Wednesday, December 29, 2004

The next Sister Heyborne?

SURVEY SURVEY SURVEY!!!!!!!

This is the great question...who should marry up-and-coming LDS star, Kirby heyborne? Liz or Rebekah?

Let's review the facts:

1. Kirby is mid-20's age. I am 19. Beckah is 16.

2. I am single. Beckah is not.

3. I live closer to Utah.

4. Beckah offered to let me settle for having an affair with him, but that's immoral.

5. I claimed him first.

6. I have my Young Women's medallion.

7. We could have children named Kirbisabeth, which is way fun to say.

Okey, dokey. It seems that the indicators obviously point toward Liz being the best candidate as Sister Heyborne. But Beckah insists. So what do you think? Now is your chance to have great influence. Make a comment on this post to respond to this little survey cajodie.

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Happy Christmas, everyone!

I have made a marvelous discovery! I almost didn't make it in time. You see, I usually take a little longer to get into the Christmas spirit every year. If you start too early, by the time Christmas actually comes around, you're sick of it. This Christmas, I didn't get into it until about 8:30 last night. And all it took was a little good old-fashioned SERVICE. I felt ridiculous, not to mention awful, to have not done some of that before. It was like one of those lightning bolt moments, you know? One of those times when you're in the middle of doing something good, and all of a sudden this little voice pops into your head and says, "Hello? Duh! Isn't this what it's all about anyway?!" It was fabulous. I feel refreshed.
This Christmas was wonderful! The traditional Wolff family Christmas was the usual memorable affair, with singing and presents and food and people arguing about politics in vehement German. It was great to spend some time with my Oma and Opa...after the visit, I asked Dad whether I'm just getting older and noticing it or whether Oma and Opa are getting funnier. He said he thinks they're getting funnier. They just have so much personality, and they're so funny, and the best part is they don't even know it! Observe the following conversation I was privy to during a visit. All this is said with endearing heavy German accents.
Opa: Is the heater off again?
Oma: Ja, I turned it off.
Opa: Why?
Oma: Because it's been on all morning and we don't need it.
Opa: It's 64 degrees in here!
Oma: Hans, I know. That's why you go outside and sit in the sun.
Opa: But it's cold!
Oma: I know. Hans, go sit in the chair outside and read your paper.
Opa: (as he goes outside to read his paper in the chair in the sun) So cold...why don't we use the heat?
They are just the funnest, most wonderful people. They pretend to argue like that at least 15 times a day, but they're still so much in love with eachother, after almost 50 years! There's just something about that that makes you feel kinda warm and tingly inside, you know?
After the visit in California, Beckah and I flew back to Boise and then drove to cozy little La Grande. What's Christmas without family, so we decided to invite the whole Gardner side to our place! Aunt Stacey and Uncle Chris came with their kids and stayed for a few days, and Bill and Sherry came with their crew just for the day today. Our expected 23 guests were cut down to 17 or so, and I don't know what happened. The men discussed it, and besides, those are details that just don't seem to be discussed around here. We went caroling and spent hours baking and doing dishes and laughing and singing and sneaking into the garage to snitch the homemade candy that's setting out there. Of course, I see no harm in this, as we cooked for a lot more people than actually came. The 25-pound turkey is going to take us a little longer to consume, though...
I think the greatest thing about this Christmas has been realizing what a great family I have. I always knew they were pretty spectacular, but they're also fun and smart and egocentric and altogether endearing. I always used to be a little scared of Chris and Stacey...Big, tall, wide Uncle Chris with the bushy red beard and eyebrows, with his jeans and flannel shirts, and Aunt Stacey with her beautiful nails and blonde hair and whacky jewelry. I've come to know that Uncle Chris is just a big teddy bear and that Aunt Stacey is oodles of fun packed into 5 feet and 5 inches with the greatest laugh and a wonderful spiritual side. Uncle Chris and I had a nice talk...he reminiscing about BYU-Idaho and me telling him which things were the same and which were different. He told me how he and Stacey got married when they were young and the next day started school at Rick's. I said I couldn't understand how people could do that and that I don't want to get married in the middle of school. Chris replied "Well, you get married anytime you want to, sweetie pie," and then told me that marriage is a wonderful thing. He also said something that I'll never forget...he said "Well, you know, life is just such an adventure and I didn't want to do it alone." Yeah. That's what it's all about.
What else can I say? I love Christmas! This year was just about as close to perfect as I can imagine Christmas to be. There were deeply spiritual moments, hilarious moments, tender moments, and moments when all I could do was just look around and think "This is what it's all about. This is why I'm here. This is an eternal family. How blessed can you get? How on earth did I land such a wonderful family?" I'm so excited to be married and have a family of my own and carry on these traditions and start some new ones! I'm so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a member of this family!

Friday, December 24, 2004

Ah, how I have missed the Macintosh!

Ladies and gentleman, after much debate, I have decided on a name for my website! And the winner is...****drumroll**** Alexis with "www.tyrannosaurusvex.com"! (Sorry, Ma, "Jurassic Fart" runs a really close second.) I am really excited about the webpage...I stayed up until the wee small hours of the morning working on it. It still has a few glitches, and it's not the prettiest page in the world. But hey, dang good for a first try and it still serves it's purpose well. Bravo! Hey, um, I don't remember any of the other things I was a-going to blog about and I'm kind of hungry, so this will have to do for now. Remember, men don't jump over moons, cows do. Love to all of you!

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

I'm justa bloggin fool!

Holiday greetings, all! I've spent the last couple of days here in the San Fransisco bay area, visiting me mum and her side of the family. Beckah and I got to fly here from Boise all by our grown-up selves, which trip was filled with adventures of all shapes and sizes. The most memorable things from the flight were the ugliest dog we have ever seen being stuffed (like, literally, stuffed) into a carry-on bag and a really funny guy who kinda looked like Albert from the Strokes, and he was so happily excited about the littlest things. ("They weren't taking a flight, they just went to the airport to have a picnic!!!!! And to watch the airplanes! Isn't that great???!!!!!!!") Other announcements, I've got good news and bad news. Bad news first...for all you Medford-and-surrounding-area-ites, I don't know if I'll be able to make it out there to visit this Christmas! I want to cry! I'm still trying to find a way, but I just don't know if it will happen, and if it does, I don't how. Wah. Meh. Gah.

Good news! Actually, I don't know if it's exactly good news, but just a fun announcement, and I'm really excited about it, so I share it with you all now. By the end of this Christmas vacation, I will have my web-page posted and running! There will be a link on there to this blog, so I plan on keeping it up. Other features will include:



Quote-page

Pictures

Movies

Fun links



and lots more! I will post and e-mail everyone the address as soon as I've decided it. I don't know, Ma, I'm starting to have my qualms about "www.jurassicfart.com"...well, it's still really funny. OKAY! Here's the deal! Mission for all of you!



What do you think of the name

www.jurassicfart.com ?

Approve? Disapprove? Do you have any other funny ideas? I'm trying to stick with the dinosaur theme. Post a comment and let me know!



Tootles all!

Monday, December 13, 2004

Think about it, won't you?

This blog is devoted to several ponderable questions. All are simple things that I'm surprised have taken me this long to think about. I haven't found the answers yet, so if you do, make a comment and let me know.



#1) Do twins share a placenta while in the womb? Or do they get separate ones?

#2) Can fish get rigamortis?

#3) Is Hugh Jackman's wife the actress who plays David's mother in Disney's "Newsies"?

#4) Was the voice of Ursula in Disney's "The Little Mermaid" done by a man?

#5) What's the point of a bee having a stinger if they die after stinging you anyhow?

#6) Why has America for centuries thought of tomatoes as vegetables even though everyone knows they're fruits? Why is they fact that they're fruits weird to us?



Ponder these 6 questions, research them, examine them, and then let me know, only because I think it will be more fun for you to do than for me to do. Plus it's finals week.

Sunday, December 12, 2004

"U.S.S.R.--Unfortunately Some Shouldn't Replenish"

I have come to the conclusion that I am addicted to the theatre. It's been 3 days --count 'em-- one two three days since my performance of "Once On This Island" and I can already feel myself getting those crazy post-production blues again. It's like, when I'm not in a show or doing something theatrical, it seems as if there's this part of my life that's all, like, void of meaning and stuff. In high school and C.P.T.A. it was different because as soon as a show was over I knew there was going to be another one in a couple of weeks and I knew I was going to be in it. (That sounds disgustingly prideful, but in high school, you just work your way up there as a senior and C.P.T.A. was so small that at times the whole troupe auditioned and we were still short the cast members needed.) I guess I'm feeling it a lot now because I know the next show won't be for another month, and I have NO idea whether or not I'll even be involved in it at all. That's one downside to being a freshman at BYU-Idaho, where there are lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of talented people. On the other hand, we have different fingers. There's also this point: At a school like this one, there's always something theatrical going on. Scenework, theatre council, improv, etc. etc.

Speaking of which, I'm having a huge dilemma. As soon as I saw the first "Comic Frenzy" show of the year, I thought to myself "That's gonna be you up there some day. That's your goal. By the time you graduate, you will have been in BYU-Idaho's improv team, the one and only 'Comic Frenzy.' " As I get to know these improv kids, however, and as I watch the shows and see them work, I can't figure out if I'm any less intimidated. They hold auditions at the beginning of every semester for new members, and I auditioned in September, but obviously wasn't one of the 2 people to get in. The problem is this. I want to audition for the sake of auditioning and to make sure to get myself out there and be seen and everything, but I'm afraid I'll get in! The idea of actually being in "Comic Frenzy" scares me more than the auditions do. Maybe it's a committment thing and I'm afraid I'll get too stressed and busy, or maybe it's the fear that no one else will get my sense of humor, because apparently it's really bizarre and there are few people in the world who seem to laugh at the same things I do. I plan on auditioning on this condition...that Jen, Lex, and Jenny come to every single show and laugh loud and hard, because they share my humor.

There is one thing and one thing only I would like to say. (Oscar-winning moment, Liz!) Theatre is simply an irremovable part of me. (start underlying dramatic music here) It is what makes up the core of my very being...it courses through my veins like an irreplaceable life-force...I could no more remove theatre from who I am than I could remove a limb from my very body...without theatre I am incomplete...theatre fulfills me, makes me whole as a healing elixir resores meaning, life, and energy. It is the blood in my veins, the marrow in my bones, the saliva in my mouth, the earwax in my ears. The voids in my life and the pages of my day-planner are filled with the agonies and ecstacies of the stage. TAKE AWAY THEATRE AND TAKE AWAY LIFE! IT IS IN ME...FILLING EVERY PARTICLE OF MY BODY AND SOUL! I AM THEATAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Where's my cape?)



I'd like to thank Brant for the closing line of my monologue, JD for the seeminly unfitting title of this blog, and no one for the underlying dramatic music, because Jeff wasn't here and because it doesn't really exist on the written page anyway.



Disclaimer: I like theatre a lot. Actually I love it. And I would be very unhappy without it in my life. But just to keep myself from getting struck by lightning ("thou shalt have no other gods before me"), it's a little farther down the list of priorities than all that. The Gospel, the Atonement, my family, my friends, and the words of the prophets come a little bit before theatre on the list.

Friday, December 10, 2004

Good thing it ricocheted...

Good morning, life! It's great to feel like I'm back in reality again. Last night was like an episode of the Twilight Zone. It all started with Jen's indigestion, but it's far too complicated to re-hash the entire story, so if you were there, you know what I'm talking about, and if not, you'll just have to get the story from me later. I don't feel like telling it AGAIN.

My date was fun. We went to Roy's house and had dinner with the other couples, then played scripture pictionary, and Roy taught me q-basic computer programming. It didn't even strike me how nerdy that was until about half-way through the date when I thought. "Hey, I'm on a date and the guy's telling me about computer programming. And I'm actually interested! I'm a big nerd." But it was cool. Nothing phenomenal happened, really. (Except that walking home, I swear to you, I saw Albert from the Strokes! I don't know what he'd be doing on BYU-Idaho campus, but I'm actually seriously entertaining the possibility that it was really him. That's how much this guy looked like him.) But it was fun.

Our apartment did make a new friend last night. Our good buddy, "Couch-Jason" brought a friend over named Piper, and he's really cool. He's got a fabulous sense of humor and is quite Scottish. Between him and Jason, I'm always laughing, but I never really know why...they confuse me a lot and half the time I never know what the heck they're talking about, but it sure is funny. (I'd like to make a quick comment here...until recent years, I've always worked hard to suppress my laugh. But I've decided to give up and when something strikes a funny chord with me, I just let loose with the loudest, most obnoxious laugh in the world. Someone once told me that my laugh reminds them of the horrible annoying lady on "Return to Me" that Bob gets set up with.) Anyway, after a fun-filled evening, we decided to adopt Piper as our own to join Jason. (We're slowly gathering young men into the iron clutches of our dorm...mwa ha ha ha ha !!!!!!!!!!) "And he shall be our Piper."

Another announcement...at last, we are approaching the end of the semester! Actually, I shouldn't say "at last"...it feels a lot more like "already?!" Today will be dedicated to cleaning the dorm top to bottom for the notorious white-glove clean-checks tomorrow morning. ("You'll stay up - till this dump - shines like the top of the Chrysler building!") I went to bed last night with the firm resolution to get up today full of energy and motivation to clean. And this morning, I got up at around 10:30 and I'm not sure what I've been doing all day, because it's 1:00 now and all I've done to clean is fold my pajamas. After I'm done blogging, I suppose I better start cleaning.

Next week is finals week, and will be jam-packed with studying, final projects and papers, tests, packing, making travel arrangements, helping Jen and Aleisha and Kara move, trying to use up our meal plans, and sitting around saying "What the heck! I can't believe it's already Christmas break! What am I going to do without you guys for 2 and 1/2 weeks?" Thank goodness for msn messenger! Wouldn't you agree, Beck? ;)

One last subject and then I've got to burgle and be betty for at least an hour or two. A strange phenomenon has occured since coming up to BYU-Idaho for me. I must be a horrible person, or at least have some complex need for something less than noble. Since coming to BYU-Idaho, I have developed a habit of swearing. I only say the d-word and the h-word and occasionally the a-word, (see, I'm trying to break the habit) but still. Of all places in the world to pick up that habit! Although I know a lot of guys here who picked up a habit of swearing on their missions, which is just as weird if not weirder. I still get irked at the other foul words. And when I swear, it's not part of my normal everyday lexicon. It's only in certain circumstances. When the bell tower goes off, if I get mad at cast or crew I'm working with, or if a night like last night happens and the only thing I can think of the express my confusion and disorientation is "Jen, what in h**l is going on right now?!" I apologize to those who may think less of me with this startling revelation about my character. Believe me, I don't think it's the noblest of characteristics. But here's the worst part...to be completely honest, there's a side of me that finds it really funny. And that side of me is kind of bigger than the side of me that thinks it's awful. I feel guilty, but not about swearing. I feel guilty because swearing itself doesn't make me feel too guilty.

Anyhoo, that's the update on the life of Liz. Ta ta for the present, and remember that men don't jump over moons, but cows do.



PS: Hoorah! For today is Friday, which means FOOD CLUB TONIGHT! This entails eating food, acting like hoodlums (which means flipping our collars up and lighting matches on our hips), and talking about all the cool people we know! We invited Piper and Jason to join our Food Club, but Jason's got himself a little lady-friend now, so I wonder if we're going to see him as often as we did before. Sadness. But there's always food!

PPS: In the title of this blog...is that how you spell "ricocheted"? As in to bounce off of something?



Thursday, December 9, 2004

That poor member of the bishopric

At last, a source of internet-ness! (Thanks, Jen.)

I have an amusing little rigmarole to divert you all today. Here is yet another "recouping" story...

So, last night, I was in the Snow building, preparing to go caroling when I ran into my good friend Ben. We spent a pleasant 1/2 hour or so discussing many a thing, one of which was the musical "Oklahoma!" Since we have both been in the show, we were swapping analizations and stories of our experiences. I decided to tell him about one night when the actor playing Jud did something really scary. The whole problem was that I was standing in a doorway.

For those of you who know me you know that for me, telling a story is actually, like, story-telling. It involves voices and demonstrations and my whole body. So, Ben was standing in the room, and from the doorway, I was telling him how one night, in the scene where Jud and Curly have the knife fight, Andrew (who played Jud) decided to freak me and my friend out. Right before going to stab Curly, he did this creepy look right at us, with his hair all falling into his eyes and this demonic grin, and the knife glinting in the lights, and then he turned and went to STAB Curly! So, while I'm telling this, I turned away from Ben to demonstrate, but what I did not predict was that a very dignified, well-dressed member of the Bishopric would be walking into the doorway right at the moment when I turned to demonstrate the stab. So what happened is that I hit him square in the chest. This poor man just had a completely strange girl who he's never met before turn and pretend to stab him! With all the drama she could muster. There's not a whole lot you can do when you hit a strange man in the chest in a fake-stab. RECOUP! RECOUP!

And as a completely unrelated post-script, I got a date tomorrow night! I haven't been on a date since dinner with a 29-year-old insurance salesman in August. (He's a great guy, I knew him from Singles Ward, and we talked politics the whole night.) A fun kid named Roy from my most recent show asked me if I'd like to go on a group date with him and his brother and sister tomorrow night. I don't know what we're doing, but I'm excited...it'll be fun! (Note to Beckah...Roy reminds me of Shawn Freshar, shy and yet whacky and an all-around good guy. He even kinda looks like him.) Hoorah!

Tuesday, December 7, 2004

A band called what?

Hizzah and hoorah for ska bands. And fie on stinky opening bands that play bad songs.

So, as you may know, I WENT TO THE AQUABATS CONCERT THIS WEEKEND! And it was FANTASTIC. Here's the story. So, Saturday at about 1:00pm we headed down to Salt Lake City, we being Ben, Jenny, Jen and myself. A quick stop to pick up Lex in Pocatello (there because her sister's baby decided he wanted out 3 weeks early and was born...congrats, Shallys), and then onward to the capitol of good ole Utah for a little ska band goodness. (By the way, we listened to a lot of fun Christmas music on the drive, including the album "Barenaked for the Holidays" by the Barenaked Ladies, which I highly recommend.) (Uh...I recommend the album and the band...not necessarily actual nude women...) Anyway, the point is this...the weekend was fun. We got to the club at about 5pm, and the concert didn't start until 7pm, so we got some food and explored this cool outside mall thing. We returned to the club and stood in line for far too long in the cold, and nothing exciting happened except for Ben met some guy who recognized him and he recognized the kid right back, but neither of them could figure out where they recognized eachother from. The guy incidentally also forgot to mention his name, so we will probably never know who he was or how Ben knew him. Oh, and I made up a story about a magical lamp-post, too.

So, we finally got in at 7:30 or so and listened to the first opening band, which was AWESOME, and we really liked them. Too bad nobody knew their name. (Vista Five, or something like that, maybe...?) Then the second opening band performed and they were HORRENDOUSLY, HORRIBLY, DISGUSTINGLY, MAKE-YOU-FEEL-KINDA-PHYSICALLY-ILL, PLUG-YOUR-EARS AWFUL!!!! And here's the weird thing. Every time we tell people this, and then tell them who it was, they exclaim "What?! Vendetta Red was there!? They're awesome!" To which we have no choice but to reply "Well, they suck, live." The main singer was nothing but hair and a tight black muscle shirt who would have had a gorgeous voice if he actually sang the whole time instead of screaming his head off. (Kinda like Aerosmith, you know?) Part of the suckiness might have had to do with just really bad balance and not a good set-up when it comes to the sound system, but that's also no excuse to sing evil songs. Defintely heard the f-bomb more than enough times from this happy little band. And you could tell they were only saying it because they were in Salt Lake and KNEW it would upset people. Luckily, most of the crowd agreed with us in disliking them. I got the feeling that they were embittered ex-Mormons. (The band, not the crowd.) Talented musicians, but definitely not the kind I can agree with on many many things. Music being one of them.

But the Aquabats, on the other hand. Wow, the Aquabats. Whew, lemme tell you something, sonny boy. The Aquabats are quite possibly one of the coolest bands on the face of the earth. Oh, wait...lemme think about that for a minute. Actually, they're DEFINITELY one the coolest bands on the face of the earth. And I like them a lot. Their show is so much fun! The second half was even more fun, because we decided to escape the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd and go to the edges where we could dance and jump around and stuff. We found a perfect spot where we had plenty of room and could still see perfectly well. They played some all-time greats, including "Martian Girl," "The Cat With Two Heads," "Pool Party," and "Pizza Day." They also played a few new ones from their NEW ALBUM, coming out next year, namely a little song called "Melt-down" and another one I didn't recognize called "Throw Away the Trash." A+ and much approval. Hizzah.

We also managed to bring them out again for an encore, for which they played "The Robot Theme Song" and yes, my friends, how could they have left it out before? They played "Super-rad." As the Bat Commander said at the end of the night (by the way, that guy is insane and awesome and really essentially is the whackiness of the Aquabats personified), it was an awesome show. We sang about those wonderful people, the "Lovers of Loving Love," we taught Security Personnel about web-sites, and we helped make the world a better place by throwing away trash and cutting down trees. The show ended with the Bat Commander performing several backflips and the rest of the Aquabats, in a last, noble effort to throw away the trash and rid the world of evil...wait, actually, I think they were just following impulses and that making a sculpture out of instruments and elements of the sound system in a trash can was totally unplanned. But that's what they did. And it was fun.

To those who are familiar with the Aquabats, I have these things to say to you:

Good thing--The songs are ACTUALLY FASTER live than they are on their albums, if you can fathom that.

Good thing--My roomates and I all made shirts for the concert that said the following 4 things (there were 4 of us so it worked out well)...Lex's said "I am the baker" and Jen's said "I bake the cake" and mine said "You're the decorator" and Jenny's said "And you decorate." It brought us great joy to make and wear them.

Sad thing--The Aquabats are shrinking in number! The only ones at the concert were Ricky, Crash McLarson, Chainsaw, Dr. Rock, and the Bat Commander. What happened to Cat-boy and Prince Adam!? We were much grieved by their absence.

Good thing--Really cool new T-shirt available, combining the Aquabats and the Incredibles. See if you can check it out on the webiste. Can shirts get any better than that? I submit that they cannot!

To those of you who are not familiar with the Aquabats, I would say this:

You should be. Then again, they're a bit of a "cult band," if you will, partly because there is only a small portion of the human population that really dig ska music. And partly because...actually that's the whole reason. But if whackiness, fighting evil-doers and singing songs for the kids sounds like your cup of tea, check 'em out! (www.theaquabats.com)



PS: Apparently, Addison's real name is Zack. Strange? Yes. I think I like the name Addison better.

Saturday, December 4, 2004

I am the baker

Going to Salt lake for the Aquabats concert within the hour. I'm stoked. Really stoked. Overwhelmingly excited. Really really really overwhelmingly excited and stoked. I don't know what to do with myself. That's all I can say.

Thursday, December 2, 2004

Meeting Addison

All right, folks. The most bizarre thing just transpired in our dorm. It was seriously one of the weirdest things that has ever happened to us, and I would give anything to re-live it. Wow. Here's the story.

So, Jen, Jenny and I were sitting in our living room, surfing the web and discussing the fundamental differences between Canada and the United States, when we noticed a strange male face looking into our window. We all looked at eachother like "Do you know this guy? No, do you?" None of us had any idea who he was, but he was standing in front of our dorm, looking in the window just the same. So we gestured for him to come in. He opened the door and stood there looking at us. We all looked back. After a lengthy pause, Jen said "Who are you?" The guy stepped into the room, closed the door behind him and looked into the mirror on our wall. In complete silence, he proceeded to remove his hat and spent a minute fixing his hair. Then he turned around and sat in one of our armchairs. Us girls were all kind of laughing a little. Finally, I looked at him and said "You never answered our question." He just looked at us. "Who are you?" I added.

"Addison."

Long pause.

"Oh," I said. "I'm Liz." Jen and Jenny introduced themselves, and Alexis was summoned from the back room and introduced. So, after introductions were complete, we all just sat there. Silently.

After another moment, Addison stood up and said "Well, it was nice meeting you guys." Then he stood up and left.

We all sat there and looked at eachother for a minute, then burst out laughing. I don't think I can accurately describe the event to do justice to it's weirdness. But it was one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me. I'm still not completely sure what happened, exactly, but it was still the highlight of my night.

Wednesday, December 1, 2004

Breaking convention

The roomate who accompanied me on my Thanksgiving excursion pointed out that I failed to mention a lot of other fun things that occured. I would like to dedicate this blog to them. Please note the following great treasures of memory:



Indian (as in Asia) dancing around our kitchen to Rufus Wainwright...

Peeling and cutting apples for apple crisp (which I didn't even get to eat any of) for 2 hours...

Air hockey tournaments so intense that half of the time the puck was flying across the room instead of across the table...

Hiding pumpkin pie and whipped cream in obscure places to save for a midnight snack later, even though we forgot about it and slept anyway....

Doing dishes (I mentioned that in my other blog, but we did it a lot. And it was always me and Lex, which made it really interesting because neither of us really knew how the dishwasher worked or when any of the dishes went once they were clean...)

Spending one rainy afternoon with Dad, Lex, and Beckah, driving all the way to Union just for the heck of it and being scared out of our minds by a creepy, 2-story tall rabbit-sloth looking thing that we saw in a window in downtown Union...



I think my fondest memory of all is of the day we went on a picnic and explored the La Grande cemetary. (Morbid? Not at all. But you know it's a small town when the dead people are more entertaining.) There were two especially great moments that I would like to share. One was when Alexis was reading a tombstone that said "President of the F.E.C.U." But she was reading it completely phonetically and said out loud (in a graveyard) "What? President of the fek-yu club?" The other also involved Alexis being irreverant, when she spotted a tombstone bearing the name "Divers." Only Alexis would think to dance around next to it and yell "Look, guys, I'm in divers places!"

Why is it that the people I hang out with don't know when to be reverant? :) Not that I wasn't laughing at any of this...



Monday, November 29, 2004

An eclectic entry

Hello everyone! I am now safely and contentedly back in Rexburg. By the way, as soon as I was home (meaning La Grande), I didn't miss the dorms at all. I missed BYU-Idaho life and friends here, but not the dorms. My visit to see the family was fantastic, and it was re-enforced to me how cool they are. And what a good cook my step-mom is. The new house is ENORMOUS...it was really weird. My family is totally loaded all of a sudden. The town of La Grande is a cozy lil place, and rather small. Somehow, it looks nothing like how I remember it from when my Mom and I drove through and explored it in August. There's not a whole lot to do around there, but since Rexburg is the same way, it wasn't a problem and we easily found ways to amuse ourselves. Our amusements and entertainments consisted of the following relaxing and satisfyingly un-productive things:



Going on a picnic

Visiting a lake

Exploring a graveyard

Walking the dog

Having a rock-throwing contest

Doing the dishes

Watching movies

Driving to Union and back

Visiting a kid named "Reggae" at work (Subway)

Listening to music

Playing air-hockey

Climbing stairs

Being cold

Eating leftover Thanksgiving



I lied. Doing dishes is definitely productive. But that was the trip. My roomate Alexis came along and that was fun, also. She fit right in with the Whittakers.

As I am sitting here blogging away, I'm listening to a lovely little rock band called "The Strokes." Because they are right up there with chocolate and theatre on my list of things I love, I would like to devote a paragraph or two to pay tribute to the "fab"-ulous band. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the group, let me introduce you. They are definitely the drug-addict, raucous rebel rock music type, but there's an inexplicable appeal in that to me somehow. Julian is the typical, messy-haired lead singer singing the story of teenage angst. He's got a voice that can croon the verses and grind the choruses. He's also probably high (as in drugs, not music) all the time, but what rock star isn't. Nikolai is the bass-player and is very talented and doesn't interest me that much. Nick is the same way...a talented guitarist, and really quirky, but not very interesting. My adoration is mostly directed to Albert, the sexy, curly-haired guitarist who's the most talented of all of them. His rock solos rival any other rock legends and he always wears really cool clothes, and plays his guitar with a funky, non-cholant, rocking out kind of air. And let's not forget good ole Fab, the drummer who's like a human metronome. Also curly-haired attractive and plays with a passion like no other. I invite you to visit their site, www.thestrokes.com and listen to their music and watch their videos ("Reptilia" and "Last Night" are the best). Some of you may be a little bit shocked to hear the raucous rock music that I adore, but what can I say. I could be a rebel in worse ways.

Um, I can't remember the other thing I was gonna blog about. So, I'll just say ta-ta. (Oh, by the way, I've decided to give up a productive career and just do theatre and play music for the rest of my life. I'm restless. I've got post-production blues. I just so busy after the 2 productions I was in that it just caught up with me right now.)



Friday, November 26, 2004

The older I get...

I would just like to say, for the record, that it is the weirdest thing in the world to go "home" for Thanksgiving and NOT KNOW WHERE ANYTHING IS. My family moved to a totally different place at the same time that I moved out to college. So this vacation has been a little odd. You never realize how complicated everyday things can be when you don't know your way around this house that your family now lives in. Things like where the bathroom is. Do you know how awkward it is to ask your own family where the bathroom is? And then there's the cooking issue...it's a little complicated when you don't know where any of the food or silverware or anything is.

And I don't have a bed. Or a bedroom.

Life gets more and more bizarre the older I get. I'm just saying.

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

What?! I like living here?!

All right. I give up. In spite of my excitement to move out next year, I apparently really like living in the dorms.



Which is totally weird to me. I don't know what's going on. I guess the dungeons grow on you. I only noticed the fact that I like our cozy lil prison this morning. I'm leaving town for a week, and as I was getting ready to go, I looked around and thought "I'm excited to leave, but now that I'm going to, I kinda don't want to! I like this stupid, cramped, scrict, inconvenient little place!"

WHAT?! I thought I hated the dorms! My roomates and I were seriously contemplating cancelling our contracts and moving off-campus in January. The only reason we didn't do it is because we are all poor and would lose money if we went through with it. We spent nights sitting around and just silently hating the dorms. We spent afternoons walking around downtown looking for prospective homes. We spent evenings in the Galley choking down the same thing we had been for the last 9 weeks, and hating every minute of it. (Actually, that's sort of a lie...the Galley DOES have unlimited cereal, and some of us--I ain't naming any names--were perfectly content if a certain curly-haired photographer happened to drop in...) But the point is this...we didn't like it here. At all.

Apparently, I don't know myself very well. I guess if something's annoying enough, you begin to like it. That must be it, because I never thought I'd see the day when I left the dorms for a week and missed them. Maybe I'll snap out of it when I'm in an actual house with an actual kitchen and stuff. I haven't experienced that in so long maybe I forgot what I'm missing.



ADDENDUM: This is totally unrelated to living in the dorms. For the sake of your own amusement, I would also like to include in this entry, "The Tale of the Chipmunk," a little story co-authored by myself and my roomate Jen during my political science class today.



"The Tale of The Chipmunk"

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful chipmunk. She liked cheese and pickles. One day a large and evil carton of eggnog came tromping into town. He was furious because the purple goose had just eaten his french toast. "Darn you, goose! I'll get you next time!" he cried. Just then, a rumble came from the stomach of the goose. An outrageous french accent..."I LIVE!" cried the purple toast! (It was french toast origonally, but being inside a purple goose would turn anyone purple.) The purple french toast leapt out of the purple goose's mouth and screamed "Would you like to hear my thoughts on fiscal policies?" They shrug. THE END.

Sunday, November 21, 2004

A day of rest?

Sunday is a day of rest, right?

WRONG!!!!!!!!!

For members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in leadership positions, Sunday seems to be the busiest day of the week.

Examine my schedule for this sunday:



10:30 - 11:00 Leadership training meeting

11:00 - 2:00 Church

2:00 - 3:00 Presidency meeting

3:30 - 4:00 Visiting teaching

4:00 - 4:30 Get visit taught

sometime between 4:30 and 6:00 Visit sisters who weren't in church

6:00 Fireside

8:00 Chat with sister online

9:30 Sing

10:00 Stadium singing



And somewhere in there I've also got to eat (which I still haven't done today) and start a 9-page research paper that's due the day after tomorrow. Gah. I adore college.



At least I'm pleased to report that I'm anxiously engaged in a good cause, even if it is exhausting!

Saturday, November 20, 2004

Mmmm...food...

On this day, being the twentieth of November in the year of our Lord two thousand and four, I am pleased to announce the creation of the finest club in Rexburg...The Food Club! That's right folks, a club completely dedicated to the consumption of delectable delights.

Allow me a brief historical interlude. The Food Club consists of 4 girls, roomates from BYU-Idaho, who decided one evening to sample the dinner menu at a nearby Chinese joint. Liz, Alexis, Jenny, and Jen (along with Danielle) decided that the food was so satisfactory that they should eat there one night every two weeks. Thus, the "Fong's Club" was born.

Only there were a few complications: One, we are poor college students with not nearly enough money to blow on ritzy Chinese food, even if it's really good and only once every two weeks. Two, anytime we told someone about the club, they would say "The what club?"

But tonight, at last, a solution was found! While these four connoisours were dining at Hogi Yogi and Craigo's Pizza, they decided to not limit themselves to just Fong's Restaurant, but to expand the club to include all kinds of food!

So weekend evenings from now on will be spent sampling all the culinary delights of the area. Oh, how I am looking forward to that. Last week, sweet and sour pork with fried rice...this week, a toasted BLT and cinnamin sticks. Ah, the joys of eating!

So, to any who live in Rexburg and are interested in food, please join us. We like to eat. Hizzah.

So what the heck is that Liz girl doing, anyway?

Hey, so I plan on using this nifty lil site to keep all who are interested aware of where I am and what I'm doing and so on and so forth. It occured to me that I should actually put a post about that kind of stuff if that's what I set this up for. So, here goes!

I am currently attending Brigham Young University-Idaho in the charming and very cold town of Rexburg. For those of you who I know from the Medford area, you might be interested to know that I kinda don't live there anymore. The same weekend I moved up here, the Whittaker family up and relocated to La Grande, OR so that Dad could take a job at Eastern Oregon University. So I'm a bit without a home at the moment, a feeling I'm not so much a fan of. I've never been to the home where my family lives now. And I most certainly do NOT plan on making the dorms my home, either. So we'll have to see what happens.

(Maybe I should just get married...that would solve so many problems! Housing, financial aid, love polygons. Actually, I don't know that getting hitched would really solve any of that. By the way, for all of you who warned me that this campus is the land of RM's and that I'd be engaged by Christmas, you are all big fat liars. I'm just saying. )

Anyway, I am majoring in theatre and speech education...fixin to be a teacher of the drama. And my minor changes about twice a week, so let's just pretend it's political science or English or something and leave it at that.

I love it up here at BYU-I, and have met a bunch of really fun, talented, amazing, inspirational people. (And a lot of them are named Jason. There are also a few Kevins, Jeffs, and Bens, along with a Jen and a Jenny and an Alexis and why the heck am I giving you a freaking roster? No more, I say! I am through with naming names!) I have also learned more about Mormon culture than I even knew existed. Did anyone else know that "The Princess Bride" is a quintessential part of Mormon culture? I knew it was a cult classic, but apparently the LDS population has embraced it and declared it their own as well. The same goes for Napoleon Dynamite. (Idaho really does look like that.) I have seen more jell-o during the last few months than I ever have in my life. And my LDS lexicon is also expanding. This also includes terminology exclusive to this campus. Example: "Hey, that's chill. Sorry you can't come over...we got Q'd cause my roomie's D.T.R. went too late last night. I'll meet you over at the M.C. so we can drive down to the D.I. in I.F. Right now I gotta burgle so I can look up what's-his-bucket, that Utard preemie on stalkernet for a little N.C.M.O." (For those who may understand that, it's not something that is likely to happen up here. I hope. Is there a D.I. in I.F.?)

A few plans for the future include working a summer at the Playmill Theatre in Montana (owned by a theatre teacher here), living in Canada, getting into "Comic Frenzy," the incredibly awesome improv team of BYU-I, getting an internship with Disney for a few months in a year or so, going to the Aquabats concert in Salt Lake next month, and in the nearest future, going to sleep.

You all rock the caspah.

Good night.

Friday, November 19, 2004

"Recouping"

You know when you hear someone say something to you, and your brain registers the words and they're talking perfectly loud enough, but somehow, you just don't have any idea what they're talking about? Normally when that happens, most of us will say "What?" and then the person repeats what they just said. If you're lucky, you'll actually understand what they said that time, but every now and then, they'll say it again and you'll still not even have a vague idea of what it is they're trying to communicate.

Human beings have this wonderful trait. We will do anything to keep from looking stupid in front of one another. Unfortunately, a guy named Murphy came along and set up this law. This wise-guy decided that whatever it is we don't want to happen, will inevitably happen. Therefore, any attempt to save face we make will just make us look even more idiotic. Often to a point beyond repair.

Just such a tragic instance occured this afternoon, when I happened to run into one of my proffesors on my way to somewhere important. I gave an obligatory wave and he replied with "Hey, kiddo! What's going on?" (Don't you love it when proffesors talk like young uns?) I said "Not much" as I continued down the hall in the opposite direction. He called after me "That doesn't sound like you!" meaning that he knows I'm a busy person, so it's unusual for me to have not much going on. But I heard his comment and was really confused by it. I had no idea what he was talking about! What, was my voice different? Was my reply somehow out of character? I said "What?" and even when he repeated himself, I was no less perplexed. So, not wanting him to know how lost I was, I came up with an answer that made sense to me and said "Yeah, my nose is kinda stuffy" and continued down the hall. Then, and only then did I realize what my proffessor was talking about.

There's simply no way to recover from something like that. And this was my Communications proffessor! I would like to know exactly what went through his head upon hearing me say "Yeah, my nose is kinda stuffy." Actually that's a lie. I don't want him to remember the incident.

In most cases when you do stupid things, you can do a little "recouping" (in the words of Mr. T). In a situation involving things you say, there's nothing you can do. You just gotta walk, my friend. All you can do is walk.