Sunday, September 30, 2012

I moved!

Hello friends! I have moved to my new blog! This one was acting up so I'm trying something new.
http://pickingcactusflowers.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Appology and Ripple

I'm back! Sorry it's been so long, my computer and my blog were not getting along. Since my last post I have done lots of reading and have found many good books, one of which was Ripple by Mandy Hubbard. It's been a while since I last read this book, but it took an interesting twist on a familiar story. I thought the main character was well done and her reaction to every obstacle was very realistic. The cover is strange because the faces are off. The publishing company used too much computer and the models look too intense, which only makes them look constipated. But beyond the strange cover, I fully enjoyed this book.
Hopefully my computer will continue to cooperate and I will be able to post again soon.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The Near Witch

I only had a few quick minutes to grab something when I was at the library yesterday. I grabbed the first book that had an interesting description. The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab was one of these books. I have to say, I was somewhat disappointed. The main character, Lexi, was interesting and the writing style was very lyrical and fun. But the story was very predictable and Lexi was almost the only interesting character. Her counter part, a boy named Cole, was the other interesting person. Honestly,  I was more interested in his life than hers. The book could have been much better if it didn't have one of my pet peeves of fiction. Romance sprung out of nowhere. I had no problem with the romance side of the story, except there was very little lead up to it. The characters barely knew each other and suddenly they are falling in love? The book was long enough that there could have been more realistic development of this side of the story. If this little romance had been left out and the two characters had ended the book as friends, maybe even friends with a hint of something more down the road, it would have been a better book.
On the upside, I really like the cover.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Friends And Foes review

This book is by Sarah M. Eden. It's one of those books you settle down with for a day, either cozy by the fire with a big cup of hot chocolate or out on the beach while you work on your tan. Unfortunately, I was doing neither while I read this book, but I still fully enjoyed it. The main character, Philip Jonquil, does a wonderful job of narrating the story. We get into his head and see things from his perspective, but at times we are still distant enough to see things he does not. Philip is a French spy hunter for the English and he has one more spy he needs to catch before he can be released from his duty. He is at a family reunion of sorts for Christmas and has some very interesting adventures.  His counter character, Sorrel, is also lots of fun. She holds her own while still having insecurities and fears. Both characters are complex and move the story forward themselves instead of being plopped into situations and reacting. It's not extremely complex and a little (ok, a lot) predicable, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the story.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Surprise, surprise!

This last Friday I came home from college. I kept it quiet in order to surprise my friends, and boy did I surprise them. With the help of another friend I showed up Friday night at their weekly get together. The three of them were sitting on the living room floor with their backs to the doorway. I snuck up behind them and sat down between the two I was trying surprise and put my arms around their shoulders casually. They were still waiting for a friend to come so at first they thought I was her. Both looked at me and it took about five seconds for them to register who I was. Their eyes grew wide and then they screamed and freaked out. It was hilarious and made the month of barely being able to keep it secret that I was coming home worth it. Very satisfying. 

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Apples

As with the stereotype of college life, I have experimented with my dinners. Sometimes this flops and I get burnt rice or a hamburger that refuses to stay together as a patty. But then sometimes I stumble across something fantastic. The other day I tried to be creative while using up some food I needed to get rid of. It sounds strange, but it was one of the best things I've ever tasted. It was BBQ sauce, Chicken breasts, yellow onion, and apple slices. I forget what kind of apple, one of the sweet red ones like a Fuji or something. It was the perfect mix. The apples were actually the best part, I wish I had used more. When I eventually go home I'm going to make it for my family and see what they think.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The things we say

“I think you have a frog in your throat.”
 “I think it’s a buffalo.”
  [Pause]
“Do you know when we say buffalo most of the time we mean bison?”

“Stop pecking at your nails”

“The hand… and the red….”

“M&M’s are magic.”

“I like the chopped up skin pieces.”

“He turned his girlfriend into a sci-fi heroine.”

"I wish my body was socialist."

"Um... there's a pirate running down the street…"

"What is that smell I smell that smells smelly?"

“Would you fry bacon off of those arms?  I could eat soup off of his abs.”

 “I'm angrier than a midget in a hurdle competition”

“I think she should just marry a four-year-old.”

“This is just way too much incest for one day.”

“I’m putting the computer in my pants.”

“My shirts coming off!”

“Yummyness smells like deliciousness.”

“Where is Jake’s body?”

“It tastes like Tinkerbelle.”

“I’m basking in your patheticness”

“We totally invented cheers. You British stole it from us.”

“You have to microwave them, then bake them, then put them in a Crockpot for six hours. What kind of baked beans recipe is this?”

“I love it! I want to be dirty all the time!”

“What does study mean? I thought it meant look at the book really hard.”

“I wanted to be secret lovers.”

“It’s a French peck.”

“I was going to tell you guys about my weekend but I forgot.”
“Did it have something to do with vegetables?”

“The trees smell like fish”

“The last time I went there the tiger population was effecting the geese population.”
“Actually, it’s the communist population.”

“Which would you rather eat- a pig or a cow?”

“It’s the Inquisition on steroids.”

“He wasn’t very nice. He was a dragon and wanted to take revenge. And he was naked.”

"If we are what we eat... does that make cannibals the only real people?"

Friday, March 30, 2012

I should be working

Even though it's a Friday night I really should do some homework. And at some point tonight, I will finish my essay. But I only have one page left and I'm very stuck so I am currently waiting for my dad to send me back some feedback. At least, that's my excuse for not doing homework. And I drew little black squares (part of a brick wall) for over 3 hours today. So I need a break from my drawing and design homework. The bricks look really nice though! The piece turned out well. This is what I have left this semester:
-3 art assignments
-2 papers
-2 finals
-1 presentation
I am so close. So very, very close.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Less than a Month

I am a survivor. I am strong. I am fierce. I will survive this semester. I forgot to alphabetize by annotated bibliography? That's okay, I'm almost done. At least I turned it in. I can't stand Utopia? That's okay, all I have to do is write a 6-page paper on it. I am stronger than this semester. I am a roaring lion with the strength of Tarzan and the genius of Tolstoy. I will survive. Less than a month left of the semester. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming. I am a survivor. I am strong. I am fierce....

Friday, March 23, 2012

Hugo

I watched this movie last weekend but have not had the chance to post on it until now. I know this makes two negative reviews in a row, but it wasn't terribly good. I think it would make a decent book (I heard it was a book first? I wouldn't know) but isn't a very good movie. The director used a strange mixture of animation and live-action that was just confusing. I think the editing would have been much better without the animation.
 Also, the trailer led me to believe it was a totally different kind of movie. I was expecting something more along the lines of an action-packed mystery. Although it was technically this, it was very mellow and had a very different vibe than I expected. I thought that the mechanical man would be a much bigger part of the story than he was. In all honesty, it was the mystery behind the mechanical man that made me want to see the movie. I was curious about him, and was sorely disappointed. I can understand why people enjoy the movie, especially if they've already read the book. Sometimes that creates a special connection between the viewer and the movie. I guess I'm just not one of those people this time around. I think there are much better family movies out there. (*cough, cough UP, cough, cough.)
.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Koyaanisqatsi

Yes, that is a real word. I don't know what it means though. It's the name of a film I had to watch today in one of my art classes. But before I review the film, let me tell you a little interesting fact about myself.
I don't sleep when the TV is on, not ever. Sometimes it's a curse, other days its a blessing. It means I always managed to stay awake during those old educational videos in history. One of my earliest memories is of New Years Eve watching a movie with my cousins and everyone else falling asleep long before the movie was over. I was the only one to finish it because I cannot sleep through TV noises. It's pretty much the only thing that I can't sleep through, heck, I'm from a family of seven, you learn how to sleep through almost anything, trust me.
So then, what does it say when I fall asleep during this film?
Let me tell you why: there was no narrative. The only speaking in the whole film was this deep bass chanting in part of one of the songs that played during the 1.5 hour film. The film was a collage of different scenes ranging from landscapes to people in the city to traffic at night. I was asleep in less than 20 minutes. Don't get me wrong- I've watched documentaries and my two favorite actors are from black and white movies. It's not that I'm one of those teenagers that doesn't know how to handle "good films". It was just plain boring. So please, if you ever see this film in some obscure corner of your local Blockbuster, do two things for me.
1. Let me know, because I'd be shocked.
2. Don't pick it up. Save yourself two hours of your life. Spend those hours talking to your grandma or learning how to say hello in 59 different languages. You're going to have to trust me on this one.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Stake Conference Part Two

The other day I realized I forgot a very important part of my latest Stake Conference adventure.  Sunday after conference we were driving back to our apartments. Because almost everyone in our stake lives in the same complex pretty much everyone around us on the road was coming from UVU to our complex, just like us. When we hit a stop light I turn to look at the car next to us, and something bizarre took place. A boy about my age opened the back door of the car, walked around to the side of the road, picked up a big rock (there were decorative rocks along the edge of the road), went back to the car and shut the door.  A few seconds later the light changed and we all drove off, everyone in my car laughing and very confused. Probably my favorite part about this was that he left the car door open as he grabbed his rock. And he was so matter-of-fact about it, like this was something completely normal. 
My question is- what was the rock for? Maybe it was destined to become a pet rock and he was going to name it Steve. Or maybe he needed a way to prop his apartment door open. Or a new paper weight? It was pretty big to be a paper weight. Anyways, I thought it was pretty great. It's the kind of thing that only happens around teenagers.
And on a side note, if you are ever in need of a good laugh, convince your roommates to do restorative yoga. I couldn't concentrate on my homework. I was sorely tempted to video-tape it and then put it on here so everyone would know what I mean, but I decided to show mercy on my friends. Besides, they know where I sleep. Revenge would be all too easy for them.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Starburst Commercial


I know I'm posting twice in one day, but I can't resist. This is my favorite commercial in a long time. My roommate and I have been quoting it non-stop since we first saw it.

A long overdue post on my adventures last weekend

I have been planning on this post since last Saturday and just haven't had the time. Well, I 've decided to make time. So there ninja homework and tutorial video. You'll just have to wait.
Last weekend was Stake Conference. For those who aren't LDS, it's basically just a really big church meeting, and there's an adult meeting Saturday night. I got a ride from one of my friends to the Saturday meeting. We were going to be late because we had to pick someone up from work, but we figured we could all be just a few minutes late.
Unfortunately, there were two basketball games in the area that night, and we got caught in traffic. And then somehow... we got totally and completely lost. The place we were going to wasn't very far, yet we ended up on the highway. So basically we came at the building from the opposite direction.
Guess how much of the conference session we made it to?
Twenty minutes.
It was an excellent twenty minutes.
We laughed about it the whole time, and thankfully we were on time to the session the next day. It was very spiritual, every speaker did a great job.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Tristan and Isolt

This is a romance written in medieval times that I read for my history class. One of the things I love about college classes I end up reading things I would never choose on my own. Sometimes it flops, but sometimes I tuck the title into the back of my mind to read again. Like How To Kill an Mockingbird  and The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin. I have read both of these more than once and really like them.
"Tristan and Isolt" on the other hand I found an... interesting read. Part of the problem is what was considered normal back when it was written is very different from today. Like men running around and killing giants. And adding rainbow fairy dogs into a plot.
My favorite part is when someone (I won't give it away and say who) wants to kill the main character. While he is in the bathtub. I was cracking up. It wasn't meant to be that funny I think, but in the movie inside my head it was. Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to add that into the paper I'm writing for the class. The same paper I'm avoiding my writing this post. My excuse is that its Friday. And I have other homework I'll go do right after this post... just not the paper.
Interesting fact: I keep wanting to spell Isolt as Islot. Seems more like a real name to me I guess.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Church and movie reviews

For her class one of my roommates had to go visit a different church, and she's always wanted to visit a Baptist Church. All of us in our apartment decided to go with her, just to see what other churches are like. I was curious too, I've been learning about Islam in my civilization class and realized how similar some things are to Christian religions. I hadn't realized.  But we went to a local Baptist church, and it was a very different experience from going to and Latter-Day Saint service. Good in its own way, but very different. We managed to make the last 1.5 hours of our meetings and that was very nice. I  missed not going to Sacrament Meeting, but I am very glad we were able to go to half of church.
Last night I had a very fun time with some friends. We were going to see Sherlock Holmes 2 (I can't remember what it's real name is) at the dollar theater but it was sold out. Figures. It was a Friday night in a big college town. Instead we came back to the guys' apartment and watched the first episode of the BBC TV series Sherlock. (Quick review: Written by Steven Moffat= fantastic show.) My roommate and I have been watching the series for a while now but it was nice to see the first episode again. And I have to say, the guys I was  hanging out with did  wonderful British accent impersonations.
Oh! I have something to apologize for. I haven't been reviewing movies/books lately. This is partially because I haven't been watching/reading as much since I'm so busy. I think I should start doing TV shows since I do watch those every once in a while. But the exciting news is I do have a review for you! It's on a movie called The Stone of Destiny. You can find it on Netflix instant watch. It's about these Scottish people who don't like being part of the UK. Apparently there's this big stone called the Stone of Destiny that the old kings would sit on while crowned and it was this huge ritual thing, very important. So this group of people decide to steal the stone out of a museum. And that's all I'll say plot-wise. It was a fun movie and based on a true story. It's kind of amazing how much the characters get away with. I thought it was well directed, and I could feel the Scottish patriotism even though I'm not Scottish at all. Overall I do think it's worth your time if you have a couple hours and want a movie that is light-hearted but still noble.
And, surprise, surprise! I have a second movie to review. His Girl Friday with Carry Grant (who happens to be one of my favorite actors). I had to watch it for a class a couple of weeks ago. It's a comedy and in black and white. I'm sorry if you can't handle a b&w, they have a certain class to them that modern movies don't. All the actors did a good job with their parts, the movie was directed so that everyone had to talk fast, something I think would be hard to do as an actor. I really enjoyed the movie.  It helps that I love Carry Grant. His character wasn't my favorite person, but he did a good job with the part and making it funny. Now that I think about it, I actually don't like any of the people in the movie. They're all incredibly selfish. But that's what makes it funny. I know I give positive reviews about pretty much everything, but I do it because I do actually like the things I put on here. I guess I'm just lucky to like a lot of stuff? 

Friday, February 10, 2012

Weekly humiliation

Humiliating myself has always been a fact of my life. I did it about once a day in high school. Thankfully the number of times I do something dumb has gone down significantly since coming to college. I think its because I'm no longer surrounded my a certain group of friends that somehow always manage to get me to say dumb things. That or scare me to death just by poking me in the side.
Anyways...
Last night I humiliated myself once again. I was going to have a fantastic expensive (for me) dinner to celebrate that the week was almost over. I've had one of those insane college weeks where you're up until midnight doing homework and still just barely manage to stay on top of everything. So I was going to reward myself for staying alive and have three whole courses for dinner. A salad, lemon chicken, and rice. The salad turned out great, I ate it while working on getting the rest of my dinner ready. Well... about 20 minutes into my rice cooking my roommate asks me if I smell something burning. 
There was one problem with this question. I don't smell. I always tell people that my sense of smell non-existent. I can only smell food well enough to be able to taste it (I learned in 9th grade biology that part of how we taste food is by smelling it. I'm assuming this is correct.). We both rushed over to the stove and when I lifted the lid off my pan there was a black clump of rice sticking to the bottom of my pan. It started smoking when we took the lid off. 
This is my third time burning rice. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I honestly don't. I've made rice before at home, but for some reason it just doesn't turn out here. We quickly opened the windows to try to keep the smoke alarm from going off. After a couple minutes when it was still smoking I put water in the pan to let the rice soak and carried it outside to sit in front of our apartment for a few hours. 
When we came home today it still smelt funky in our apartment. This is what it looked like when we first set it outside:
I think I'm cursed. 

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Busy


I am a busy little person. Well, not little. I'm not that short. My weekend was filled with work. Lots of homework and working until 3 pm at my job. I generally like my job, especially now that i received a promotion. But no matter how fun a job is, working on Saturdays is just not fun. I've already promised myself this is the last semester I ever do so. Saturday night I did go watch The Lion King with some friends, but I'd been doing homework up until the moment I left the apartment, and even then I left 30 minutes late trying to get more done.
This is what my life will be like all semester. I would not mind being busy except for one thing. One exceptionally sad and frustrating thing. Something I've been dreading since I started working. I almost got asked on a date. The key word there is almost. I was working. I would go into details, but I don't want to put that much detail online to be forever kept in the world wide web. It's something I'd rather forget the details of. All that's important is that he didn't change his mind or anything, it just didn't work out. I don't think he even knows I realized he was trying to ask me out, when I said I was working he said oh never mind. I have been waiting for this particular boy to ask me on a date for months now, so I will be annoyed if we never go on a date. Just one date, just one. I would be satisfied beyond satisfaction. I am an easily pleased person. One just okay date would make me sing to the heavens. I'm crossing my fingers. I would be okay if you crossed your fingers for me too.
We finally got some snow here, our first real snow this winter. Not nearly as much as the Pacific- North West, but some. In my hometown the power went down and it snowed for over 30 hours straight. I was glad to miss that, even though they did get out of school for two days. Our snow is already melting. For some strange reason it's just too warm here for snow, something that has never happened in Utah before. It's bizarre, but very few are complaining. Before coming to co
llege I don't think I realized how much time you spend out side just going between classes. I ride a bus onto campus so I don't have to walk there anymore, but even just walking between buildings means you have to be very aware of the weather and dress appropriately. In high school if you didn't dress warm enough or didn't bring a rain jacket when it rained you could survive. You'd only go outside before and after school and just be a little chilled inside the school. Now if you forget a rain jacket it's dooming yourself to a miserable day and probably a cold. I've learned to over prepare instead of risking this misery.
This isn't quite what I look like, but its how I feel some days. Have a good week and good luck with all your snow! Or lack of, either way.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Electronic Horror Story and a request


Electronics are a wonderful thing. They help our society, make it easier to communicate and are a huge help with homework. They can also be a pain. For example, my phone battery died two weeks ago. The company sent me a replacement battery under my warranty, but that died. Now they are sending me a new phone since it's obviously not the battery. I am not super attached to my phone. I used to be when I first got it, but now it is just a tool. But in today's society, it is actually a very hard tool to live without. I kept having to borrow my roommate's phones and every time I did I felt guilty for using their minutes. It's been strange not talking to my parents very often. I normally text my mom throughout the day so it was weird not being able to do that.
I also had to use my computer as an alarm clock (it's got the strangest buzzer) and wear a watch that I'd even forgotten that I had. The little knob on the side of the watch that you pull out to change the time is giving my hand a bruise and it kind of looks like one of those little red ring-worm marks. So I call it my ring-worm bruise. It took me forever to figure out what it even was, but I guess I sit with my hand up against my neck a lot and just the way I bend my hand and the way the watch sits makes that little button press up against my hand. It's strange looking.
And not only was my cell phone useless but I've been without internet for about a week. Now I really wouldn't have minded except that email/Facebook had become my only source of communication and a lot of my classes were trying to be paperless so almost all my syllabus's and homework assignments were online. I was able to survive and as you can see I have my internet back, but it was stressful.
So, there it is. My electronic stories for the month. Hopefully I won't have any more issues for at least a little while.
Here is the request part of my post. I don't like the title of my blog. This is probably the third time I will be changing it, and actually I would have changed it already except for one small problem. I have no idea what to change it to. I don't want something cheesy or along the lines of "My Blog" and unfortunately I haven't been able to come up with anything good yet. If you have any ideas just make a comment on this post and if I find one I like I'll use it. Thanks!

Monday, January 2, 2012

The end of slacking

Alright, I'm back. Finals and Christmas and New Years have kept me away. I'm sorry if this is shocking to you, but I enjoy spending time with my family more than updating my blog.
My Christmas break was a blast, even though there was never any snow. I spent time with my friends, wrestled with my brothers and sisters and even went for a run. It was my first one in too long. And I got to go ice skating! I miss ice skating. Overall it was a very fun break.
I went and saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie with some of my friends. I love the way the director messed with the special effects and worked with slow motion. It's probably my favorite part about those movies. It was a fun ending too. I would say, but I don't want to ruin it for anyone.
I also did a lot of reading. So much that I actually can't really remember what I read except for Mark of Royalty by Jennifer K. Clark and Stephonie K. Williams. It was a cute, quick read. My sister got the book for Christmas and I ahem... borrowed it for a couple days. Don't worry, I put it back as soon as I was done.
This next semester should be really fun. I have some fun classes that I've been looking forward to for months! Wish me luck with the new semester and have a good 2012!