Let Me Show You How It's Done

So today while I made a delicious grilled cheese sandwich, I also cleared out the dishwasher to be a kind and helpful roommate. Any time my sandwich slowly cooked to perfection, I unloaded the clean dishes and put them away. Then, while I ate, my roommate took on the role of putting the dirty dishes into the dishwasher, also being a kind and helpful roommate.

Problem with this?

I think she was making sure we'd have to work extra hard to fill it.

Okay, it probably doesn't look that bad. But our dishwasher has some space issues, and we really have to play tetris to get seven girls' dishes to fit. And this is not tetris.

So, my lovely roommate, as helpful as you were trying to be, this is not your forte. You might want to leave this part to us.

Best. Costume. Ever.

And I don't normally do single word sentences. That's how epic my costume was this year.

I think the best part was the fact we made almost everything ourselves. Not the boots and pants, but the shirt, bow, bracer, and swords were all homemade. Pretty cool.

Do you see those awesome bows and swords? Yeah, I thought they were pretty cool, too. We won't go into the fact I cut a live branch from a tree to make mine...I wanted it to be bendy, okay?

Okay, ignore how ridiculous I look pretending my sword is an arrow. We didn't have any... But really I want to talk about the epic arm bracer around my wrist. Fun story about those. I made them during General Conference to help me focus, but I was a little lacking in proper tools. That meant I was pounding little holes into the suede with a tiny nail so I could get a scissor blade through it (for the leather bindings), which took quite a bit of effort. And resulted in four sliced fingers. And a lot of blood. But that's okay, because they look awesome!

As you can see, we took ourselves very seriously, especially after I found me a stick to act as my arrow.

But really. Our costumes were totally epic. And I'm sure you would agree.

The Game's Afoot

Here's a special post in honor of a dear friend whose life is full of complicated boys.

And they've started a war.

Let me show you the first battle. Hereafter, the two boys fighting for my friend's attention will be known as Thing 1 and Thing 2. Now, Thing 1 thought he had it good. He did everything right, got a couple smooches, and sent flowers to show her his love and devotion. Basically, he was leading the race by a landslide, and the flowers were absolutely beautiful.

Enter Thing 2.

He didn't just send flowers. No, he drove three hours to secretly put a bouquet in her room. He spoke to her for just long enough for her roommate to get the flowers into her room without her knowing, and then he left, driving three hours back because he had to work in the morning. Mysterious, Thing 2, very mysterious. Then my good friend walked into her room and saw the flowers he brought.

Now, you tell me who won this flower battle:

On the right are the flowers from Thing 1. The giant of a bouquet is from Thing 2.

In my opinion, this the victory belongs without question to Thing 2. But that's just me.

Today is a Perfect Day

Today, someone asked me how my day had been. When I replied that it had been fantastic, he asked me why, and I had to think for a moment. Why was my day fantastic? Quite literally, nothing extraordinary had happened. I slept in so I didn't get the chance to shower, I went to class and didn't pay attention, I worked on my novel, made some muffins, went to work, went to class, went to a meeting... It was before the meeting when he asked me the question, and as I thought about my day, I really had no reason to be as happy as I was.

So why was I?

Optimism!

That's what I choose to write about today, seeing as I'm beginning to be a failure at blogging. This whole once a week think didn't really work out when school started up again. But that's okay! Because today is Tuesday, blogging day, and I am bloggin'.

Anyway, optimism. I am a firm believer that life is as good as you think it is, no matter what circumstances you might be in. Take me for example; I think the only reason things are so good for me is because I've told myself they're good. No matter how hard school gets--and I had some major stresses at the beginning of the semester--no matter how hard I have to try to talk to people--which I never liked doing--things are good.

Story time! You know how, in The Music Man, Harold Hill explains the "Think System"--think really hard about something, and you don't have to do anything else? Yeah, we're going to say that's how things really work sometimes. Before spring semester last year, I decided I needed to change. I had spent too much time sitting around in front of my computer and hanging around the edge of game nights just watching because I had always told myself I was too shy to really have any fun. But once I decided that needed to change, I just told myself I wasn't as shy as I thought, I didn't have to sit on the edge because I couldn't talk to people, and I was a person with good ideas that could be shared.

And now, if I were to go back to then and look forward at myself now, I would never believe it.

I tell jokes in front of complete strangers. I talk to boys. I engage in conversations even when I have no idea who I'm talking with. I play games like Ninja and actually win on occasion. I tell my roommates stories of boys I see and things I do. I take classes just for fun even though I know no one else taking those classes. I joke with professors. I actually enjoy tutoring and put in enough energy to show other students I really do want to be there. I do crazy things even if people might be watching. I take baseballs (though made of foam) to the face and simply laugh about it because I wish I could have seen myself when it hit me. I actually want to teach Relief Society and give talks in Sacrament Meeting. I talk to people like they're already my friends.

And all because I told myself I could.

Now, don't get me wrong. This isn't me trying to talk about how awesome I am. I'm just trying to explain how good life can be if you let it. It doesn't matter how many things go wrong, like a wet bike seat in the rain or a store that closes just before you get there. As long as you tell yourself there's a funny side to the story, there's a good side to it, there's something you can learn, it'll be a good day.

I think I finally understand something my dad told me a couple Thanksgivings ago as we sat on Top of the World.

"Every day is a perfect day."

Passion in the Rain

 (It's not what you think)

Today's post involves playing in the rain. ^ That's me playing in the rain.

There's something about rain that really gets to me. In a good way. I live for rain, basically. That's why I want to live in London someday. Or Washington. Pretty much, if it rains a lot, I'll love it.

So yesterday's amazing rain storm (half an hour of pure Part Two downpour, as I call it) made my life complete for the time being. I spent the entire time standing out getting soaked to the skin, simply because I didn't want to miss a moment of it. There's something about the feel of cool water falling down from the sky, about the fresh smell that can't be replicated, about the water rushing down the gutters in a frenzied race...

If I go too long without rain, I tend to get a little crazy. I don't know if I've always been like this, but I think part of it stems from my novel (hence the Part Two downpour). I've given seven years of my life to a character who almost constantly lives in the rain. I've definitely become a part of him, and he has become a part of me, and sometimes I wonder if we're not really the same person. He craves rain almost as much as I do. I just hope it's for different reasons...

Anyway, I just wanted to share this passion, because we all need some of that in our lives. If we have something we love hard enough, whether it be rain, a person, a story, a pet, or anything, there will always be that something for us to hold on to so we don't get blown away when life hits us hard. 

Because life is always coming.

Vegetables

Mom, looking around the room: "Yep, you're starting to grow moss."

Apparently, my sister and I have become lazy hermits with no ambition in life. Okay, that's a lie. My sister has a job. She actually goes and does something sometimes. She even hangs out with friends often, which makes me feel rather lame and gives me yet another reason to stalk people on facebook.

Summer=lazy.

Today, I only left the bed to go get food or take a shower. Okay, so I did go out and plan some FHE activities for a couple of hours, but that hardly counts. It was just another place to get food. This really wouldn't be so awful if I didn't do it just about every single day, but that's how my summer has basically gone.

Wake up (incredibly late), eat some breakfast (in place of lunch), read my scriptures (probably the only productive thing I actually do), and then turn on the computer and start watching TV. I used to be so good about not watching TV. But then I discovered the internet, and boy did that kill me. Especially when I start watching shows that have been going for three or four season already, I tend to just sit in front of my computer and watch episode after episode because I still have thirty more episodes to watch if I want to catch up.

It's just sad.

At least today I worked a bit on my novel. And when I say worked on, I mean I wrote a page then deleted all but a paragraph of it. Yep. Okay, I did create two new characters and find a way to move the plot forward from where it has been stuck for the last several days.

So yeah, I was a little bit productive today.

Mom made Sara (my sister) and I go out in the rain and pull some weeds because she thought we had already spent too much time inside the room. She was totally right, but she decided to make us do this right in the middle of an episode of Chuck. Not cool, Mom, not cool.

Maybe, though, this is an improvement from last summer, during which my mother expressed her concerns that I was maybe becoming depressed and turning into an actual hermit. Yep, that's what happens when I don't have friends nearby. (Which I really do, but sometimes I just don't want to play. It's as simple as that.)

So really, I don't see much of a problem with watching TV during the summer. It's research in my opinion, and I still get things done that I need to. Speaking of which, I should work on my paper. Due on Monday...

But right now I'm just going to wait for Sara to get home from work so we can start another episode of Chuck. Bring it on.

Since I'm obviously not entertained enough...

So I've started a new blog, for anyone who cares to know. It's all about the crazy dreams I have. Trust me--they're entertaining, so you should check it out. Because, you know, dreams are cool.

http://thedreamsofdana.blogspot.com/

The Climb

And no, I am not planning on reciting any Miley Cyrus lyrics any time soon. This one's different.

So I was reminded today that I am not a man of endurance. That could be because I'm not a man, but there's a bit more to it than that. I went hiking up Bell Canyon with my friends Kadi and Jeff today, stupidly thinking that since I'm not particularly disinclined to move, I would do just fine. I was wrong.

After the first twenty yards or so, I knew I wouldn't do nearly as well as I thought. Hiking isn't too awful for me most of the time, but since I've spent a lot of my summer inside the cool house on the couch or on my bed, I haven't had much exercise. I did alright, though, considering, at least until we continued on past the reservoir (which was absolutely gorgeous and full to the brim of the bluest water imaginable up in the mountains). Once we hit the rocky sections that required me to step up a foot or two with nearly each step, I remembered that I'm not much for stamina.

I do great if I can take frequent breaks, which I did whenever I could. Kadi is one of those that just keeps going and going because she'll get too tired if she sits down and takes a breather, but I am definitely not built that way. Once I sit down for a minute and let my heart slow down a pace or two, I'm good to go until the next break. I'm not sure why that's the way that works for me, but I work with it because it works with me.

It's the same thing with my life, too. There are some people who look ahead and see their whole lives in front of them, and they just keep pushing through because if they stop and take a break, they probably won't make it to their goal. I, on the other hand, can only take one thing at a time. Sometimes I can't even think about what's happening on Tuesday when something's happening Saturday. Sure, I still keep in the back of my mind thoughts about where I'm supposed to be going, but my main focus is always on what's just ahead.

I think that might be why things don't get to me, even when they probably should. I live life in segments, segments that only affect each other if I want them to. For me, life is easy that way, and I do what I can with it.

So even if my life is going uphill, all I have to do is get through it, and then I can fully enjoy the freedom of coasting down.



And here's a random thought from the day:
We were walking along the trail, and Jeff didn't recognize anything, so he thought maybe we were heading the wrong way. "Turn around," I told him, "and you'll remember." How's that for profound? That's all we need to do with our pasts; turn around and remember, because otherwise we may turn the wrong way. Ha.

The End

I can't believe it's over.

When I was eleven years old, I discovered Harry Potter. Fitting, seeing as Harry was also eleven in the first book. I grew up with the guy almost year for year, and last night I had to experience the end. Again.

It was hard enough reading the end of the seventh book in the series. I almost didn't read Rowling's epilogue because doing so would mean it really was over, and I couldn't handle that very well. Harry Potter was and still is the greatest series of books I've ever read, and having to see it end nearly killed me.

But what a finish.

I never expected what I saw last night. The trailer for the final film made the movie look monumentally epic, the perfect way to end a phenomenon that lasted ten years (as far as the films go). And yet, as I sat in the theater as the credits rolled, I marveled at how much the movie still blew me away, even though I went in expecting the greatest Harry Potter movie ever made. I literally sat shaking as the lights came back on.

I've been seeing on Facebook reviews by my friends, saying the movie lacked what they hoped and they were a little disappointed. Maybe I convinced myself that they couldn't have made it much better, but I really can't see how people were disappointed at all. For me, the movie was absolutely fantastic. It made me want to cheer, weep, laugh, and get angry all at the same time, and that doesn't usually happen with me. Especially the crying part. That almost never happens with me. And I got so close to crying so many times in this movie. Even now, as I sit on my bed twelve hours after the movie ended, I want to cry.

I can't believe it's over.

I can't help but wonder what I'm supposed to do now that I'm no longer waiting for the next movie to come out. I suppose, since I got over it with the books, I'll survive. But when I turned the final page of the book, I knew there were still movies to come. Not so with the films.

It really is over, and now, like Harry, I have to grow up.

Goodbye, childhood.

In the Middle of the Night

This post is early, because I'll be a bit busy camping on Tuesday. So this is a treat!

Today, my friends, is Free Slurpee Day, 7-11. And yes, since it is after one in the morning, today is today. I wanted to make that distinction, because I still feel like today is Sunday, seeing as I have yet to go to bed. Let me tell you...strange things happen at night.

Like Slurpee adventures. Three different stops, three different Slurpees, and some of the people I was with were planning to go out to more stores to get even more. No wonder they've always been out of the free cups when I get there at noon. Everyone takes them at the stroke of midnight! I'm sad to say that I've become one of those cup-stealing hooligans who traverse the quiet midnight streets. But there's something different about a free Slurpee that you can't find in a purchased one. The little cups, too small for a real refreshing treat but big enough to enjoy a couple of flavors, brought some people together that had never met before. That doesn't happen too often, now does it? We plan to save our cups (there were many) to make a little Slurpee cup pyramid in memory of the night's events. We definitely made it a momentous occasion as we sat slurping our delectable frozen Slurpees. According to Eli, "A toast to, in my opinion, the only holiday in July."

And we saw a dead cat. In the middle of the road. Our driver wanted to save him but he was too far gone for us to do anything. It was really quite depressing, actually. We drank to his afterlife happiness with our next Slurpee. Well, at least I did. I felt rather bad for that poor little kitty.

On a happier note, I've been playing with a fruit fly that seems to enjoy the light of my computer screen. It's afraid of the cursor, so I've been controlling it, forcing it to walk in directions it doesn't want to walk. Some may call it cruel, but that's what happens in the middle of the night; people change, get crazy, and do things they wouldn't do in the light of day. Except me, because I tend to do the same things during the day that I do at night.

Now, as random as this all is, I'm wondering if there is something to learn from these few little adventures I just had. 

Yes.

Because it's not always easy to see when something is good for you. Like tonight. On any normal night, I'd be asleep, dreaming some crazy dream about a man stealing people's shoes. But not tonight. Because tonight I had an adventure with my little sister's friends (because all my friends are being normal and sleeping), and it gave me the desire to have more random adventures in the middle of the night.

And I don't need a holiday to do it.

Can I Have Your Number?

Sometimes I surprise myself with how observant I can be, especially when half the time I don't realize when someone is talking to me.

Somehow, "I think Erica's cute" turned into "I want to get her number, distract everyone else so I don't get embarrassed" in my head this weekend. I was surprised when my brother, Rob, even told me he wanted to ask Erica on a date--apparently we have that sort of sibling relationship, now. That's why, when I saw her walk into ward prayer Sunday night, I decided to do everything I could to help my dear brother, especially after he confided in me like that.

Immediately after the mingling began, Rob went straight to the back of the room and started talking to the cute little Peruvian girl named Erica. I was pretty proud of how easily he just broke into conversation--I should learn a thing or two from him. They talked most about music (and I know this because I was listening in while I had my own little conversations) and about how they like the same kind, which is pretty impressive, because Rob listens to the strangest music the world has to offer. I wasn't feeling very well that night and wanted to go home to my bed, but I was kind to my brother and hung around so he could keep talking. Not only that, but I wanted to see if he'd be successful.

After a while, someone else came and grabbed Rob to talk to him about something, and he disappeared for a second, leaving Erica wondering (I'm sure) whether she should stay or go. After less than a minute, Rob came back and quickly told Erica, "Don't go anywhere; I'll be right back." Aww, said the voice in my head. He likes her. I knew that already, but it was cute to see.

So there Erica stood, waiting for her dashing man to return. (And when I say dashing, I don't necessarily mean it. Rob's got enough hair for three of him.) I could tell she was a little uncomfortable and couldn't quite jump into the conversation of the rest of our group, but what could I do? I don't have Rob's knack for speaking to people easily. I was saved from feeling bad, though, when Rob came back once again.

"It looks like we'll be practicing for a while, so..." He glanced at all of us, who had, of course, stopped our conversation to listen to his. Rob tried to get us to keep talking, but no one wanted to. What he was about to say to Erica was far more interesting than anything we had to say. But I already knew what Rob wanted to say to this girl, and I knew that he didn't want to say it in front of anyone else.

So I turned to the others and started describing one of the rapids on the Grand Canyon, one that can be interesting to just about anyone, all the while listening to the tiny Rob voice to my right saying, "So what's your number?"

What I learned from this is that I'm far better at paying attention to other people's dealings than I am to my own, and this can definitely prove useful in certain situations.

And more people need to learn a lesson from Rob--it's really not that hard to walk up and talk to a girl you like, as long as you have an awesome little sister to keep your conversation private.

Jumping

There's something to learn from climbing a post thirty feet in the air, standing on a 2'x2' platform, and getting ready to jump.

It's a leap of faith.

Ever since I can remember, I've been afraid of heights. Deathly afraid. I was the one who looked at a roller coaster and absolutely refused to even set foot in the line because, or course, it went way too high. Cliff jumping--never. Although, I did learn to climb up a bunch of rock to jump into the Snake River, though it always took me a while to make the actual jump. After that, I didn't have much of a problem jumping into water. But get me high above a bunch of very solid, very hard land, and I start to tremble.

I know I'm not the only one with this problem--I don't think it's so much a fear of heights, but more of a fear of falling. Without meaning to, I tend to picture what it would be like to slip and fall off a cliff or out of a tree, including the part where I hit the ground and smash into a million pieces. Not that that would actually happen, but my mind thinks it would.

That's why, when my singles' ward went to Clas Ropes Course down near Utah Lake, I surprised myself.

There are a lot of things I won't do:

• Drugs and alcohol are a never; it just makes sense.
• Bungee-jumping--what's the point?
• Kiss random strangers.
• Other things that don't come to mind...

Climbing hanging logs with notches in the side and walking along a narrow beam twenty-five feet in the air used to be on that list. So did roller coasters. I think it was when I hit sixteen that I decided life was far too exciting to spend it on the ground. Suddenly I was getting on every roller coaster I could. The Grand Canyon, always a nightmare for me, became the most exciting two weeks I could have spent on a river. But climbing up to a ridiculous height just to jump several feet and try to catch a ring? That still terrified me.

So why did I do everything I could at this ropes course? I really have no idea.

But it taught me something.

Sometimes, life gives you challenges that seem impossible. Really, though, nothing is. With the way the world is, sometimes you just need to jump and hope that the harness (or God, fate, friends, family, whatever) will catch you. Because you'll never reach that other tree unless you decide to take the first step out of comfort and start walking into the unknown. The rewards definitely outweigh the fear.

And it's easier than you think.

The Plan

Plan:

I was reading the newspaper the other day--a rare occasion, let me tell you--and I came to the conclusion (again) that little random columns are really fun. And I want to write one. Here's the problem, and where the plan comes in: to write a column, one has to be hired by a newspaper. To be hired, one has to have experience, experience that I do not have. That's where the blog comes in. Because basically (and yes, I just started a sentence with the word 'because') that's all a column is, just cooler because it is in a newspaper. So here's the plan:

This blog is going to be practice. I'm going to pretend that I'm a super cool columnist and this is my column. Every week, I'm going to write something. My life isn't so epically boring that absolutely nothing happens, so I can't pretend there will be nothing for me to write about. This is the plan. Write a weekly blog, and see what happens.

The things about successful columns is they either have content that everyone enjoys or the author has such a great style that it is impossible not to be entertained while reading their writing. My hope is that I can do both. Not likely, but we'll see what happens. I've slowly been working myself into different sorts of writing styles because I was starting to get bored by my own work (not good), so maybe I'll even try different writing styles in this weekly blog of mine. Here's hoping I can actually make something work in a way that people may actually want to read what I'm writing. Because (starting with it again--get over it) how cool would it be if I could graduate, get a job in publishing, spend a few years doing that (with a little bit of marriage in between), and then go to writing full time once I start having kids (which is a scary thought, and provides yet another reason for an interjected parenthetical statement, even though they are starting to become quite numerous).

So this is my plan. Wish me luck!

London, 22 May 2011

Okay, here's the worst news I've ever heard:
Nottingham Castle is closed on Mondays. Of course, the day that I chose to go to Nottingham is tomorrow, which is a Monday. I'm very bitter.
But don't worry, I'm still planning on taking a bus up to Sherwood Forest to see some awesome trees. I spent $70 on this train ticket, so I'm not planning on wasting it. At all.

London has grown on me definitely, and I've discovered that I could live in a big city if I wanted to. Lacock, however, and Oxford, showed me that I would much rather live in a smaller city. There may not be as much to do, but there is a lot less hustle and bustle, and I think I prefer a quieter life. I could work in London, but not live here.

I took a nap today, which was very sad because I'm in London, but I was tired. So I slept. Besides, we didn't really have anything planned. It was nice to just lie on my bed with the window open and let the wind blow in while I dreamed. Though I don't really know what I dreamed about. I've had some pretty strange dreams here, and I really should have written some of them down. The only one I did write down was about a scorned mistress who decided to take the entire estate of her monarch husband under control while he was away at war, and she did so by using her torturing blow darts. "Choose your torture," she said to everyone. It was terrifying.

Anyway, London has been absolutely amazing, but I've reached the point where I'm ready to go back to the states. I've been thrown out of my element long enough, and I definitely like familiar surroundings. I'm used to here enough that I could stay longer if I needed to, but I miss the customs I know. So I don't mind as much as other people that I only have a couple of days left here. I definitely want to come back some day--it is so beautiful here!

Okay, so on Friday we took a bus to Oxford and Lacock to see some Harry Potter filming locations. Just wait until you see my pictures--incredible! We all got to geek out a bit. Or a lot. It was probably one of the greatest Harry Potter moments I've ever had. I've never really been much of a celebrity stalker, but I got extremely excited when I realized that I was standing in the same place that Alan Rickman stood in Snape's classroom, or where Tom Felton was turned into a ferret. And I walked through the same halls as Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. I'm that cool. Ah! I can't forget that Amber pushed me against the wall where Snape pushed Quirrell against the wall. We have that kind of relationship, you know.

I love being so enamored by a series of books, because it gives me something to get excited about. I didn't really have anything here in London that made me super excited--not like Amber at least. She's a big Sherlock Holmes fan, so this was heaven for her.

Well, I probably won't write another blog until I get home, seeing as I'll be in Nottingham all day tomorrow, and then I check out of Regent's College Tuesday morning. I will be basically internet-less until I get home. Which, in case you'd like to know, will be at four in the morning London time. That should be fun.

Until then!

London Days...uh

Yep, I've officially lost count. And, I never find the time to actually blog about things. At least I'm keeping a journal in a notebook, too, because I really don't want to forget anything.

Anyway, we got back from Scotland last night, and that country is absolutely beautiful! Because there were no giant fires, and no one bombed it during the wars, all of the buildings are super old and gorgeous. Especially the castle. The castle was pretty much awesome.

And I really can't believe how green everything is up there. It was cold and astonishingly windy, but it wasn't too bad, so I didn't really care. It was green, and green is something that I'll eventually need in my life.

Scotland taught me that I probably couldn't ever live in a big city in London. I mean, I can do it, I just don't want to. I prefer smaller towns. So maybe I should move to Scotland, because it is small AND green.

I wrote on a napkin in the Elephant House. (For those who don't know, J.K. Rowling did that with Harry Potter.) And apparently the director for the music students who came with us has seen Rowling walking around Edinburgh (she lived there for a bit), which just blows my mind. How would it be, walking down the street and seeing the greatest modern author ever? Olivia (the music teacher) wouldn't tell us where she lives, though, so we couldn't go stalk her. I was in a bathroom that she has used, though!

Anyway, I don't have a ton to say about Scotland at the moment. The train ride was pretty epic because it definitely felt like the ride to Hogwarts, but the two days we spent in Edinburgh felt more like a trip to Hogsmeade. And I got to experience a hostel, in which I got to be one of the lucky ones in the nice, clean, Sherlock Holmes-decorated room that had fourteen beds in the bunk style and overlooked the street.

Pretty soon we're going to go try to get tickets to Les Mis at a discounted price because it is the day of the show. Hopefully that works out, because I really want to see it! And if it doesn't work out, I'll be mad, because this excursion will have ruined my chance to see Wicked as well. But don't worry, I'm planning on going to see Phantom as well as Much Ado About Nothing. And I might try to go see the Wizard of Oz because--get this--Michael Crawford is the Wizard. Michael Crawford. As in the original Phantom. Michael Crawford. Anyway, that's the plans for my last few days in London (aside from some shopping moments and a tour of the BBC facilites, which should be interesting).

Okay, that's all I'm going to say for today.

London Days 4 and 5

Okay, I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday, so here's two posts in one:

Observations of the day(s):

1. Amber and I are master navigators. Our professor doesn't realize that. She doesn't trust us to find places on our own. But we really can.
2. Poetry readings are great and all, but when they are clear across the town and don't start until eight, we have a problem. I was so tired that I didn't even hear the alarm in the morning. Luckily, I managed to hear Aleshea get in her closet...
3. The Sherlock Holmes Restaurant is delicious. But I don't like the minimum ten pound order.
4. The British, adult, completely boxed set of Harry Potter is the coolest thing I've ever seen. I have to buy it. The covers are phenomenal.
5. Poetry libraries are a little boring. Except for Green Plagues and Lamb, the Dr. Suess version of the story of Moses in the form of Green Eggs and Ham.
6. Feet don't like walking all day.
7. St. Paul's Cathedral is absolutely gorgeous! I wish I could go inside.
8. Shopping in central London on a Friday night? Bad idea. I nearly got trampled in the shoe section. Apparently, though, that store is always like that.
9. The Birds is a very interesting movie.
10. Some parts of the tube are super confusion, but I think I've got it down now. No worries.
11. A ton of people smoke out here. Everywhere. On the street, outside buildings, in the park...everywhere. I actually miss the states because of this fact.
12. I miss my kitchen...
13. Chocolate here in England is so much better, and I wish I could buy some for everyone! As it is, that might be a little difficult. The Harry Potter boxed set is going to drain me of my money.
14. Talking about Harry Potter, especially in the middle of Regent's Park, never gets old.
15. Hyde Park? So beautiful!
16. I actually don't mind some modern art. Not all of it is good, but the Tate Museums (both Modern and Britain) showed me some good stuff.
17. Boats along the Thames are fun, but I wish I could have been further toward the edge of the boat. I couldn't get any good pictures.
18. I still have so many famous landmarks to see! And so little time!
19. Time definitely speeds up here in London. I'm pretty sure that it didn't actually take us five minutes to get from the boat to the shore. We're not that slow.
20. I CANNOT WAIT TO GO TO NOTTINGHAM!!!! Dream of a passion, that is, and I've finally convinced people to come with me.

I know there wasn't much detail in that, but that's okay. I can tell you all about it when I get home!

London Day Three

Okay, I'm going to try to be a little bit better about today. And I have pictures issues, so that's where Facebook is going to come in. They're all on there.

Anyway, we went to the British Museum today, which made me really really want to watch The Mummy Returns. But that's beside the point. We saw the coolest things, and we didn't even get to most of the museum! I saw the Rosetta Stone, ancient Greek statues and urns, mummies, and so many old English things that were just amazing! Oh, and a giant sword, which was probably one of my favorites. I have to go back so I can try to see the rest.

After that, we crossed the Millenium Bridge. For those of you who don't know, that is the bridge that the Death Eaters collapse in the beginning of the Half-blood Prince. Anyway, that was awesome, but not quite as cool as the Globe. We saw All's Well That Ends Well, which was a completely new play for me. It was pretty much hilarious, and exceptionally cool because we were groundlings and I was literally resting my arms on the stage. However, two and a half hours of standing is not fun.

I did try fish and chips, though I didn't buy my own batch. I'm still not a fish person, but I can now say that I've tried it. We killed two birds with one stone for this meal, because we had both fish and chips and ate in a pub, which was fun. The dining hall was upstairs, so it was really quiet. But it was fun.

We went to Chinatown again (before dinner, actually) to buy some awesome scarves that were super cheap, and wandered around for a little bit before coming back to the college, where we saw a bunch of sleeping ducks.

And I can't forget mentioning the massive amount of chocolate that I just bought. And it's delicious chocolate.

And, once again, we managed to navigate the Tube like pros.

At least I'm more awake today...

London Day 2

Here are some pictures so far:






Chinatown!

This is how many stairs I have to take to

get to my room. Because there isn't an elevator.

Above is Primrose Hill. Gorgeous!


Waiting for the train!

Our view of London from Primrose Hill.



Taking a taxi!

Okay, I think I may be more tired than I was last night. I'm certainly not thinking as clearly. It could be because I went to bed at ten and woke up at two. I fell back asleep, but I woke up again at six thirty. Anyway, the day started bright with the Hufflepuffs at breakfast--I actually ate an egg in which the yoke was runny. Crazy!

I can't even remember what happened today, really, so I'll just make a list of the things I saw:

1. The Parliament building, complete with the famous clock tower


2. The London Eye


3. Trafalgar Square


4. The National Gallery


5. Over 1000 original paintings, including works by Da Vinci and Van Gogh


6. The original, hand-written Canterbury Tales


7. The original Jane Eyre


8. Jane Austen's writing desk


9. Beethoven's tuning fork


10. Handel's Messiah (the original, of course)


11. Many red phone booths and double decker buses


12. Two of the original copies of the Magna Carta


13. Chinatown


14. Much of the Underground


15. An original piece by Mozart


16. A 3rd century copy of the Gospel of John


17. The complete works of Alexandre Dumas (48 volumes), and an old one at that


18. Darwin's copy of The Origin of Species


19. Original copies of Renaissance authors like Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson


20. Original, hand-written lyrics of the Beatles' songs. Yeah, John Lennon's handwriting.


21. Many, many tourists


22. How easily I have become one of the people who get annoyed by the Americans


23. The many places to eat that I couldn't eat in because we didn't have time

London Day 1

To make this easy on myself, I'm going to blog about things rather than write in a notebook. Actually, I'll probably end up doing both. This is just a way for other people to hear about my adventures.

Okay, my journey started at nine in the morning at the Salt Lake Airport when I had a little freak out, thinking that I had left my passport at home. That would have been very bad. Luckily, I found it lurking in the bottom of my backpack, so I was able to check my bags and head over to security. Going through that was a cinch, and the biggest problem I had was waiting to board the plane. The flight was easy, calm, and I had a window seat, so there really wasn't much to complain about. I did, however, get to experience airplane bathrooms for the first time. We landed in Chicago around three (Chicago time), then got to spend the next three hours sitting in the O'Hare International airport eating cheap McDonalds because I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg to get a bagel. Then we boarded the huge 777, and the longest flight in the world began.

Of course, I was almost in the middle of the 5-seat middle aisle. That was fun. Dinner (curry, rice, and veggies) was slightly disgusting, but I ate most of it anyway, and then I settled down to try to sleep, watching bits of I Am Number Four and Tron: Legacy. I didn't finish either of them. And I probably slept less than two hours total.

We landed in London around nine (2 AM Utah time), and had to go to a different terminal to meet up with the other groups who were flying in around the same time. Dr. Bishop got lost in his search for one group, so we ended up having to wait an hour longer than we planned. This, in turn, made us get to the train later, and then to the taxis later. (The taxis were awesome, by the way!) The arrival at Regent's College, however, made everything better. It is the most beautiful campus I have ever seen, and this is probably because it is smack dab in the middle of Regent's Park. I could walk around the campus and park all day and still find new things to see.

After lunch (which was better than anything I ever ate at SUU's cafeteria), we did the dirty work of buying shampoo and other such necessary items. After that was the Oyster car (for the Tube), and then a long time waiting for everyone to get a phone. I didn't get a phone, though, because I'm too cool for that. And didn't want to pay for it. That put us to dinner, which was also delicious, and then a hike to Primrose Hill, which gave us an amazing view of the London skyline.

By this time, we were all pretty much dead on our feet, except for those who came early and have already adjusted. And here I am now, far too excited to want to go to bed, but way too tired to stay awake for much longer. So, until tomorrow.

When We Were Kids

When we were kids,
everything was a game,
and no matter how cold it got, or how few of us there were,

we always played.

Sometimes the big kids were too cool for the little ones.

Sometimes the big kids couldn’t have fun without the little ones.

We played the classics--tag, hide and seek, sardines--
we also created our own games
of cops and robbers; big kids against the little kids.

The jail was always by the big hill.

When the younger ones got older,
we welcomed them in with open arms;

the big kids never got older.

Sometimes we were on teams.
Sometimes we ran and hid alone.

But always we were together.

Until they built a fence and blocked the hill,
and we all moved away,
or grew up,
and the only games we played

were in our heads.

Ready, Set, Go. No really, go.

Okay, here's another sad attempt at a blog, because I'm sitting here at work wondering what in the world I am going to do until three o'clock because it's Friday afternoon and I'm number three in the rotation, which basically means that I'm getting paid to sit here and do nothing. Gotta love it. So I'm going to blog.

These things are still strange to me, and sometimes I wonder what the purpose of a blog really is unless people actually read it. Which no one does. So really, right now I am talking to no one. So I'm crazy. Because I am talking to myself. Unless someone really is reading this, in which case, hey. I'm Dana. Nice to meet you.

The Writing Center is probably the coolest place ever. Especially when the person sitting next to you just read you a poem she wrote to herself about traveling down the roads of life. Which is pretty awesome when you hear the poem and not at all cliche.

For those who don't know, the Writing Center is where cool people hang out as nerds and write papers. Well, not really. The nerds are the ones who help other people with their papers. We write our own papers at home. Because we either live here, or at home, depending on the day. Or the hour.

Right now, even though it is two thirty on a Friday afternoon, I can count ten people in here. Three of us are tutors and one is a receptionist, but only one person is actually here for a tutoring session. The rest are just here because it's the cool place to be. And yet, here I am, blogging because I have absolutely nothing else to do.

Have you (proverbial person reading this blog) ever had those moments when you are suddenly feeling like you want to write everything down because you are just in a writing mood. Probably not. That is how I am right now, and I really don't even care if I ramble on and on about nothing, because no one is going to be reading this anyway. Yay for no followers! Okay, that's a lie, because I have, like, two. Go you, followers. You are awesome.

Look, someone else just joined us in the Writing Center! Erin, you certainly picked the right place.

I was thinking, the other day, about what I would be like if I ever became an English professor. There's no way I would ever teach high school or lower, but there's the lingering thought in the back of my mind that I could teach at a university or college. Not that that would ever happen, but it is interesting to think about. I would probably become one of the strange professors, which is all of them. I don't think I have ever met a normal English professor. Well, maybe one. But that's about it. At least, any professor that teaches Creative Writing, and the professors that I've had most often, are probably some of the weirdest people I have ever met. Will I be like them someday? I certainly hope not.

Twenty more minutes, and then I can go home to take a nap. Later, I'll make cupcakes. Yep, cupcakes. Jealous? You should be.