Garfield 9.18.09

Cue crazy laugh

You know those days when you just have to give up and accept that it's going to be pointless and miserable and just hope you can get through it with limited damage? I had one of those. I'm sore from yesterday, and I just keep making a fool of myself. I mean, more than normal, that is. :)
As just a small part of this fantastic day, I went to Macey's to get a movie from Red Box and perhaps pick up some bread. But the movie wasn't there and I ended up getting a whole bunch of heavy stuff that wouldn't fit in my backpack because I already had it filled with books, dance shoes, and Mel's computer. On the way back the wind was blowing just short of 1,500mph in my face. I had to get off my bike and walk it because, with all my extra baggage and trying to ride uphill into that wind- well. I was too sore from yesterday and it just wasn't worth it.
I'm pretty sure I looked like a complete goof. But that's alright. Because it's getting later and soon it will be tomorrow and I can focus on doing homework and getting Mel's computer fixed and move past this 'epic fail' of a day.
*Mwahahahahah! ~Crazy laugh* -because it somehow makes things better. And sometimes it's the only option.

Things...

So, I feel I need to jot down a few things so I don't forget.

1. Tanya and my efforts in transporting my bike via her car to Wyview was... quite the experience. We first tried the trunk. Silly idea. Then we tried shoving it into the backseat handles first. Again, silly idea. We had to move around to the other side of the car so it was 'downhill' and finally got the bike in. But it was too long. So we stuck one handle out the rolled-down-window, didn't quite get the other door to latch properly and shoved the driver seat so far forward that... well. To save dignity, I will end there. In any case. I laughed quite hard about how ridiculous it must have looked. My hands were black, Tanya had grease marks on her face, and the top-inside of the car was marked up from the handles.
2. I rode to school this morning. In 40° -something weather, with a plastic sack over my ripped-up, water-logged bike seat, and while it was hailing (sort of). Note to self -and anyone wise enough to learn from my experiences- DON'T DO THAT! Bad for you!
3. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to take Astronomy, first half D&C, Dance 380, and Weight Lifting. But who knows, honestly. I'm hoping to get a job Ushering in the HFAC (I turned in an application yesterday), but I'm thinking that might not happen.
4. I'm mostly unpacked. Yup, already. In 2 days. A record for me.
5. My friends Yuri, Grant, and Ben (probably others as well) made Spring team. I almost tried out, but I didn't want to have to get up so early every day. I'm beginning to regret not giving it a go though, it would have been fun. Oh wells.

I think that's all for now...

Pudding pie, sunburns, & ice cubes

Wow. I don't think I've laughed that hard in... well, quite a long time. Months, definitely. Ben literally was crying, he was laughing so hard. I couldn't stand up.
"Why did you... squeal?"
"Well, I think one of them said 'ow!'"
Oooh, boy. Still chuckling.
She came out of the bathroom and gave us a 'look.' Said, she really did need to go to sleep, so... And I was still laughing. I almost just told her- then go to bed already, you're not getting any closer standing out here in the hall.
It was only 10pm, honestly. :p

If at first...

If at first you don't succeed...

... skydiving is not for you.
... read the instructions.
... it might be because General Custer is your great uncle.
...Failure could be your style.

Hmm... That last one certainly seems like me, with this Greek class. Perhaps I should just accept it?

Strange Dreams

I usually never remember my dreams. Sometimes I wake up with a few images or something, but they usually fade. Last night I had some pretty interesting, lasting dreams that I thought I would share. They actually have to do with a few things in my life, so I'll gives a short preface (if I can manage to keep it short).

Yesterday, during one of my short breaks from studying, I watched a couple Britain's Got Talent performances. I saw someone sing, a couple of kids dance, and a dog perform.
Also, yesterday, I was worrying a lot about having time to study and take all my finals, and still be able to pick up my sister (Donalee) from the airport and take her to the MTC. I thought the testing center closed at 5pm on Wednesday (my lovely roommate informed me this morning that it doesn't, fortunately) and I wouldn't have had time to pick her up and take that final.

So, on to my dreams. I had two. The first was that I was on Britain's Got Talent (even though I'm American, I know). But instead of several rounds (semi, finals, etc.) We had to perform three different things in a row, and I couldn't just sing three times. I hadn't known this ahead of time so, panicking backstage right before I went on, I decided to sing an opera piece, then dance the polka in a Tango outfit with my 7 foot tall turtle. Yeah. lol It was crazy. They showed this whole clip of me with my turtle and how I raised it from a little egg and etc. Then I went onstage to perform and some director dude rushed after me and started fixing my dress and telling someone to 'fix up her nose.' What was wrong with me nose? I think I sort of woke up after that or something, because I don't remember how I did, or what my third act would have been.

My second dream, has to do with seeing Donalee and finals and all. I dreamed that I was with Donalee, but we were somewhere... else, where she was living, by the ocean. And I was visiting her because she was going to be leaving. So we were hanging out, taking boats out on the water looking at starfish mounds (I don't those actually exist, tho) and she was super excited to go see this aquarium, but it was like a 5 hour drive, and I told her that I couldn't because I had a final scheduled at 2:30 and it was already 11 and, really, I should probably do some studying. lol Basically, I was just all stressed in my dream that I wouldn't get to spend time with her and do my finals. Ridiculous how obsessed I am with things...

D&C Readings

Elder Orson F. Whitney said in reference to section 122:

"It is for our development, our purification, our growth, our education and advancement, that we buffet the fierce waves of sorrow and misfortune; and we shall be all the stronger and better when we have swum the flood and stand upon the farther shore.”

Sunday Thoughts

Today it was really nice out, so Emily and I walked over to Kiwana's park and layed about on the grass for a bit. Walking back, I was smelling a couple flowers I picked, listening to When the Love Falls by Yiruma, and loving the beautiful day. But then a stupid, loud, smelly truck drove by and I just thought- "Now why did people have to go and ruin this awesome world by making those nasty things?"
I'm not an environmentalist, and I like air conditioning and dishwashers and motorcycles same as the next person. But they're loud and rather annoying, actually. And you know, for a while, all technology really made me miffed.

Later, I was in the kitchen trying to find something to eat. I finally decided to open a can of something, but most things I had were just sides, (beets, tomato juice, etc.). I found the can of freshwater shrimp that dad left for me when my family came to visit last month. It's funny, because, I remember him holding them out to me and saying "These are really good."
And apparently I wasn't paying attention, because I thought they were tuna. I said "Oh, I know. And I just got some baby dill pickles- which is perfect, because they're way good together."
He gave me an odd look. "Pickles?"
"Yeah, nothing better. SO good. I can't wait. Thanks Pops."
And he just half grinned like he thought I was super weird but he'd go along with me. I love him for that. I feel so silly now. Pickles and shrimp? Eh!

Encore!

The Ballroom Dance Company's 50th Anniversary Performance was amazing! There were a few that I've seen before, but they were still good. My favorites were Kaboom (Cha Cha), which had Toffer and Whitney, Caleb and Amy, and Tia and Katie.
I also really like Micgalaxy- the glow in the dark alien dance thing by the Tour Team. It was just super entertaining.
And the back-up tour team did a Samba to a song called Lollipop. That was a ton of fun. My favorite part was when... I'm not even sure how to describe it. They guys were on the floor in push-up position, and the end guy rolled underneath all of them in a row as they 'popped' themselves up in time to the music. It just looked really sweet.
I also enjoyed Sean Moe's 10:00 team. They did a foxtrot to "Mahna Mahna." It was cute and unique. I love Sean. Miss him teaching...
Anyhow. That's my rant about the performance.
It was quite good.

My Manifesto

We had to write a personal manifesto for my History of Civ through Theater class. Here is mine. Still dunno how I feel about it...

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive, who is youer than you.” ~Dr. Seuss

My Life is My own

*- “Men are that they might have joy.” ~2 Nephi 2:25

• “While in the pursuit of happiness, one should stop and just be happy.”
• "Most of us are about as happy as we make our minds up to be." ~Abraham Lincoln
• “Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.”
• "It was when I was happiest that I longed most...The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing...to find the place where all the beauty came from." ~C. S. Lewis
• “When things go wrong, you can either laugh or cry. I choose to laugh, because crying gives me a headache.” ~Marjorie Hinckley
• “Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.” ~L. Frank Baum
• “Don’t take life too seriously. No one gets out alive anyway.”
• “Go on, enjoy yourself, call the life you live today your own… get rid of this too-much grief… for those solemn people and those people who scowl, life is not really life, but catastrophe.”
• ~Euripides
• "The best way to cheer yourself up: cheer everybody else up." ~ Mark Twain
• “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” ~C. S. Lewis

*- “But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.” ~Jacob 2:18

• “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.” ~Albert Schweitzer
• “If you are rich, and you die, you still die.”
• “Spend your life on something that will outlast it.” ~ William James
• “The best things in life aren’t things.”
• “Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.” ~ Dr. Wayne Dyer
• “There are two ways to be rich; make more or desire less.”
• "Try not to be a person of success, but rather a person of virtue." ~Albert Einstein
• "But if I feel like just a teardrop in the rain when I meant to be a river- God sees the ocean in me.” ~Cherie Call

*- “All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good... therefore, hold on thy way.” ~ D&C 122:7,9

• "Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions, but those who kindly reprove thy faults." ~Socrates
• “Don’t say ‘why me?’ say ‘try me!’”
• “You don't have to move the sky, but you can chase the clouds away. You don't have to change the world, but you might do it anyway.” ~Cherie Call
• “Always expect the worst, then when good things happen you’ll be pleasantly surprised.” ~Marjorie Pay Hinckley
• “You fell? Well, get up.”
• "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." ~Lao-Tzu
• “This day we sailed on.” ~Christopher Columbus
• “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail better.” ~Samuel Beckett
• “When life hands you lemons- smile. How often do you get free stuff?”
• "Whether you think that you can or that you can't, you are usually right." ~Henry Ford
• “Our problems are opportunities to discover God’s solutions.”

Stick to your task till it sticks to you.
Beginners are many, but enders are few.
Honor, power, place and praise
Will always come to the one who stays.
Stick to your task till it sticks to you;
Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too—
For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile
Will come life’s victories after awhile

The Rose

It is only a tiny rosebud,
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.

The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so sweetly,
When in my hands they fade and die.

If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God's design,
Then how can I think I have wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?

So I'll trust in Him for His leading
Each moment of every day.
I will look to him for His guidance
Each step of the pilgrim way.

The pathway that lies before me,
Only my Heavenly Father knows.
I'll trust Him to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose.

Grecian Urn