You're in the right place, Mac

I'm not sure if I'm done vamping up me blog yet. I'm still playing, I think. So if you are wondering what happened to Liz's blog, its still this right here. It just may look a little different every time you visit it for a while.

Just for the sake of posting something besides the "under construction" notice, here's a little youtube mania for you.

In Scotland, they have a word for baby-hungry that we don't have in America--they say you're broody. Annie and I made up our own term as well, before we learned that one, so we say you're suffering from lustis maternis.

Either way, its what I've got.

Been a while, homeslices

Salutations, blog-goers!

I'm sure you're all expecting a nice long detailed chronicle of the cruise, but I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that I had a wonderful time. The bad news is that I simply cannot find the time nor the energy to report all of it to the world wide web on this blog. Sorry all. If you wanna hear stories, talk to me. They're good ones.

Turbo-update:

I'm going to be here in Rexburg during the summer, working full-time, possibly at Walmart. I'm going to miss the 'Mill, but I'm excited for other people to have the life-changing experiences the Playmill will bring them. I'll also have the opportunity to grow closer to some dear friends during the summer, and who knows what else the summer has in store?

I've re-vamped the ole blogger, as I'm sure you've noticed. Also added some links to blogs of friends and others. Check em out. They're pretty hip.

The semester's more than half over. How did that happen?

That's just about it for today, but I close with a Top Ten.

Top Ten Greatest Things about Winter Semester 2008
1. Apartment 212
2. Seventh roomate
3. The USS Dorcas and her door issues
4. Theatre Awards
5. Comic Frenzy
6. Washington DC
7. Being in a class of Brother Allen's again
8. Obama campaign-rock on, Barack.
9. Cast of "Rashomon"
10. Intellectual conversations

Wow, that was vague. I seem to have lost my blogger's touch. Hopefully only temporarily.

Anyway, here's a bit of a funny thing. We watched "The Graduate" this last week, and for those of you who have seen that lovely Hoffman flick, you will dig this car commercial.

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door."

Well, this is it! One more day before I get on the shuttle that will take me to the plane that will take me to the limo that will take me to the cruise ship that will take me to the sunny Western Carribean! I can hardly grasp it, really. I've been counting down the days for so long, it seemed like the cruise would never come! But it has, and not a moment too soon!

After the mildest fall semester I've ever experienced here, winter has finally caught up with Rexburg and is making up for lost time. We've gotten several inches of snow...the kind that's not going anywhere for a while, and its been well into the negative temperatures. But ah, the sunny sands of beaches in Mexico and Sur America await me!

I've been making all sorts of preparations for weeks now, including buying a new suitcase, researching ancient cultures of Mexico, and having my legs and bikini line waxed. I'll spare you the details of that experience, but I'll share some non-specific thoughts on the whole thing, since I'd never done anything like it before.

I've tried waxing my legs at home before, but it was painful and didn't even work, so I decided to not waste any more time or money on trying to do it myself. However, I didn't want to have to worry about shaving on a CRUISE, so I forked over a somewhat exhorbitant amount of money to Sage Day Spa to have them do it for me.

I was a little nervous, because it seems like a painful process, but other than that I had no idea what to expect. Since I was at a SPA, the whole atmosphere was very...tranquil? After I checked in, the receptionist led me to the bathroom and gave me a robe and sandals to change into, then had me wait in a room with low lighting, meditative music, and faintly scented candles. She said someone would be right with me, and would I like any juice or water while I waited? I said no thank you and sat and contemplated the experience so far. In a weird way, it was a little creepy..."Please take off all of your clothes and put on a soft comforting robe. Then wait in this comforting room while I offer you comforting things, even though in a moment, we're going to lead you into another room, close the door, lay you on a table under a surgical light, spread hot wax and cloth on your flesh and yank it off again very quickly, over and over again." Which is what happened. (Although for the sake of being dramatic, I did exaggerate slightly. The table was more like a bed, with a headrest, and the surgical light was only turned on to check for stray hairs.) It was actually less painful than I expected, and it got easier after awhile...I sort of got used to it. It wasn't exactly pleasant, but it wasn't a tooth-gritting type of pain either. More of just an "occasionally-squish-up-your-face-for-a-second type of pain." Anyway, I'm now hair free. Although a little sticky. Wax isn't easy to remove.

I also feel it necessary to make it public knowledge that earlier this week, the theatre department put on a Christmas Festival, with puppet shows, skits, musical numbers, poetry readings, and "The Second Shepherd's Play." I played Legolas in a skit entitled "Middle-Earth's First Christmas," written by my friends Dave and Jenny. (Hence the Tolkien quote as the title of the blog.) It was ridiculous, mostly improved, and one of the sillier things I've ever done in my life, but we all had a blast, so oh well. Isha, me and Beckah sang "An Ode to Boromir" and added a verse to introduce the show. The last verse went "Aragorn isn't in our show, Why that is we just don't know, but here's the Christmas story of the one ring of power's birth." The basic premise of the skit is that the one ring was forged by Sauron as a favor for Sam and Frodo, who needed last-minute gifts for the Christmas party "Gandalf the Red" was throwing. For awhile, Smeagol got ahold of the ring, but after several gift exchange games and a few incidents of minor violence, it ends up on Sauron's finger. J.R.R. Tolkien is spinning in his grave at this moment, I'm sure.

I conclude with a somewhat boring top ten list, but I've been a "to-do list junkie" the last couple of weeks, so it only seems appropriate that as an expression of my life lately, I share with you my Top Ten Things To Do Before the Cruise:

10. Return my library book. And decide which books to bring on the cruise.

9. Take my British Literature final online, so that I can then sell my book back and have $30 extra bucks for exciting things.

8. Withdraw a little spending money in cash from the ATM. Which I will be carrying with me. Which worries me a little bit, until I'm on the cruise ship and can put most of it in my luggage.

7. Pack. And possibly move all of my stuff that I'm not bringing (which is MOST of my stuff) down to #212, where we're living next semester.

6. Clean. Even though I've made a solemn vow to never again completely do White Glove clean-check as long as I'm living in approved housing. Its just not worth it to me. I'd rather fork over $50 than spend hours wiping down walls and scrubbing the grill behind my fridge. Especially when I'm trying to pack and make travel plans and take finals. But I'll wipe down counters. I'll scrub the microwave out. I'll leave it decent.

5. Figure out where to leave my car over the break. Which may require a special parking permit of some kind. As a matter of fact, I'm sure it does.

4. Acquire the required parking permit.

3. Change my voicemail message on my cell phone to something witty that says I'm on a cruise and won't be returning phone calls until the 23rd.

2. Eat all of the perishable food I have, or as much of it as possible, so that I don't have to throw it away or find someone to take it and eat it.

1. Hang out with people I'll miss lots, before going to see other people who I miss right now.

The Kind of Saxophone You Can Rollerblade To

Thursday, November 29th, 8:15pm. Salt Lake City, Energy Solutions Arena. The lights dim, and a piano rises out of the floor of the stage. Sitting on a stool in front of it, playing those keys like nobody can, is the man himself. Billy Joel. In concert. And I was there.

I found out Billy Joel was touring while surfing the internet during Thanksgiving vacation. Out of curiosity alone, I clicked on a link to find out where he was touring. And he was in Boise and Salt Lake the next week. On complete impulse, at 1 in the morning, I texted my roomate Annie and friends Jesse and Kathleen, telling them that we HAD to go. By noon the next day we had tickets. Seats almost miles away, but Billy Joel for 60 bucks, 3 and a half hours from Rexburg? Ain't no way we're passing this opportunity up. (Tickets in row 8: $9000.00. Boggles the mind a bit, doesn't it?)

So Thursday afternoon, we hit the highway to Salt Lake. We got there about 3 hours before the concert started, so we had dinner at the Brazilian Grill "Rodizio's." It's the Salt Lake equivalent of Provo's "Tacano's" and its brilliant and possibly one of the most wonderful, unhealthy establishments in the world. You pay $20, go to the salad bar, get a few things to make yourself feel justified in the rest of your dinner. At your table, there's a little block of wood, one side green and one side red. When you have the green side up, people come by with enormous slabs of meat on sticks. I've never eaten so much meat in my life. The human body is not meant to digest meat in quantities that large. I must have eaten a pound or two of spicy chicken, marinated chicken, bacon-wrapped turkey, several types of beef...it was incredible.



But the word "incredible" doesn't even begin to describe the concert itself. I'll try to describe the glory of it bit by bit, though words hardly do it justice.

Billy Joel opened the concert with a great prelude number that medley'd into "Angry Young Man." First of all, his band was excellent and so together. Second of all, they had a kick-A light show going on, thanks to a top-notch roadie crew, which we'll talk about later. As soon as the lights came up on him and the music started, the crowd went nuts...on their feet, screaming and clapping. After the song was over, he made a little bit of an introduction, saying "I'm actually Billy's dad, Billy couldn't make it tonight." =) He may be old and what little hair he's got on his head is gray. But like he said, "It's not how much hair you have, it's how much head you get." (Please excuse me besmirching my blog with that quote, but I thought it was pretty funny, and very...Billy Joel. So did most of the audience. Those who didn't think it was hilarious just looked around and said "huh?")



He did this neat thing throughout the concert, due to the festive time of year. He would start a lot of songs as Christmas songs, and then medley into one of his own songs. I wish I could remember specifically which ones he did that with. Anyway, he did that. And it was neat. He played "My Life," "Everybody Loves You Now," and "The Entertainer." For the next song, he gave us a choice of 3 songs, and "Vienna" won by a land-slide. Which during the last severel months, has become a personal favorite of mine.

Joel then explained to the audience that he's always wanted to do a movie soundtrack...to actually score it, but since no one's ever approached him, he decided to make one up. So he said he just sat down and wrote a completely historically inaccurate song called "Billy the Kid." ("Really, its totally inaccurate. If you really wanted, I could go through the lyrics and point out the places where I'm full of crap.") But it was a REALLY cool song. That was followed by "Allentown." Then he played a song I'd never heard before, but its become one of my new favorite Joel tunes..."Zanzibar," from the album 52nd Street. It's a really great song! Then came "New York State of Mind," and "Root Beer Rag." During that song, most of the people in the front several rows got up and started dancing, then crowded to the stage, where they remained for the rest of the concert. Joel did "Movin' Out" next, then "Innocent Man," "Don't Ask Me Why," "She's Always a Woman," "Faith," and "River of Dreams."

After those songs, Joel stood up and his piano sunk back into the floor, and someone handed him an electric guitar. He went up to the mic and said something to the effect of "We've got a member of our roadie crew who's a very talented man, he's been with us for many years. He's been working on this song for a long time, working really hard, so he'd like to come out and sing a song for you. It's kind of a religious song, and you can boo him off the stage if you want to, but give him a chance, he's been working really hard. Ladies and gentleman, please welcome to the stage 'Chainsaw.'" We all gave him an enthusiastic round of applause as he walked onstage and took the mic. He was this kind of baldish, slightly overweight guy with an old shirt and shorts...dressed like a roadie. But he took the mic and sang AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" and ROCKED THE HOUSE. Joel accompanied on the guitar, and it was absolutely brill. Afterwards, we gave "Chainsaw" a huge standing ovation and he left the stage with an enormous new fan base. Check him out rocking the house:



"Chainsaw's" performance was the start of the POWER SET. Check it out:
"We Didn't Start the Fire"
"Big Shot"
"Still Rock N Roll to Me"
"You May Be Right"

During all of those songs, Joel was on the guitar, or just straight vocals. On "Still Rock N Roll to Me," he did all these cool mic stand stunts. It was kind of tongue in cheek, because he's almost 60 and was almost making fun of himself, but it was really cool. He got the stand spinning really fast, then spun it with one hand and threw it up in the air, dropping it almost to the ground and bringing it back up again to sing. It was fun. When he was at the piano, he wasn't exactly calm either. He sat on a drum stool, which was raised pretty high, so he was kind of halfway between sitting and standing. On the high energy songs, he would really rock out...like literally be rocking back and forth and side to side on his seat. He was great. The star that he is, he could have called in that performance, could have just shown up as this washed up rocker singing the tunes that made him famous. But he didn't, and he wasn't. He was totally there, 100%, connecting to his audience and having a blast. Some people are brilliant musicians, but not very good "performers." Some people just don't have a good sense of how to put on a good show and connect with the audience and be unselfish. But Joel totally had it going on, and knew what he was doing and did it well. He was also really great at giving credit to his band, stepping aside and letting others solo and take the stage. There were some brilliantly talented musicians, and great solos.



After "You May Be Right," he and his band took their bows, waved good-bye and left the stage. And of course we didn't stand for that. We cheered and stomped and clapped and screamed for a full 2 minutes it seemed, until finally the piano rose up from the floor again and the lights came up on Billy Joel. He played "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant," and it was wonderful, naturally. He took another bow and left the stage, but we still hadn't had enough, so we cheered and clapped some more, and he came out again and did "Only the Good Die Young." And it was wonderful. But as much as he might get sick of singing it at every concert, we weren't going to let him leave without doing "Piano Man." We encored him once more and finally he sat down at the piano and put on the harmonica. He played those first few notes and we went nuts. It was a great ending to the concert. The Thorsons and Annie and I all hugged eachother and swayed and sang along, just like the rest of the audience was doing. At one chorus, Joel and the band cut out and just had the entire audience sing. It was so cool, and a little surreal to be singing the words "Sing us a song, you're the piano man, sing us a song tonight. Well, we're all in the mood for a melody, and you've got us feeling all right" directly to Billy Joel and the band. It was so fitting, and awesome.



All in all, an amazing experience. Worth missing class and work for, worth paying $60 for, worth the long drive(s) for. I give the concert 11 stars. Out of 5.

Top Ten Most Memorable Things About the Billy Joel concert trip:
10. The taste of grilled pineapple.
9. Those totally drunk, uncoordinated groupies who were in the front row and showing so much boobs I was surprised they weren't getting arrested. And of course the film crew filmed them lots and put lots of shots of Mount Inappropriate on the big screen. It was ridiculous. And funny. And we hoped that they tried to meet Billy Joel and that he totally rejected them.
8. The cute waiter at Rodizio's who I smiled at and who looked at me like I was totally crazy.
7. The drive to Salt Lake, listening to Billy Joel's greatest hits.
6. The drive home, listening to "Les Miserables." Which was a bit of a contrast, but we're theatre geeks, what can we say?
5. The whole bathroom thing. I'll just leave it at that, along with a reminder that the human body is not built to consume as much meat as we did in one sitting right before the concert.
4. Driving into Rexburg at 2 in the morning, and singing "Rock the Caspah," and changing the words over and over again like telephone until we were singing "Chase the Bastard." Don't ask me how we got there, I don't remember, but we sure thought we were funny.
3. The street sign we saw in residential neighborhood on our way to "Rodizio's" that just said "DEAF PERSONS." How cryptic.
2. Wandering around the mall for a few after eating and me leaning over the railing and accidentally dropping my mint out of my mouth, which fell down to the first floor and landed right next to a police officer.
1. The moment the lights went out and the music first started. I could hardly breathe. I don't think I did.

Here's us in the parking lot of the Energy Solutions Arena, minutes before finding our seats for the concert:

Wait! Wait! Top Ten!!!

I just remembered that I wanted to start a new blogging tradition! It was inspired by my previous previous blog (The "Ten Top Ten" one), and I was going to start it with the previous one (the "Go Oregon" one). But I forgot so I'm adding it as an addendum now.

I want to include a "Top Ten" list of some sort in every blog entry from now on, whether it be the only thing in an entry, or just an afterthought like this is. Although hopefully I won't forget from now on and have to add it as a completely separate entry. That would defeat the purpose. Anyway, it's Thanksgiving around now, so I suppose I'm obligated to do some sort of "Thankful" list. But that's a little boring, so let's spice it up a little, shall we?

TOP TEN THINGS I'M GRATEFUL DON'T EXIST
(Special thanks to Isha for helping me brainstorm to create this list--It was more difficult to think of these things than I realized it would be)

10. Big Scary Machines that take over the world

9. Federal laws regarding music

8. Mirrors that reflect true identities (which would especially blow if you were a spy)

7. Singing corpses

6. The marshmallow guy from "Ghostbusters"

5. Anti-semitic butterflies (just because my entire perception of reality would be shattered if butterflies turned out to be evil)

4. Alien warlords (that we know of)

3. Radioactive popsicles

2. "Big Brother"

1. Fatally attractive men. Like if you don't shag them, you will actually die.

"Smoke pot! Support a lesbian! Go Oregon!"

Three Whittakers and one Wheeler! We all look a little high in this picture, but if I may be vain for a moment, I also think its one of the best pictures ever taken of me. That's Isha, Beckah (who really was high on painkillers, but whose hair looks great), Jill, and me. And for the record, even though the title of this blog and the picture I posted may suggest otherwise, I'm not gay.

Hey howdy hey Blogosphere!

I haven't touched this blog in ages. Time to start back up again!

I'm here in Oregon, visiting the family for Thanksgiving. Probably for the last time, which is really weird to think about. Daddy got accepted by the State Department, so Mary, Dad and Melissa are moving to D.C. in January, and then to some foreign country a few months after that--won't know where until February. So really, this could be one of the last times all 6 of the Whittakers are in the same room at the same time for who knows how many years. What with different colleges, possible marriages, etc, we might not all be together for a long time. How surreal. Also one of the reasons we're having a family portrait taken tomorrow.

Its been a really great visit. Weird, but good. This year, I do know a few more people here, so there's someone to actually go out and see besides my family. I got to see Fune, who I worked with at Playmill this last summer, and I got to see Jillian, and that was great. I went and saw them in rehearsal for "A Christmas Carol," which is also starring...MY DAD! Its so wonderful to see him onstage. He hasn't done anything theatrical like this for at least 20 years. He's so good at it, and it comes so naturally to him, I've always said he should do it more often. He's playing Jacob Marley, and also "Gentleman #2." I was sitting there in the gym with my camera like I was the proud parent. =) Also during the process of hanging out in rehearsal, I've met the coolest family EVER. Several of the kids (from ages 14 to 5 or so) are in the show...Israel, Liam, Avalon, and 2 other boys whose names I've forgotten. A lot of the cast is LDS, but they're Jewish, and your average Oregonian hippies as well. Little Liam is playing Tiny Tim--he's about 6 I think, and he's a riot. I adore this kid. They're all such hams. And Israel does a killer British accent, and he's like what? 12? When their Dad came and picked them all up, he left with a kid slung over his shoulder and all the rest climbing all over him. As he walked out the door, he yelled "Peace!" Which was followed by choruses of "Peace!" "Peace!" "Peace!" as all the kids yelled the same thing after him. I was walking behind them and was already smiling about THAT, when I heard the Dad say "Ok, let's go. Where's Liam? Oh. Hey, quit hanging on my lower arms or I'll break your face." What a fun family. =)

But then again, I've got my own. We're a little different, and we've had (have) our rocky spots, but altogether, I'm loving being with them. The following has occurred during the course of the last week:

My stepmom has tried to marry me off to my cousins.

I've learned to make pumpkin pie and pie crust.

We watched a documentary called "Trekkies" with my family about Star Trek fanatics. We laughed, but the best part was that we laughed half of the time, and the other half of the time discussed our favorite Star Trek characters and Captain Kirk's middle name.

I've discussed music theory with my sisters while doing the dishes.

We had a dance/singing party while trying to make Thanksgiving dinner. Which is difficult since our kitchen comfortably fits one person, maybe two, and there were at least 4 or 5 of us at any given moment.

The family's also trying to sell the house, and we woke up (around noon) to learn that people were coming to look at it in an hour, so we managed to get dressed, eat breakfast, and clean the house top to bottom (vacuumed, dusted, mopped, scrubbed toilets, made beds, etc). Like 4 of us did everything. In less than an hour.

We went over to Jillian's house to watch/help Jill shave Fune's head. He had grown a mo-hawk for the last show he was in, so she just shaved it off.

Melissa has her learner's permit, so I went out driving with her around Union tonight for her to get some practice tonight. Which was a little scary. But okay. Good practice for when I have kids of my own, I suppose.

Watched my stepmom attempt to sing happy birthday to my father in the style of Marilyn Monroe. Which only sort of worked.

Ah, the Whittakers. We're hoping to have a Whittaker Dance Party tomorrow night, hopefully with Jill and maybe Fune as well. Because if anything is a family tradition, a Whittaker Dance Party is one.

Anyway, speaking of tradition, I'll end this entry with a quote and a picture. Although in this case, they're not necessarily related. I close mine epistle with this amusing conversation that took place during the movie "Trekkies" last night:

Me: Is LaVar Burton gay?
Dad: He's wearing contacts.
Mary: Who, him? His name's LaVar.

"PEACE!!!"

Ten Top Ten

10 Current Favorite Songs to Listen To (in no particular order)
1. Ramalama Bang Bang by Roison Murphy
2. Lollipop by Mika
3. Sidewalk Chalk by Nick Day
4. Don’t Ask Me by OkGo
5. Claire De Lune by DeBussy
6. Run Away by Jordan Tait
7. Let’s Get It On by Marvin Gaye
8. Get Your Way by Jamie Cullum
9. Everything by Michael Buble
10. Extraordinary Machine by Fiona Apple

9 Most Recent/Current Food Cravings
1. Haagen-Daz Raspberry Sorbet
2. Steamed broccoli
3. Several of the 3 ½ dozen chocolate chip cookies Taylor made
4. Gingerbread cookies
5. Cinnamon rolls
6. Baby-back ribs
7. Stir-fry
8. Vietnamese spring rolls
9. Sydney’s chocolate cake

8 Playmill Moments I Always Look Forward To
1. Singing the West Yellowstone song at pre-show.
2. Spiderman Ballet
3. “Mr. Humphrey!?!” “Did anyone call?”
4. Riding in the Model A.
5. Curtis leaping across the stage as the Russian.
6. “Footloose” finale.
7. Organizing the concessions till after intermission.
8. Constant backstage butt-grabbing.

7 Habits of Highly Affective Playmill Players
1. Always practice safe microphone use.
2. Be able to break windows with your butt.
3. Don’t trip on little kids.
4. Kick everyone’s trash at Halo.
5. Realize the sex appeal of a yellow Ford Model A.
6. Do handstands. All the freakin time.
7. Have a cough or a cold.

6 Reasons Why I Should Be Going to Bed Right Now
1. I’m still getting over this cold.
2. I’m getting bored.
3. Rehearsal is at 9am tomorrow morning.
4. If I don’t go to sleep soon, I’ll end up eating something unhealthy.
5. This laptop on my lap is getting really hot and its starting to burn my legs.
6. I’m tired.

5 Reasons Why I’m Grateful Taylor is My Roomate
1. We are both very heavy sleepers.
2. We are both introverted and don’t mind hanging out without talking.
3. She lets me use her computer all the time.
4. Sometimes her puppy comes and visits.
5. She’s good to vent with if needed.

4 Unusual Things That I Have Done This Summer
1. Helped lead the citizens of West Yellowstone in a traditional snake dance among covered fiberglass painted buffalo.
2. Gone on a double and a half date.
3. Watched an old man wander across the stage in the middle of a scene in “Footloose.”
4. Helped with an impromptu improv show during a power outage at the theatre and then evacuated the audience.

3 Things That Made Me Angry Recently
1. My injured Achille’s tendon.
2. How unrefreshing some naps can be.
3. The fact that my legs aren't magical and need to be shaved occasionally.

2 Things That Made Up for the Things That Made Me Angry
1. Matt’s little brother Isaac.
2. New books.

1 Place I Wish I Could Be Right Now
1. Right where I am.

Thank you's

Somewhat heartless parent who took this picture--Thank you for putting said picture on the internet so that I can laugh. In a "that poor kid" kind of way.

Mom—Thanks for raising me equally on both Mozart and the Beatles.

Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx—Thank you for writing the music for the Broadway show “Avenue Q” so that I can listen to it.

Roger and Heidi—Thanks for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the Playmill again this summer.

Matthew—Thanks for giving me a hug this morning when I was pouty because I had to get up early and I was hungry and it was snowy.

Winter hat—Thanks for keeping me warm when West Yellowstone is stupid and snowy in May.

Ultimate-Guitar.com—Thank you for having the chords to one of my favorite Fiona Apple songs.

Dinosaur Comics—Thanks for consistently making me laugh.

Taylor—Thanks for letting me use your computer every day…for several hours a day…

Dan—Thank you for inviting me out to breakfast this morning.

James Dean—Thank you for being sexy and oober-talented.

Jesse, Kathleen, Annie, and David—Thank you for coming to visit when you were in town yesterday.

Jen—Thanks for your friendship and your brilliant advice, which I rely on to this day.

Old Couple we sat next to in Running Bear today—Thank you for recognizing us from the Playmill and complimenting us on the show.

Al Pacino—See thank you to James Dean.

Guitar—Thanks for existing, so that I can make music.

Apartment plumbing—Thanks for being crappy. No pun intended.

Oingo Boingo—Thanks for rocking.

Internet—Thanks for giving me a place to blog.

Where are my jujubees? I can't find my jujubees!

I had a fun talk tonight about all the old-school computer games we all used to play back in the day. Which inspired me to write this blog. And I totally stole this idea for a blog entry from Willie. Woot for syntax text-only adventure games.

You find yourself sitting awake in bed.

>Check clock

It is 2:01 in the morning

>inventory

You have your roomate's computer, your phone, and a stuffy nose.

>Blow nose

You need a tissue to do that.

>Get tissue

You can't get a tissue from here.

>Screw blowing nose

Okay.

>I'm bored.

I don't understand that command.

>Entertain me.

I don't understand that command.

>Make observations about current situation.

You are single. You are thirsty. You are an insomniac.

>Change relationship status.

You need to choose a person to do that.

>Select Guybrush Threepwood as companion.

Guybrush Threepwood is an imaginary character.

>Select Al Pacino as companion.

Don't be stupid.

>Get a drink.

You get up and pour yourself a glass of water. You get out powdered energy drink and add 4 scoops. You drink the glass in one gulp.

>Go to sleep.

You have gone to sleep.

We had some good games, didn't we? To close, here's my little pictorial ode to the computer games of my youth:

Somehow this game was actually really entertaining...Mom and Dad, you guys were the masters at good ole StuntCopter!


In later versions of the game below, I always had this moral dilemma...do I choose the Oregon Trail or the Mormon Trail? As an LDS Oregonian, I was always like "Where do my loyalties lie?"


Dah-nah-naaahhh! Dah-dah-dah-nah-naaaaaahhh!


World Wide Travel, we send you ANYWHERE!


It also occured to me in the course of the conversation about computer games that you know your family is a little nerdy when you quote both movies AND computer games. (Hey Whittakers..."Want some rye? Course ya do! Here's to us! Who's like us! And we're all dead.")

I don't even know what a dwarf monkey-flower is...is there such a thing?

Just for fun, here are some memorable things that have made it into the quote-book since arriving in West Yellowstone:

“Oh Curtis. He brings life back into my life.” –Mallori

“It’s difficult to feel elegant while dancing in feet-y pajamas.” –Me

“Not that I would do this to her on purpose, but if my turtle died right now, she’d be just the right size to make a really cool belt buckle out of.” –Craig

“I love you, hot fudge. I love you too, Cameron, but you don’t get a cool texture when covered with ice cream.” –Me

“I like my men like I like my trucks: big and strong…and red…and covered with the Playmill logo...” –Mallori

“I’ve just been hit by a tired…thing.” –Cameron

"Austin, why is it that every time I look at you, you're either not fully clothed or upside-down?" -Me

“My parents drove UNDER a moose once.” –Joe

“Drinking raw eggs isn’t that big of a deal…its just like drinking mucus.” –Austin

“Be racist. You’ll be happy.” –Dan

“I wish you COULD play a muffin tin.” –Curtis

“We definitely need thin ties. Thin-ness is…in-ness.” –Sid

“It’s like losing your virginity. Really, what’s the point?” –Austin

“Oh Dave. Robbing the…gay cradle.” –Kyra

“I was angry this morning. If ever I was to kill someone, it would be in the morning.” –Austin

“It would be really lame if you woke up on top of the Brooklyn Bridge.” –Curtis

“I don’t know any girls in Rexburg of Austin’s caliber. Which means that if Austin was a girl, he’d be out of my league.” –Jordan

“Why are we scary!? I would never date someone like me!” –Kaylie

“Know what you should do? Make hot breaths.” –Jordan

“You don’t need a shirt to pluck your eyebrows!” –Me

“Why does the skin spare you?” –Jordan (he meant “spin scare you”)

“I think it’s a standing rule at the Playmill that no one can ever straddle anything. Ever.” –Austin

“Don’t say Eliza's a sexy beast! It’s naughty for their little ears!” –Sarah

“I think I just swallowed one of my hairs.” –Kaylie

And the crowning gem thus far:
“It’s always after the white osprey and before the dwarf monkey-flower that the Thespians arrive. Good to have you with us.” –total stranger a few of us met in a gift shop at Old Faithful

Good times. By the way, that picture up there is of our favorite visitor to the Playmill, Taylor's puppy, Tobey. We've decided that he's this season's mascot, and have nicknamed him "Tobey the Playmill Playmate." He was a runt that Taylor rescued. The lil darling just opened his little eyes last week, and just barely started to discover walking a couple of days ago. He's so tiny and funny, he's impossible to leave alone!

And here's another picture; its kind of weird, but I think its funny...Austin and I both fell asleep on the couch during dinner break. We didn't do so in the same position on purpose, but I think it looks funny, and apparently so did Taylor because she took a picture.


Anyway, thinking of all of you. Rehearsals are going well...I'm getting the beginnings of panic at being ready in time, but deep down I know it will work out. It always does. I've been having all sorts of adventures, though not the kind I can easily blog about, but generally speaking, life is good. I'm loving getting to know everyone...making and strengthening friendships and learning from those around me. I feel so lucky to be here, doing what I love, surrounded by such astounding natural wonders!

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers, especially Fune who just had a root canal this morning, and Austin who is having his wisdom teeth removed tomorrow.

Rock on, and may you be living the extraordinary lives that are possible for you!

"I wasn't kissing her, I was whispering in her mouth." --Chico Marx

Tonight, a few of us were half-watching “Spiderman” and got to talking about movie kisses. This led to a debate of what the “best movie kisses of all time” are. Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about it before, but when someone asks “What’s the best movie kiss of all time?” that’s really a tough one to answer. We decided that it might be too hard to come up with just one, but we got a pretty good list going. Here are some of our conclusions:

“Spiderman”
The upside-down kiss in the rain

“The Notebook”
The kiss on the dock in the rain

“On the Waterfront”
When Marlon Brando kisses Eva Marie Saint in the corner of her kitchen and she fights him for a moment and then sinks down to the floor in his arms

“Romeo+Juliet” (Baz Luhrman’s)
Basically all of the kisses

“It’s a Wonderful Life”
The phone scene!!

But although we all know there are lots and lots more, we couldn’t list them definitively. We also decided that rain automatically makes any kiss (real or on-screen) infinitely better.

SO, what do you think? What are some of the greatest movie kisses of all time? I’m sure there’s an official list somewhere…maybe I should look that up…

Anyway, this blog entry is slightly more interactive than usual. Comment and tell me your thoughts on the best movie kisses ever.

Perhaps any psychologists who happen upon this blog will immediately note that it must be a sexually frustrated group of young people up at the Playmill theatre at the moment.