Bored in American Heritage

We're learning about market weaknesses. For the second time. Plus I already did the reading. SO BORED. And usually the Masseuse is online right now, but he's not so I have no one to talk to. Blast.

Music 201 was really good today. I'm enjoying that class, even though it is difficult. The technical name for that class is Civilization: Music 1. We learn a lot more than music though. There is a ton about art and literature, and it's absolutely fascinating.

My favorite days, however, are the days when we do focus on music. Like today. We listened to pieces of Renaissance masses, Parisian chansons, and Italian madrigals. Pre-Baroque stuff. And Dr. Howard told us really cool legendy stories about some of the songs. I was basically in heaven.
Slightly nostalgic though. I was so glad to graduate and get out of Sylvan Singers in high school, but now I really miss being in a group like that. I miss singing madrigals, and masses, and just everything. There was something amazing and fulfilling about singing a really complex madrigal really well, or about singing a mass in Latin with really fervent power.

*sigh*

I need to find a really good choir to join.

Oo! The Masseuse is on now. Bye bye.

Feeling jovial

I'm in one of those moods where I'm alone, happy to be alone, and am chuckling to myself about various things. Like the sarcastic responses of gay bloggers to the incredibly lame anonymous comments left on their blogs. Like how my cell phone went off with its slightly gangster ring tone as I was listening to a piece from the Norton Scores anthology. Like how I'm posting a blog for no reason other than I want to post.

*chuckle*

I also feel like posting a list of pet peeves I have. To give some flavor to my chuckly mood. These are in no particular order.

1. Smells that don't belong. Such the smell of a dumpster in my apartment, the smell of old socks in my car, or the smell of sewage next to the Widtsoe building.
2. Bad smells in general. BO, mustiness, garbage, moldy dishcloths, pickles, saurkraut, etc.
3. People who are perky in the morning. I am TIRED in the morning. I DO NOT want to talk to you (in person--phone calls/IM are not bad). STOP telling me stupid random pointless long boring stories in the morning! I won't pay much attention, and I certainly won't respond much.
4. When people say incredibly awkward depressing things and expect a response. Like telling me about your co-worker's depression over her husband being deployed to Iraq, and then going on about what a *delete* President Bush is. A) I'm sorry, that sucks, but I don't know this person, 2) What the hell am I supposed to say to that? You're obviously more emotionally involved in this than I am, and D) I hate politics and would rather not rant uninformedly about our president.
5. Politics. Everything is distorted and controversial, and no matter who we get to be the president, there will always be TONS of complainers. Let's face it--most issues are lose-lose situations, and I'm sick and tired of debating about it. NO ONE IS GOING TO WIN. We will forever have differing opinions. And as far as President Bush goes, he's a good man. He's just not the brightest crayon in the box, and not the best president either. But whatever. Our nation is still successful and in tact, my freedoms are being preserved, so I'd rather not complain.
6. People who will respond to my last paragraph. Don't even bother. And if you're worried about my political notions, well...get over it and worry about yourself.
7. Wind. It messes up my hair, makes me cold, and turns my umbrellas inside-out.
8. Invasions of my personal space. I think I will just have to write a separate post about this one. There's too much to say.
9. Ditsy girls. Umm...can you NOT? The high-pitched voices, the screaming, the giggling, the incessant talk about boys and how they're so cute...Let's just stop.
10. Slow, boring, pointless stories. Consolidate. Please. Brevity is the soul of wit.
11. Puns.

That is enough for now. The chuckling is gone and I mostly want to take a shower and go to bed early. Hooray!

By the way, was Soulforce around today? Just curious. I know their march around campus is tomorrow...

PS--

I hate St. Patrick's Day. I'm not wearing green. I don't intend on wearing green. And if you even freaking attempt to pinch me, you better be able to run really fast before my fist connects with your face/groin/stomach.

Happy St. Patrick's Day. :)

Boys

Cuorderoy has gone on three dates with Ralph Waldo. He's really cool. She's not sure if she likes him yet, but I'm happy that she has someone cool pursuing her.

My older brother proposed to his now-fiancee last night. It's sort of weird, but I'm glad that he found someone. For a while he was completely anti-marriage, so the fact that he wants to marry her tells me he's madly in love. Which is great, because she's a really cool person and brings out the best in him. The scary thing though is that I'm next--both of my older siblings are married, and my younger siblings are both boys who have several years plus missions before they'll get married. I don't plan on getting married anytime soon, but it's still weird to think that I'm next. :/

If any of you were wondering, I asked Guy 1 (I will call him PaperTowel from now on) from TOPS out to lunch yesterday. We talked, at delicious food at Pita Pit, decided to carpool to tutoring from now on, exchanged phone numbers, and extended the "if you're bored, call me sometime" invitation. So it was a great success. Perhaps I will call him tonight. We'll see.

I also went on a "date" (it wasn't really a date--just two girls an two guys) last night with DaJet, the Masseuse, and LA. It was thoroughly entertaining. And we made cookies. And the Masseuse played with my hair for like half the movie. I'm such a sucker for that. It's sort of like how Samantha said she's attracted to anyone that smells good. I'm attracted to anyone that will play with my hair for any period of time. There are some exceptions (I was never attracted to Mr. B. when he tousled my hair--that's just sick) and gender does count. When girls play with my hair, I want to make them my best friend, not make-out with them.

Anyway. I want a man.

I wish they had catalogues for these things.

Just for the Native

Reasons I want to marry him and/or have his babies:
1. He is hot.
2. He is as fat (not fat) as me.
3. He talks to my roommates on the phone and is loved by them all even though they haven't met him.
4. He actually called 1-800-SAVETHECRABS when I told him it was an anti crab-destruction hotline.
5. It was a "Save the Children" hotline with an option for Spanish if you push numero quatro (excuse my awful Spanish).
6. He frowns upon the combination of mint and chocolate.

I could list more reasons, but I will refrain. It could get embarrassing. [As if it's not already.]

Love you! HahUIAHUihuaIHuiAHuia! <---Brazilian laughter

QOTD

I admit--I'm copying AtP. I don't normally do quotes of the day. But I liked this one.

I had just gotten out of the shower. I tend to take really long showers; I guess the shower is just one of my favorite places. No one is around, it's nice and warm, I get to make myself all clean...I just tend to take my time. My shower tonight was a little bit shorter--I didn't dilly-dally so much. But it was still about 25 minutes.

So I get out of the shower, and I realize that Da Jet had been waiting for it.

"It's about time you got out," she says in a playfully sarcastic tone. "Although, I guess since you're so fat it takes you longer to wash yourself."

I laughed. Hard.

Pet Brazilian

Last year on Valentine's Day I was introduced by Charlene to a Brazilian named Matt. I wasn't really in a mood to be meeting foreigners on AIM (see my Valentime's post), but he IM-ed me anyway. In just that first conversation, having just met me, he was able to comfort me and lift my spirit. Thus began a friendship that I now am incredibly grateful for.

Matt is a convert of only about a year and a half. He went to Oregon as a foreign exchange student and was introduced to the Church by the family he was staying with--they were members. He ended up getting baptized, and just left tonight to serve a mission in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Like I said, Matt and I just clicked from the get-go, the same way I did with the Native. I suppose that's why the three of us are really close now (Matt is our "pet Brazilian"). The past year has been amazing--Matt has listened to me when I've needed him, he has made me laugh, he has offered advice, he has prayed for me, and he has helped me in more ways than I could ever thank him for.

Although we've never met in person, I consider Matt to be one of my best friends in the world. I've been able to talk to him online a lot the past couple of weeks, and I even got to hear his voice on the phone yesterday for one last time. I went to his myspace a few minutes ago--it made me sort of sad to know that I won't be able to contact him online or leave him fun comments for two years. He's really been a true friend and I miss him already. But I know he is serving the Lord and that he will be an amazing missionary. His testimony is so strong--I'm grateful that he has shared it with me on many occasions.

I'm such a baby! I can't even type this without crying. I so grateful that the Lord saw fit to put Matt in my life, even if it is only via email/letters/telephone. The Native and I promised him that we would fly to Brazil when he gets home and bring him out to BYU with us. He actually believed us, so I suppose we will have to keep our promise. :) Two years.

*sigh*

It was a good weekend. I saw a silent film Friday night (it was accompanied by our stake president on the organ) that was hilarious. I stayed at the dance for a little while after, but then went home to watch "States of Grace" with Roommate C, The Masseuse (previously known as CheeseWheel), and The Masseuse's roommate, who we will call LA. I like that movie a lot. The Masseuse and LA loved it (LA just returned from the mission it was filmed in) but I think Roommate C might have missed the point...She didn't say she disliked it though, so maybe she liked it. The Jerman came over afterwards and taught us how to play speed Scrabble. That was fun.

Charlene was stayed with us for the weekend, which is always entertaining. Her friend J is hilarious as well. I wish they lived in Provo so I could be J's friend.

Saturday was good. I slept in, then went to see Latin Stud dance at the U.S. Dancesport Championship or whatever it was called. He was really good. Then Maestro came over and we went out to this Peruvian place next to Sizzler in Orem. The food was amazing, and the company pleasant. He insisted we try dessert, and also let me take home the extra Guarana, which was quite tasty. Then we headed back to Dancesport to watch the pros. It was fantastic. We met up with Latin Stud for a few minutes to chat, and would have met up with AtP if I had known he was there. :( But Maestro and I had a great time. I told him we could leave as soon as he got bored, but he wanted to stay to the very end! I was thrilled.

We tried to go home but my car wouldn't start. So we just sat there and waited for Cuorderoy to pick us up, Maestro laughing at me the whole time. We got home, and he left. I never know how to end dates--was I supposed to walk him to his car? Or give him a hug? I just thanked him and said I'd see him Thursday at our bell rehearsal (that's how I met him). And then we parted and my roommates and I fell asleep watching "Ever After."

*Note to the readers--This was the best date with a straight guy I've been on in a while. He paid for dinner, was ever the gentleman, enjoyed watching the dancing, and there weren't even any awkward moments. There may be hope in the world after all.

Sunday was stake conference. Elder Bednar spoke and it was amazing. It's really neat to hear the general authorities speak in a setting that's not General Conference. It's a lot more personal and really testifies to the amazing power and spirit these men have about them. I feel like I've been lagging behind a bit in the spiritual department so this was a great Sunday for me.

So it was a lovely weekend. Too bad I'm now back in the thick of school and hw.

Pizza Man

From my bedroom window, we can see everyone that enters the apartment complex.

A pizza man walks by.

Cuorderoy: Hey Stephalumpagus, go out and get the pizza man's number.
Stephalumpagus: No way. He's not even cute. You ask him for it as he walks out.
[Cuorderoy opens the window in preparation for Pizza Man's exit.
Pizza Man walks by.]
C: Hey Pizza Man!
PM: Yeah?
C: Um...I lost my number. Can I have yours?
PM: Uh...sure...[pauses]...but I don't think my wife would like that.
C: Oh.
PM: Maybe like a couple of months ago. Sorry.
C: [chuckling] It's ok. Have a good night!
[Exit Pizza Man.]

Feeling lame

So for the past five or so weeks, every Friday morning, I've been going to a middle school to tutor for an hour. It's through a program called TOPS (although I have no idea what it stands for). A lot of the American Heritage kids are doing it because that class requires 10 hours of service for the semester.

Anywho, there are two guys that tutor in the class with me. Guy 1 is an RM, good-looking, and very funny. Guy 2 is a pre-mish, not-bad-looking, and is very funny as well. So we have a lot of fun. I've clicked pretty well with both of them, but more so with Guy 1. So I decided that today I would ask him to get lunch with me after tutoring. But when it was time to leave, he went out the back door towards his car saying, "See you guys next week." And that was it. I couldn't follow him because my car wasn't remotely in that direction. And I didn't want to ask him to lunch with Guy 2 standing there because then I would have to ask both of them. So I just said goodbye and left, feeling kind of pathetic.

Looking at it now, it would have been fun to go to lunch with both of them. Lame.

Here's the thing--I'm usually not afraid to ask guys out. And although I'm not a huge fan of doing it, I've done it many times (seeing as how none of them ask me out). So I don't know why today was any different. I don't have a crush or anything on this guy--I just think he'd be cool to hang out with. Maybe that's it. He's cool. Therefore I don't want to embarrass myself. I don't know. Maybe it just an inopportune moment.

I will try again next week.

In the mean time, I'm going to eat lunch [by myself].

I'm so bad at this game.

A strange morning

I woke up this morning to the alert of a text message. It was 8 am.

"So I think our TV may be possessed. I'm sorry if it's on or loud, but it kept turning on by itself. I'd walk away and it would turn on again. Same with the hair straightener. I ran out fast."

It was from Cuorderoy. A minute later, I received another text from her:

"I unplugged the straightener but when I came back it was plugged in. Also, the TV kept getting louder and louder and turned itself on to this murder show. I had to leave cuz I was freaked out."

I was a bit freaked out by this as well. For one thing, there's no way there could have been someone just playing a trick on her. There's no place for anyone to hide in our apartment. For another thing, she was the only one up. So I was kind of scared to get up and get ready. Solution? Go back to sleep.

Well, then my alarm didn't go off. So I got up late, and hurried to get ready. I was paranoid of every sound I heard, but I made it out of the house without any notable creepy experiences.

It was warm and sunny outside, and I had a bit of deja vu as I walked to school. I also had this really odd feeling--it was like I was in love with someone, but I hadn't the faintest idea with whom. I also had this feeling like something was going to happen, and I was sort of excited about it and scared of it at the same time.

I attribute this odd feeling to 1) watching "V For Vendetta" yesterday, 2) having an overall amazing Tuesday (hanging out with people, eating Chinese food, and just being happy), and 3) the weird text messages that freaked me out.

It's funny...once I got to school, everything was back to normal. And now I'm sitting in the library, enjoying the smell of the cologne the guy next to me is wearing.

I think it's Curve.

A potpourri of little things I have read recently that I like.

"God does not stop loving us every time we do something wrong, and neither should we stop loving ourselves." --Harold Kushner's "How Good Do We Have to Be?"

"If we are lucky, marriage means finding someone to tell us that the way we are is just fine, and there is nothing we need to change." --Harold Kushner's "How Good Do We Have to Be?"

"The moon and Pleiades
are set. Midnight
and time spins away.
I lie in bed, alone." --Sappho "Alone"

"Since I am forgotten by you,
sweet friend, I bid farewell
to a life of love and joy.

"Unlucky was the day I
placed my love in you;

"Since I am forgotten by you,
sweet friend.

"But what was promised you
I will sustain: That I shall
never have any other love.

"Since I am forgotten by you,
sweet friend, I bid farewell
to a live of love and joy." --Guillaume da Machaut "Puis qu'en oubli"