In the right place

So for my feature writing class we had to write our own obituaries. Talk about morbid and weird. We all got to read/hear about each other's since there's only 7 of us in the class too. We spent the whole hour and 15 minutes talking about why we made the choices we did in including certain things. I know most of the people in that class at least semi-well so hearing what they included made a lot of sense. We all have very distinctive writing styles but actually made a lot of similar decisions. A class like today's makes me feel fantastic about the major I chose.

I wish I could write more but it's technically already past 12, aka it's already Thursday. I started this post early in the evening but left to play Rock Band w/ a bunch of boys I know. It was a quality decision. It's nights like tonight, at the very beginning of the semester, that make me so happy to be where I am. I'm surprisingly good at playing bass in Rock Band. On the medium skill level too! Not long ago I could barely play that game on easy.

Last YouTube video I watched: A Far Shore

The second last day of April

What to write about as this month winds down . . . Most days I have at least a little bit of an idea, but tonight my mind is pretty blank. I think today will be dedicated to some of my favorite quotes. The inimitable John Green once said, "Maybe our favorite quotations say more about us than about the stories and people we're quoting." How true this is. So as I share these five quotes and explain why I like them I'm sure you'll learn something about me.


"You are going to live a good and long life filled with great and terrible moments that you cannot even imagine yet." -John Green. This is from John's latest novel The Fault In Our Stars. It's always important to remember how wonderful life will be. You hear people say over and over again about different times that it will be the "greatest time of your life." I've heard this said about high school especially. I don't get why. I would sure hope that high school isn't the greatest time of someone's life. And though of all the terrible moments that will happen to in the rest of life, I'm pretty sure the great ones will be more prominent.


"We can have in life but one great experience at best, and the secret of life is to reproduce that experience as often as possible." -Oscar Wilde. I remember reading this quote maybe a year or so ago. It's stuck with me ever since. I don't necessarily think it's only one great experience in life but there are definitely some moments that define life, moments that truly change us and put us on a different course of action. Sometimes I wonder whether I've had my one great experience, and occasionally I think I have.


"Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious." -Peter Ustinov. I'm not sure who this Peter character is but he's spot on. Humor and comedy are marvelous. I like to think I'm a funny person and along with my whole "happiness is a choice" mantra comes the mechanism of laughing instead of whatever the alternative is, whether that be crying or frowning or being sad in general. I'm not the kind of person who laughs while the situations are going on, like if you tell me your dog died I'm not going to laugh, but I'd much rather deal with problems in a humorous manner than in a strictly serious one.

"What is that expression in your eyes? It seems to me more than all the words I have read in my life." -Walt Whitman. I am quite fond of Whitman, I've realized. Even before I read the book Paper Towns, which is full of Whitman metaphors and analogies and whatnot, I loved this quote. Sometimes you just look at a friend, or even just a random person, and it speaks so loudly about who they are. There can be so much said about simple looks that really cannot be explained, at least not fully, by words.

And this last one is not a quote but rather a word coined by the magnificent CS Lewis. And that words is sehnsucht. It means "the inconsolable longing in the human heart for we know not what;" a yearning for a far, familiar, non-earthly land one can identify as one's home. The foremost scholar on Lewis came to one of my classes this semester and he made the following point: Tolkien said “good literature should awaken a longing for place.” Stories bring up a longing within us, and that longing was often for heaven, Lewis thought. He believed if you feel lonely it makes you a relational being. If you’ve ever felt lonely in a room full of other people, it shows you were made for a relationship no mere human relationship can satisfy. Basically, CS Lewis is the man.

So there you have it. Some quotes I find are awesome. Now go enjoy your lovely Sunday. Or whatever day you happen to be reading this on. 

Last YouTube video I watched: Kids On The Run (Tallest Man On Earth)

What I listen to (a lot)

So I have a last.fm account. Basically, it tracks everything you listen to, whether that be via iTunes or Spotify or whatever other music streaming you use. I always find it interesting to look at my stats because it keeps track of what your most songs/artists are over certain periods of time. It's really cool to see the listening trends you go through, and I definitely have them.

The artist I've listened to the most during the:

• Last seven days: Walk Off The Earth - 32 times
• Last month: Julia Nunes - 82 times
• Last three months: Imagine Dragons - 306 times
• Last six months: Julia Nunes - 334 times
• Last twelve months: Noah And The Whale - 414 times
• All time: Mae - 2704 times

The song I've listened to the most during the:

• Last seven days: Walk Off The Earth, Little Boxes - 16 times
• Last month: Foster The People, Waste - 18 times
• Last three months: Imagine Dragons, On Top Of The World - 68 times
• Last six months: Imagine Dragons, On Top Of The World - 68 times
• Last twelve months: Imagine Dragons, On Top Of The World - 68 times
• All time: Ben Folds, The Luckiest - 415 times

It's good times in my music library as you can tell. You can tell I've definitely been in a trend of Imagine Dragons and Julia Nunes, which is entirely accurate. And that Noah and the Whale has become an integral part of my life. I thank my friend Jordan for that. He got me into them even though he was all the way in Scotland. (And will be for only about 2 more weeks! Insanity.)

Noah And The Whale's song Blue Skies just came on. It sure is a great one. I mean, it's sad and simultaneously happy.

Well, I'm going to do some homework now. And then I'll play ukulele because I haven't done that yet and I cannot resist.

Last YouTube video I watched: Dave Ramsey Changed My Life

First day of classes

Things went well today. I had 4 classes. Italian was the most exciting one. We are going to speak all Italian all the time. Lorraine has been helping me w/ pronunciations since she went to Italy on her fantastical little trip to Europe this past summer. Mostly it's just us using ridiculous Italian accents as if we're the Mario Brothers. Best class ever.

And I found out today I'm for sure going to be on an intramural soccer team. I'm buying my own cleats this year too, which is very exciting. They're all red. And only 25 dollars! Niceee.

I figure this should be a big day for blogging what w/ all these classes starting but I am feeling very tired and not into blogging. I just want to watch YouTube all night and be a bum. For like 2 hours I hung out w/ all these people who live on my block. We had pizza and homemade root beer, basically the typical Mormon party. It was still awesome.

Last YouTube video I watched: Planking Alaska

I promise a legit post tomorrow, what with it being the last day in September. Expect something magical.

2nd last day of BEDA

This morning I had what I thought was a brilliant idea for my post today. And now that I finally sit down to write it: I've got nothing.

The last few days I've divided my time between various activities, like eating, talking on Skype, and finishing up all of 30 Rock on Netflix. I've also done a lot of reading. Being a college student really takes away your time to enjoy a good book.

On the road trip home I re-read Will Grayson, Will Grayson (John Green and David Levithan). Wednesday night to Thursday morning (4 am) I read Anna and the French Kiss (Stephanie Perkins). And yesterday night I started Sloppy Firsts and finished it this afternoon (Megan McCafferty). I'm now 25 pages into the second in the series, Second Helpings. I'm making my way through just a bunch of YA books that I haven't been able to read yet because of college. If you have any suggestions for other good books, leave them in the comments!

Today I also finished splatter painting my shelves! I think I mentioned that my dad put up new shelves in my room. They were bare wood until Monday, at which time I primed them. Then on Wednesday I went at them w/ okra green paint. It was so much fun. I had my new music going and just threw paint all over the place, a little to my dad's dismay as some of the garage, mostly the cement floor, is splattered with bright green paint as well. I did the other side of the shelves today and felt quite pleased with myself. Other than that, I've also planned to turn the blue door that leads to a storage area into the door of the TARDIS. It's not the dark blue color you might associate with the TARDIS but it's blue enough. I'm sure there will be pictures coming soon of that. I can't believe I never thought to do it before, honestly.

Alrighty, I'm eager to keep reading so I leave you here.

Last YouTube video I watched: Peanut Butter Face Question Tuesday