Crop Circles

It's interesting how time overlaps and runs into itself. How slow it moves at times, while running faster and faster every day. I remember last Halloween so vividly. I had purple hair sticking straight up into the sky. I went bowling with the ward and saw Jean Valjean, who I most certainly had a crush on. A group of us, including Gandalf (Landon Christensen) waited in line to see the engineering haunted house, but for some reason we left before going inside. Kristen was Alice in Wonderland, Cami was Raggedy Ann, and they both helped me deconstruct my hair before we went to watch "I Am Legend." It is so amazing how much changes in a year. I live in a different apartment, different ward .... which I need to make more of an effort to connect with. I had a very lame costume, although I did come out looking cute in the end. I went to a Halloween party... and saw Jean Valjean's brother, who is now married, but at the time last year was just getting things going with the girl. Was it the very next day that we watched "Ironman" and I was SO psyched to be squished next to my Valjean? Indeed, it was. I shouldn't say that I liked things better last year- it does no good to live in the past- but I really did like things last year. This year is just a bit more of a test, I guess. The rise and fall of a year..... time rolling over itself, into itself, through itself.

Time Travel

So when getting my pictures from Nebraska off my camera, I realized I had some other ones from the beginning of the semester that I hadn't taken off yet. Thus, I haven't told the stories of them either! So, in more or less chronological order, here we go.

World of Dance, September 16-19

Fulfilling yet another dance dream, I got to perform in World of Dance, with the top BYU dance groups, in the de Jong Concert Hall. Colleen West choreographed a tap dance to a mix of Michael Buble songs for the concert. I actually didn't even have to audition... since she knows my dancing. That was a happy moment for me. Anyways, we started rehearsing a week before school started and put together the dance in a week! Thank goodness we had two and a half weeks after that to polish, stage, and do dress rehearsals.


The performances were absolutely amazing! The audience loved us and gave us some of the loudest cheers each night. Saturday night was my absolute favorite performance, though. It was our second performance that day- we had a matinee show- but even so, I felt so energized. Ideally, the dance (and dancers) should build in energy from the first movement to the last step. Usually I would feel that energy jump as the last section began, but on Saturday night each development of the music gradually and naturally built into the final climax. It was an energy level I hadn't tapped (ha! pun intended) into yet. AMAZING. Outside of that performance, I loved the feeling I got at the end of each dance. As we hit the last pose, slowly turning with the BOOM and the fading lights...cheers and claps growing into resounding applause... that, too, is an awesome feeling.

Here's most of the group. Aren't our costumes so cool?

We really bonded in the green room. And I got to refresh my tie tying skills. Those ties must have been for younger guys, because they were awfully short! It's a bit of a miracle that we were able to tie them long enough to stay tucked in our jackets. Go skillz.



Here is a happy hot air balloon that was flying over campus one day. Some intelligent person a few days earlier had called BYU police to report a (different) hot air balloon floating over campus. I love reading the Daily Universe, especially Police Beat! I swear, our highly academic institution has some very, uh, less-intelligent people running around sometimes. That or they need to think a bit longer before they do things. Police Beat happily informed the student body that BYU doesn't own the airspace above BYU ground. I know I was worried that a hot air balloon invasion could be occurring. :)

Really though, I loved walking in to work in the brisk morning air and seeing this bright rainbow balloon. That's a good way to start your day.

Incredible Weekend in Cornhusker-ville

Welcome to Lincoln, Nebraska!!

Be prepared, there's lots of pictures.



So this weekend I took a quick trip out to see Chad and Michelle in Lincoln. It was so much fun! Not only is it always nice to get a break from the bubble that is Provo, but we had so much fun too!

Saturday was our day out and about Lincoln. Since it was game day, we opted to stay away from downtown. We went to buy some last things for Baby Boy Burgin (Freddy? Barathamew?). He's not even here yet and I just know he's going to be the cutest thing ever! His room is so cute, with his striped bumpers and swing all set up. And Michelle got the cutest little carrier cover so he doesn't freeze in the Nebraska wind. He'll be like a little Sherpa in his sheepskin wrap! Michelle and I had a fun time trying to get the carrier unlatched from the base.... It's actually a lot easier than it looks. Yeah... rock on being blonde.

Speaking of blonde.... so at the airport on the way out, I was waiting for my bags to go through the screening check (I flew all carry-on). I was waiting and waiting because I thought the guy was double-checking the luggage from the lady in front of me. Then I saw her grabbing her bags. I looked down and realized that I hadn't pushed my bags far enough for the conveyor to catch them. The guy was just sitting tapping his fingers...... yeah. Blonde moment. At least no one said anything about it :)

So after our trip to Target, we drove up to East Campus (UNL) to see Chad's law school. It's a nice area. And, just a little bit down the road is the.... dum dum duhhhhhhh TADA!! The Tractor Museum!

This cute little old man gave the tour. Apparently, Nebraska law makers back in the early 1900's made a law that every tractor sold in Nebraska had to be tested for drawbar pull and... some other kind of pull. As you can see in this picture, the tour was geared more towards Chad than Michelle and me.

Hey, there, good lookin'! We had some great photo ops while Chad got educated on tractors. And they did have some sweet John Deere tractors... my favorites!

They even had some old cars! I don't remember what this one was, but they had a Model T Ford truck around the corner.

This is my attempt at an artistic shot. Tractors are tough models... the car worked a little better. This is its headlight, framed by the wheel. The picture quality seems to be lacking... I'm hoping to get a new camera one of these days.

Did I mention that I like John Deere?

There are only so many things you can do trying to get cool pictures of tractors. And, unfortunately, I don't think I got a picture of THE tractor that was actually used in a test. They only test one from each model, and the museum had one of those! It was orange... and very exciting.

Sadly, that's where the pictures end... but not the adventures! Saturday night I had a blind date with a friend of Chad's in law school, Gavin Parker. Wow, I had so much fun! We went downtown to the Haymarket district for dinner. The Cornhuskers lost the football game, but there was still some rowdy partying going on. We ended up going to an Indian restaurant (LOVE Indian food!) and spent forever talking and occasionally eating. If anyone ever goes to The Oven in Lincoln, get the Chicken Bhutan. It was amazing! After dinner we headed out to find some ice cream. There was some negotiation, a few trust falls (ok maybe not), and some sweet moonwalking involved in the selection: Bunny Tracks. You gotta love the chocolate fudge goodness and peanut butter-filled bunnies. Suffice it to say, it was a most enjoyable evening. And the best part? I got a second round on Sunday! I went with Gavin to the Lincoln singles ward-- awesome people there-- and afterwards we had lunch. We cooked up some BLT's and ended up having lunch with his two roommates, Jordan and Miles, and Miles' girlfriend, Darcy. It was so much fun! They're really cool people. We had some ice cream for dessert, and Gavin was kind enough to leave some bunnies in mine :)

So, hooray for Nebraska!! Thanks Chad and Michelle for being such great hosts. I can't wait to come visit again!

Better Days

Today is a better day. It was a difficult week, but today I felt a very big measure of peace. I know that things always work out in the end. It's getting through the meantime that is hard. But on the same count, the meantime is the most important part of the process! It's what you do there that dictates where you stand in the "end." I know there are still things I need to do in my "meantime," but I'm on a good track. That feels good.

Swimming

I feel like I'm swimming, lately. Which way is up? Where am I going? I've got a general idea, but I'm still under water, just a little bit.

Under Water
10/6/09

Shimmering images dart
Across the wavering surface
And I watch from beneath.
The world is just a little upside-
Down
Where do I go now?
Center is not where it used to be
Images, colors, lights
Shift
Something is missing
It's not quite right
But the remedy is not under water
And I am.
I can only attempt--
Push--
With my feeble strength
Directions unknown

Poem I didn't realize I wrote

I had to google the phrases, just to make sure I hadn't copied someone else's work. I saw this poem in one of my journals (ask me how many journals I have). I assume it was written between 4/6/08 and 4/11/08, because it is on a page between those two dated entries. There is absolutely nothing else on the page, besides a pen squiggle, to help me identify what inspired the poem. It doesn't even seem complete..... but since I have no idea what I was talking about, I really can't go back and finish it now, can I? In greatest humility, I was impressed with the imagery and lyric (which is why I had to google it and see if it was copied). For your enjoyment: the poem I didn't know I wrote.

Face hid behind fan
Ever unattainable
Always unto death

Here within the court
Scents, sight, and ceremony
Useless days on end

He the golden child
Risen up to great power
Beloved by all

Original punctuation and spelling preserved

Addendum: I read through these some more and decided that they are three separate poems: haiku, to be precise. If you read them, they have the standard 5-7-5 syllabic line structure. I usually write free verse, so for these to have such a structured rhyme leads me to believe that I wrote these on purpose, as a practice in haiku.

Post Script to Addendum: I believe these three haiku are based on a class I took last year, Asian Literary Traditions. I'd say they best describe events in the Tale of Genji. Why I am slowly thinking of all this, I don't know. But there ya go. I guess my mystery composition isn't as exciting as I first thought.

Made my morning

I was dashing out the door to school/work this morning, happy to have an effective window scraper (sad that I don't have underground parking anymore), happy to be awake (even though sleep is so good) and happy to be driving my car (which needs gas and air in the tires-- my afternoon project). Ok, so maybe I wasn't consciously as happy as all that sounds, but as I drove up the hill past the Tanner and Hinckley buildings, then stopped to wait for the light, I saw something that brightened my day.

In the left turn lane was a red car with its flashers on, two young men standing at the back bumper. They were pushing the car. The green arrow came on and they needed to push the car up the last of the hill and through the left turn. They dug in their heels and started going... and not 10 seconds into it another guy, who was waiting to cross the road, ran over and joined in. Not a few seconds later, a fourth young man joined, having seen the scene as he was walking away from campus, down the hill.

They weren't football players; they probably didn't even know each other. I wonder if any of them even knew the driver of the car. They had places to be getting to and things that needed to be done. But in the crisp fall morning of pre 8 AM, they readily and un-begrudgingly gave service to someone in need. It impressed me. I had a big smile on my face as I turned into the ASB parking lot, ready to claim the prime "first" parking spot (the one next to the BYU official's stalls).