Words of Truth, Mr. Hugo

So I was reading in Les Miserables last night when I came across this little piece of wisdom that I thought was particularly fitting for my situation:

. . . nothing is more dangerous than discontinued labor; it is a habit lost. A habit easy to abandon, difficult to resume.

A certain amount of reverie is good, like a narcotic in discreet doses. It soothes the fever, occasionally high, of the brain at work, and produces in the mind a soft, fresh vapor that corrects the all too angular contours of pure thought, fills up the gaps and intervals here and there, binds them together, and dulls the sharp corners of ideas. But too much reverie submerges and drowns. Woe to the intellectual who lets him fall completely from thought into reverie! He thinks he will rise again easily, and he says that, after all, it is the same thing. An error!

Thought is the labor of the intellect, reverie its pleasure. To replace thought with reverie is to confound poison with nourishment.

On the Event of Mother's Day

Mother o' Mine by Rudyard Kipling

If I were hanged on the highest hill,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose love would follow me still,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

If I were drowned in the deepest sea,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose tears would come down to me,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

If I were damned of body and soul,
I know whose prayers would make me whole,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

If Life Were a Musical . . .

Here's a list of my some favorite movie musicals (before anyone gets on me about a certain musical not on this list [or a musical on this list], please note that it says movie musicals). This discludes (which I know isn't a word, but it should be) all Disney musicals (because I like most of them). The list would also be too long to list all of my favorite classic musicals with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire and all them.

Singing in the Rain (1952)

Okay, this does have Gene Kelly in it, but it is the ultimate Gene Kelly musical! If I could only watch one Kelly movie for the rest of my (the horror!), it would be this one. Debbie Reynolds is beautiful in it. And it is so funny! Wonderful songs, wonderful dancing. Love it.

R&H's Cinderella (1957)

This is the very first R&H Cinderella. History lesson: This was written for TV, and this was a live broadcast--there was no dubbing, no going back and cutting. And I love Julie Andrews. She is beautiful, graceful, classy, and had a wonderful voice. The clip above is "My Own Little Corner," but if you watch all of it, you will see that her ball gown is far superior to any other R&H Cinderella, as is the rest of the musical. Unless, you know, you like the impossibility of the Brandy version, with a white king, a black queen, and an Asian prince.

My Fair Lady (1964)

Who doesn't love this musical? I do have to say, that I think Julie Andrews was cheated out of the part of Eliza, considering she played her on Broadway, but I do have a love for Audrey Hepburn. And Marni Nixon (who dubbed Audrey's singing) has a wonderful voice (you have also heard her voice in other movie musicals such as The King and I, and West Side Story).

The Sound of Music (1965)

Another Julie Andrews. What can I say? I just really like her. This is another movie that I think it is impossible not to love. Christopher Plummer is so handsome and has those beautiful bright blue eyes. The songs are wonderful, the scenery sublime, and the kids are just so darn cute. This is the ultimate love story.

Finian's Rainbow (1968)

This is a movie that most people don't know about, which is a shame. It has Fred Astaire in it (obviously an older Fred Astaire, not that that hampered his dancing at all), and Petula Clark. It is the story of an Irish man and his daughter "following the rainbow" to a small American town. The scene I linked to is one of my favorite songs, but it isn't a very good introduction to the movie, which I apologize for. Basically, just get the movie and watch it. It's very 70s, but has great music and a fun story (including leprechauns!)

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

This scene was my favorite when I was little. I used to rewind the tape and watch it over and over again, driving my siblings crazy! This is a heartwarming, sometimes funny sometimes sad, story with beautiful music.

Slipper and the Rose (1976)

This is another not very well known musical, but one that I grew up watching. It is Cinderella, but my favorite thing about this movie is that it doesn't end with finding Cinderella, it goes beyond that to the difficulty of the prince wanting to marry a servant girl. You will laugh at the King and the Dowager Queen, you will sigh with satisfaction when Cinderella and the prince first meet, and you will be singing the beautiful songs. My favorite song is "Tell Him," sung by Cinderella. It's a wonderful version of the Cinderella tale. (BTW, the costumes are gorgeous!)

Moulin Rouge (2001)

Let's skip several decades and get to the 2000s. Moulin Rouge. It's a slightly risque film, as well as being bizarre, but the integration of contemporary songs is great, and the love story is beautiful. The song I linked to is "Roxanne." Basically I just love that they made Roxanne a tango.

Hairspray (2007)

The reason I linked to this scene in Hairspray is because I think the words are so hilarious! "Nice WHITE kids," and "He's Corny!" Hairspray is fun and colorful, with catchy music, and a great cast.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog (2008)

Okay, Joss Whedon is a genius. I love his work and this is no exception. This is the story of super villain, Dr. Horrible, the girl he loves, Penny, and his arch nemesis, Captain Hammer. It's completely ridiculous, but you will love it. The song I linked to is a song that I used to sing every time I did laundry in my apartment's laundry room. "Underthings, tumbling."

Anyway, there you go. Hopefully you have been introduced to some movie musicals you haven't seen before. Go watch them! You won't regret it, I swear!

Memory Quilt, Part 2

Here's the first part of this project.

Okay, so part two involved sewing the rows of three squares together. Take one row and lay the adjoining squares back-to-back and pin. (One side onto the middle square at a time.)

Once you pin, sew! You want about 1/4" seam. I'm not a seamstress. As such, I didn't really stress over the straightness or size of my sewing. I also kept having problems with the sewing machine--the thread kept slipping off of it's little thingy, which caused problems when I tried to run the fabric through. I discovered it was because I was going too slow, so I sped up and this helped to keep my seams a bit straighter, too.

This is how one row should look after you had sewed all three squares together. Do this with all the rows.

When you're done with all the rows, lay them on top of each other so you can remember which row you want on top. Then fold the pile in thirds and put back in the plastic bags until you are ready for the next part (which is coming soon!).

The Royal Wedding

Because I am an Anglophile and a romantic, I did something that my father thought was absolutely crazy. I woke up way early in the morning to watch Prince William and Catherine Middleton's wedding.

This is the way I see it. I may never again see an heir to the British throne get married. I mean, I could, but this was the wedding of the decade! When people talk about weddings, Prince Charles and Princess Diana's comes to mind. Sure, that story had a horrible ending, but the wedding! Ah, the wedding! Thirty years later it is still talked about as the fairytale wedding. Well, this story was even more of a fairytale. Commoner turned Princess. I don't envy Kate for the life she will lead, but the idea of meeting a prince and him falling in love with you is something just about every girl dreams about.

Anyway, here is the timeline of the night:

2:35 am: My alarm goes off. I go and wake my mom up so we can watch this momentous occasion together. My dad continues sleeping.

3:15 am: Prince William and Prince Harry arrive at Westminster Abbey. William was obviously nervous. He tugged at his collar, smoothed his hair, tugged at the front of his uniform, and hit his hands together. But he smiled and chatted with the guests, and took some teasing from his brother. They both looked very handsome in their uniforms.
3:45 am: The Queen and Prince Phillip arrive at Westminster Abbey immediately following Prince Charles and the duchess. The Queen wore a yellow hat.

3:50 am: Kate and her dad leave the Goring Hotel. We are finally awarded a view of The Dress--one of the biggest secrets about the wedding.

4:00 am: Kate arrives at Westminster Abbey. Her dress is gorgeous. Classy, simple, and so very Kate. She has a nice train--gratefully nothing like Diana's 25-foot train.


4:10 am: Kate makes the 600-ft walk down the Abbey aisle. This is something that I am so glad I don't ever have to do--not that I'd ever have to walk down a 600-ft aisle, but walking down an aisle with all those people looking at you? No thank. Anyway, Kate walks down the aisle and stands next to William. This is the first time William sees Kate in her dress. He smiled at her and leaned over. You could just make out him telling her that she looked beautiful (awww!).
4:15 am: They get married. It was actually a very nice ceremony.

4:30 am: Mom and I set a tape to record the rest of the coverage just in case there is anything we want to see (like the kiss on the balcony) and then go back to bed.

Photo Walk

So, I am on Spring Break--well, in a manner of speaking. I don't have a job and my internship has ended, so it is kind of a forced Spring Break. At the moment, I don't mind, but if this goes on too long I'm pretty sure I will get desperate.

Anyway, I decided to not spend the whole day in bed being lazy (I know, shocker). After the morning warmed up a bit, I borrowed my dad's DSLR and took a walk. It has been a long time since I was able to take a walk in the middle of the day.

Here are some of my favorites:

Playing around with F-stops

Springtime is coming!

Last of the morning dew

Internship in Review

About four months ago, I stood at a bus stop at 6:45 in the morning, watching my mother drive off. Though I was 22, I felt as if I were 5 years old again on the first day of school. Watching my mom drive off, I thought "How could she just drive off like that? How can she leave me here!" I felt betrayed, and nervous.

It was my first day of my internship, and I was scared to death. Two weeks before I had graduated from BYU, and I was walking into the real world for the first time and I had no idea what to expect.

An hour later I got off the bus in Salt Lake City. The sun was just coming up, and my nerves were running crazy. About two hours later I had gone through all the new employee stuff and was on the way up with the other interns. I was walking in wide-eyed wonder, with a haze over my mind. Everything seemed to not quite make sense. I met the New Era staff, which was short a managing editor. Six hours later I was on the bus to go home and I was exhausted.

After the first week or so, I had gotten into a rhythm. Everything wasn't quite as new and different. About a month into the internship I was given the opportunity to do something I had never done before--I performed an interview with two high school seniors. My supervisor was out for a surgery, making our small staff even smaller. But this was good in a way because it gave me the opportunity to work closer with the other two members of the staff.

Another month goes by and we have a new managing editor and my supervisor is back. I perform another interview, over the phone this time. I learned how hard it is to make a 14-year-old talk. By this time I became more confident in giving my opinions in meetings and realy felt like I was really a valid member of the staff. The entire curriculum department was getting ready for general conference at this point. The coolest thing happened--I got to read all the conference talks before conference. It was awesome! It was also about this time that I realized that the internship was coming to an end soon and that I needed to start thinking about the future.

I applied for an open position at the magazines and an internship at Deseret Book. The magazine job didn't work out, and I just took the test for DB. The last month of my internship was spent finishing up conference stuff, and writing stories. Yesterday was my last day.

When I started this internship, I was scared. I didn't know if I would like it; I never thought I would work for the Church. But everyone talked about what a good experience it would be, and that I would learn a lot. And I knew I needed experience. Turns out that I loved it! Where I thought reading GA talks all day would be boring, I enjoyed it. I learned so much, and felt my testimony grow. I received inspiration. It was amazing.

I also felt that I needed this internship, and that God knew I needed it. Not to give me editing experience, and not necessarily for me to read all of those GA talks, though that was probably part of it. But I needed it to grow stronger. I needed the courage I got from it, and I needed to learn that I can work through things and be okay. It was hard.

I am grateful for the chance to have learned so much.