maybe it's a trend?


Later Phillip and I went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation, which has the world's largest maze. We had to find 8 checkpoints (using a map, thankfully) and we did it under an hour, so we were pretty proud of ourselves for that. I also got to see some pineapples that were in the middle of growing, and it was so weird to see a mini pineapple! The one in the picture below is probably only as long as my hand! While we were there, I chose an oyster to be cracked open, and I got the pearl that was inside placed in a pendant. But perhaps the most exciting thing about the pineapple plantation was that I brought my Psych Season 5 DVD case took pictures with it and pineapples.

In the Dole store--look how yellow that pineapple is!

Anyway, I had some pretty exciting times yesterday. This morning I'm going to try to see some surfing again, and this afternoon and tonight I'm going to the Polynesian Cultural Center, so I am pretty darn excited about today too.


Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Hawaii: Day 1

After 13 hours of traveling yesterday (9 of which were spent in two different airplanes), I finally arrived in Hawaii! I have already had many exciting accomplishments just from that one day of traveling. As you may or may not know, one of my life goals is to set foot in all 50 states, and now I am 2 states closer! My layover was through LAX, so yesterday was my first time being in California. By being in California, I was also the furthest west I've ever been in my life. And obviously, this is my first time in Hawaii, and now I am way further west than I was in California. This may not exciting to everyone, but it is exciting to me.

I had a welcoming committee at the airport that was comprised of my friend Victoria. I am staying with her, and she's basically the reason for this whole trip.

Victoria's so nice! She gave me 2 legit leis when I got there!

This is just the sign on the baggage claim, but it's so cool!

Even though I've only been here a day, I've already decided that Hawaii is the most beautiful place on the planet. Here is proof. All these pictures were taken from the car on the drive back to Victoria's house, so they're not the greatest quality and most of them have street lights in them, but they're still beautiful!







Stay tuned for today's adventures which will hopefully include watching the Vans Triple Crown surfing competition on the North Shore and Psych-ing it up at the Dole Pineapple Plantation (I'm not quite sure what that means, but hey, just go with it).

P.S. There's a Roomba in my room, so I'm thinking of having a dance party.

DJ Roomba!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Never Been Kissed

I watched the movie Never Been Kissed last night. I've seen this movie before, but only a couple times and a long time ago, so it was quite the surprise when I realized that Josie Gellar and I are the same person. Since I was 12 I've been told by many people that I look like Drew Barrymore, so here's a picture from the movie. You can judge for yourself.

Look! I even have the same hair now that Josie had when she was in high school the first time! (But I don't part my hair in the middle. Ew, gross.)


But looks are only the beginning of my and Josie's similarities. As is probably obvious by now, Josie and I are also alike in the titular way--we have both never been kissed. Here are the rest of the ways we are alike:
  1. We are both pretty shy and smart (if I do say so myself), the combination of which resulted in severe dorkiness in high school. (Luckily for me the popular kids weren't actively mean to me like they were to her, and I didn't have the scarring experience of being egged instead of going to the prom.)
  2. Josie and I both like to write and we LOVE Shakespeare! A man who can speak intelligently about Shakespeare makes us swoon (read: Mr. Coulson). 
  3. Josie and I are copy editors (well, I at least studied it in school). 
  4. We like to correct other people's grammar, though I can control the urge to correct better than she does. We notice when people use "hopefully" to modify an entire sentence or confuse the prefixes "inter-" and "intra-."
  5. We tend to be a little uptight and controlling, as is evidenced by some OCD-like tendencies.
  6. We cross-stitch, though I haven't done it since I was 12.
  7. We are also both great romantics. We believe that when we meet the "one," we'll know.
 At first I was disturbed that I could be so similar to such a dorky- and sad-seeming person, but by the end of the movie Josie figures out how to be happy and proves to be quite an amazing person, so I'm actually really glad that we're so alike. Also, I'll happily be like her if that means I get a Mr. Coulson.



Things I'm thankful for (since it is Thanksgiving, after all): my family, my friends, today's Texas weather, Mr. Coulson, libraries, books, Christmas, the end of the semester, visiting Victoria in Hawaii in a couple weeks, Zac Efron, my grandma, my faith, Michael Buble, and Thanksgiving feasts.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Cowboy, Take Me Away!


Even though I’m usually a Top 40 kind of girl, I’ve been kind of obsessed with country music lately. You can stop judging me now. Once you get past all the references to beer (why are they so obsessed?), it’s really not that bad! I’ve never minded music that sounds like a hybrid of country and rock (i.e., the Rascal Flatts), but gradually over the last year, and especially over the last couple months, I’ve started listening to music that gravitates away from the rock end of the spectrum and more towards the country end of the spectrum. I’m going to take you on a journey of country music in my life, mostly because I want to share some of my favorite country songs.

When I was in third grade, my teacher took a poll of what kids’ favorite genres of music were (I guess as part of a fractions-related lesson?), even though I think we were too young to really know what the different genres meant. I was one of three people in my class to vote for country music. I really have no idea why I voted for country music because my parents didn’t listen to country music, which meant that I didn’t listen to country music. The only reason I can think of is that I may have heard a song on the radio that I liked and one of my parents told me that it was a country song.

When I was 11, my cousin Janalee nannied me and my siblings for the summer. She would always have the radio on the country station when we were in the car. That was my first actual exposure to country music. Because of that summer, sometimes I’ll recognize a song from a random band like SheDaisy.

When I was 14, I got my first country CD: the Dixie Chicks’ Home. (I know the Dixie Chicks are more on the country end of the spectrum, but apparently I didn’t mind in this case.) This song still gets me:


When I was 17 I heard the song “These Days” by the Rascal Flatts (still my favorite Rascal Flatts song, which is saying a lot). I have loved the Rascal Flatts ever since. Seriously. I love everything they do. This is when I realized that country songs could have enough rock in them for me to like them.


After this point, I went on a country music hiatus where the only country music I ever listened to was Rascal Flatts. It would take a young country superstar five years later to convince me to revisit the possibility that country music could be worth existing. Yep, you probably guessed who. Taylor Swift. I got her Fearless CD from a friend, and when I finally made it past “You Belong With Me” (best music video ever!) I discovered that the rest of the CD was AMAZING.


Taylor speaks to me. I know all she writes about is love and I have never even been in love, but her lyrics transcend specific situations. And she writes about crushes fairly often, and I’ve had my fair share of those. Take these lyrics from “Hey Stephen” for example.

'Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel.
Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain so
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you.
Can't help it if there's no one else.
I can't help myself.

What girl hasn’t felt like this? There have been plenty of times (ok, maybe a couple times) where I’ve had a serious crush but I really have no idea why—I just can’t help myself! So, Taylor really opened me up to the idea that I could like country music as much as Top 40.

Lady Antebellum confirmed this idea. I’m not going to elaborate on Lady A, but I like (or love) all their songs that I’ve heard. And I LOVE the “Just a Kiss” music video.


Congratulations if you’ve made it this far! I really didn’t expect this post to be so long. I’ve just got one more band/song to talk about: If I Die Young by The Band Perry. There’s a reason why it won Best Song at the CMAs last week (yes, I even watched part of the CMAs). The lyrics are beautiful, the music is beautiful, the music video is beautiful, everything about this song is beautiful. I especially love the video and how it enhances the song. In the video there’s visual reference to the Tennyson poem “Lady of Shalott” (which I just have to say I noticed before the end of the video, which shows a book of Tennyson poetry) which reveals new shades of meaning in the song. I’ll probably devote a blog post to this song and video later, because I love it so much. Anyway, it’s this song that has really propelled me into my newfound appreciation of country music. “If I Die Young” is an example of something I’ve noticed and like about country music, which is that the lyrics of country songs (at least the ones I’ve listened to) tend to be about more varied subjects than Top 40 or rock songs. “If I Die Young” is pretty deep, and I just don’t think those lyrics would work as well in a non-country song. P.S. If you’ve only heard this song on a soft rock or Top 40 station, then you should listen to the real version below.


So now you know. I’m kind of obsessed with learning more about everything related to country music. The only station I listen to on Pandora is my Taylor Swift channel. I’ve been listening to the country radio station more than any other radio station. I even watched part of the CMAs last week. Basically my life is changing in a big way. And going back to the title of this post, I’d really like it if you’d give my phone number to any cute Mormon cowboys you know.

OK, I know I said that “If I Die Young” would be the last song, but I just remembered another song I really like (thanks, Kristi, for telling me about this song). “I’m Still a Guy” by Brad Paisley. It manages to be hilarious and kind of sweet at the same time. You should listen to it.


Quote of the Day: Country music has always been the best shrink that 15 bucks can buy.
–Dierks Bentley

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Movie Review: In Time

I just saw the movie In Time starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried. While I can’t promise you that you’ll love the movie, I do feel pretty confident in promising that you’ll like the movie.

Before I get into my thoughts, I should probably explain the movie a little bit (without giving too much away).  In Time takes place in this alternate world where people have been genetically modified to stop aging at age 25, but once they reach 25 their clock starts counting down from one year (meaning they only have one year left to live). Time becomes money—people pay and are paid with time. Justin Timberlake’s character Will Salas lives in the ghetto, where nobody has over a day on their clock at any given time (literally living day-to-day). One day he is given 116 years by 105-year-old Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer) who is ready to die. Henry tells Will that many must die for a few to be immortal, an idea that Will had never thought of, and an idea that is important throughout the rest of the film. After Henry dies (from giving Will the rest of his time), Will goes to the rich “time zone” New Greenwich where he meets Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried), the dissatisfied-with-her-life-of-avoiding-risks heiress of a millionaire (a man who has over a million years). Eventually, Will and Sylvia go on the run, rob Sylvia’s father’s banks, and give the time away to anyone and everyone in the ghetto.

The acting was excellent from the entire cast, but I especially liked Cillian Murphy in this movie. You may remember Cillian Murphy as the sucker who gets an idea planted in his brain in Inception,


or  the creepy guy from Batman Begins.


In this movie he plays the timekeeper Raymond Leon. A timekeeper is essentially a cop whose only job is to protect the rich people’s time. It seems to me that the character of a cop working for a corrupt system tends to fall into certain categories. There’s the cop who believes whole-heartedly in said corrupt system. There’s the cop who has no idea that a system can even be corrupt. And there’s the cop who has traditionally done what he (or she) is told, but throughout the story has a gradual awakening to the reality of the corrupt system and then tries to change it. At first it seemed as though Leon was the first type, and then as though he may be the third type, but as it turns out, he was neither! That was what made the character so brilliant to me. I was really expecting him to be a cliché character, but he wasn’t.

Instead, at the beginning Leon seems to believe that the system is right (the first type), but as the movie goes on, he seems to become more and more disillusioned (sounding more like the third type, right? Wrong!). As it turns out, he has been disillusioned all along. He is from the same ghetto as Will Salas (Timberlake), but he was able to get out and has spent 50 years protecting the time of the rich, so Leon has known his entire life how wrong it is for many to die so that a few may be immortal. He just doesn’t believe it can change. He believes that the current way is the only way it can be. He relentlessly pursues Will because he believes that Will’s method of suddenly and randomly redistributing the wealth will hurt the very people he is trying to save (a view with which I am inclined to agree). Cillian Murphy plays this complex character just right. I know my love for Cillian Murphy and his character in this movie is probably really random and that I didn’t do a very good job of explaining it, but I guess that means you’ll just have to see the movie and judge for yourself.

If you’ve lived on Earth for the last couple months, you’ve probably heard of the Occupy Wall Street protests and made the connection between the Occupy movement and this movie. I haven’t been following the Occupy movement too closely, but from what I understand, their main point is this, that top 1% (in terms of wealth) are cold, greedy buttheads who only care about becoming richer when instead they could be helping the other 99%. If the Occupy movement moved to the world of In Time, it would be called Occupy New Greenwich. A few people have thousands upon thousands of years while the masses have only hours. 

As I said earlier, even though Will’s and Silvia’s hearts are in the right place, their way of redistributing the wealth will end up hurting the people they’re trying to save. It’s not that these people don’t deserve the time, but randomly giving out time to a bunch of people at once will incite mass chaos. We’ve all seen the chaos that Black Friday deals produce. What if instead of selling a 40” TV for $250, Wal-Mart was giving away a month of life to the first 100 customers? And not just any customers, customers who will die without it. And, in the movie, once the people get their time, they stop working and migrate en masse to New Greenwich. Pretty soon, because no one is working, no one will have anything (which I think was Leon’s point when he said Will and Silvia would hurt the people they were trying to help). What happens after a revolution? The biggest disappointment that I have about this movie is that it does not propose any kind of solution for how to redistribute the wealth without inciting mass chaos. Of course, I guess whoever figures that out will probably win a Nobel Peace Prize or something. I just would have liked a suggestion or two.

Anyway, if you can’t already tell from the length of this post, In Time was a thought-provoking movie. I didn’t even get into the implications that using time instead of money would have on society. Suffice it to say, this movie made me want to never waste time again, so obviously that’s why I spent over an hour writing this post instead of working on my paper for school.


On this day in 1492: Native Americans in Cuba taught Christopher Columbus about maize. Thank you, Native Americans, for enabling me to have corn chips in my taco soup today!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Welcome to my new blog!

I’ve been wanting to start a blog for a while, but the major thing that has held me up is that I felt like my blog would need to have a theme and I had no idea what that theme would be. Well, a couple weeks ago I was reading the fourth Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants book (read before you judge!) when I came across a quotation from Oscar Wilde that I immediately KNEW would be my theme:

“One’s real life is so often the life that one does not lead.”

Now, I know that this quote can mean lots of different things, but here’s what it meant to me when I read it. The life that I lead is the life that others can see, basically comprising my words and my actions. But what others hear and see of me does not make the limits of my existence. I have so much more going on in my head that most people never hear or see. It is in my head where I believe my real life is. Now that I’ve put this thought into words, it sounds like I’m a crazy person who doesn’t know the difference between what is actually happening and what is happening in their head, but that’s not what I mean! I just mean that who I really am is evidenced more by my thoughts than my words or my actions (mainly due to my social ineptitude, haha). Anyway, so this blog is going to be an outlet for my “real life.” Sometimes it will be serious and sometimes it will be weird and sometimes it will be random, but it will always reflect my “real life.”

So join me as I embark on this new adventure called blogging. I just hope that it won’t be a complete disaster :) Also, if you keep reading my blog, then you’ll see that I use emoticons more than the average 23-year-old.


Quote of the Day: “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” –George Eliot (A 19th-century English novelist, for those of you who are literarily unaware.)