The Insanity Defense

Just as I was heading out the door this evening I realized I hadn't blown out a scented candle I had burning in a jar in my room. Before I snuffed it, though, I saw there was a ridge of unmelted wax around one side, and my OCD (undiagnosed, but...) I smush that ridge down so the whole thing would melt evenly. Using the end of a plastic spoon I angled around the flame and under the top of the jar to get to the ridge, pulling it down into the melted wax. Then the spoon slipped - I found myself with a hand- and face-full of (black) melted wax spatters. The first thought was 'I'm burning! No, not burning - is it going to burn? DON'T MOVE' followed by the discovery that while the wax had fortunately not been hot enough to burn, I was now covered in it, scarf, coat, and all. My next thought was to photographically document the moment and update my Facebook status.

Seriously.

There are a couple of surprises today - the main was was realizing just how trained we have become to sharing everything electronically. The refrain 'pictures or it didn't happen!' is practically reality - seemingly an actual reality for me, as I immediately took a picture of myself with my phone, getting a wax-covered hand into the shot with my face, and then went upstairs to present the incident to my father. He told whoever he was talking to on the phone that his daughter looked like a 'chocolate-chip cookie' for some reason.

Remember how when some embarrassing or silly accident happened you used to look around furtively and hope no one had seen you? And how you'd try to forget it had ever occurred until you suddenly remembered it months or years later when you were trying to win a 'Most Embarrassing Story' contest? I think that Facebook, with its voracious and insatiable appetite for updates and information, has bred that tendency out of us. Now nothing has happened unless there is photographic evidence and some kind of validation. I'm not quite sure if this is a good thing or not - we seem to be gradually growing less and less discretionary, but we might also be getting more and more relatably human. It's hard to stand in awe of someone who uploads a picture of themselves wearing wax splatters and a sheepish smirk; it's maybe easy to see yourself doing the same thing.

(In retrospect, I'm not sure I'll post my picture. Vanity may beat out a need for validation - or perhaps there's still a touch of discretionary embarrassment surviving still. Also...)

In other news, the next surprise of the day came when, after cleaning the wax off my hands (non-burning candle wax peels easily off skin, did you know?) I remembered I still hadn't blown out the candle. Seeing I hadn't actually finished pressing down the unmelted ridge, I reached for my spoon and went at it AGAIN - and AGAIN, the spoon slipped and I got a SECOND splatter. See the post title; what did I actually think would happen?

Pressing the wax out of the fabric of my scarf and coat with an iron between towels worked pretty well; we'll see tomorrow if the mark will come all the way out of my shirt.

I'm still picking bits of wax out of my hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes.

At least I smell good!

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Apropos of nothing other than the fact that I love it, THIS:


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Be This

*putting this on permanent rotation in my head*

Signs

I meant to post this video yesterday, and I forgot. Then I remembered.

 

Simple, direct communication (plus a few guts) - it's the way to go. Shakespeare's all very well and good, but when it comes to relationships let's just SAY IT, okay? (And have fun!)

(Linked via my new 'obsessing-over' blog: A Blog About Love. One of these days - ooh, Spring Break! - I'm going to sit down and go back through the entire blog - there are lots of posts, but they've actually only been writing since September - and take notes. AND APPLY THEM TO MY LIFE. Amen.)

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Sing With Me

Ever wondered what it's like to sing in the Canterbury Cathedral? Well, wonder no more! I provide you with video-on-the-spot snippets from our concert on March 10!

First up is the orchestra, warming the room, bringing order out of chaos (or so says Haydn. Go with it).

The next one is the most dramatic moment in musical literature EVER WRITTEN, which is awesome, and you can hear me pretty well (for which I apologize).

Okay, so as it turns out you can't hear me at all, because blogger wouldn't let me upload the actual video. But this is just like what you would have heard and seen, except that our conductor is female and we were singing in English and it was the Cathedral and not a rehearsal room. Also, all the altos were behind me, so the balance was a little strange. But other than that - just the same!

Let's see if you can hear a little of the soprano...

I don't actually know what that clicking sound was. My pacemaker, maybe.

Okay, here's some friends (orchestra types) hanging out in the green room (otherwise known as 'The Crypt' because it's, well, a crypt) before the performance:

Gemma on basson, Chris on viola(? I think?), and me being very hard on the vocal cords.

I kept a close eye on the basses - we were standing on what seemed like a very rickety structure, and from that high up you definitely wanted to know who to aim for landing on should the choir take a tumble.


Right there in the corner? That's called 'context'.


Seriously, Haydn's Creation is about as much fun as you can have with classical choral music. And if you can arrange to sing it in an 800-year-plus-old building (I took the tour, I forgot already), so much the better.

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I Look to You

Oh, Whitney.



So beautiful. Thank you for the memories, and the music!

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Thirty Days

I saw this great TED talk the other day (if you don't know about TED.com and the fantastic things you can find there, go check it out - and tell me which videos you like best) and I wanted to share it:




Once I saw it, I decided I wanted to try it. Following is my preliminary list of 30-day challenges. I don't expect to do them all at once, of course (though I figure two or three at the same time could be fine) - and I am interested in any other ideas, no matter how crazy they may seem (you may notice, this list currently has a distinct lack of crazy. I'd like to get some wacky challenges in here!). Fire away!

30 days of:
- scripture study morning and night
- morning stretches, series of crunches
- reading a different play
- memorizing a different scripture
- blogging (happy to go again)
- learning a new phrase from a foreign language
- speaking to someone new
- no chocolate
- no sugar
- NaNoWriMo (traditionally November, I think... wait...)
- walking everywhere (local)
- no Facebook
- emailing/messaging someone different that I haven't talked to for a while
- practice doing a handstand; work up to walking on hands (cont. by Matt)
- no procrastinating; refuse to put things off
- write a daily journal
-

...

I think 2012 may have more '30 days' than just your basic twelve!

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What challenges are you considering?

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Bonus (not Added, Just Bonus) Post: Grammar Alert!

As a matter of fact (not actual fact, just fact) I really could care less about this. A WHOLE LOT less. I am one of those nerds who would rather chew aluminum foil than listen to someone use the non-word* 'irregardless'.

You Sound Ridiculous: 7 Misused Expressions

I feel better now.

And you should watch this:



Although I gotta say, I kind of like the idea of an inflatable hover-fort.




* I am SO HAPPY to have a word for something that is not a word, even if it resembles one (in the strictest sense).

On Being Wrong

Kathryn Schulz, TED Talk

Being wrong just means something else happened instead.

My New Favorite Christmas Tune(s)

Brilliant.



(To see the full-screen version - sorry, it doesn't fit here; or, at least, I don't know how to make it fit - go to this link.)

I've definitely ordered the album.

(And I just got chewed out for listening to this too loudly in the quiet study section of the library. You know how you never want to be the annoying person on the bus/Tube that makes everyone else listen to their music? Oops. I think I may, instead of grumbling that they're jerks and idiots, just wonder if they're unaware how much their audio is leaking. AWKWARD. And seriously, nothing is quite as embarrassing as being told off by a Brit. It could be the accent.)

Bonus Material: N&S and P&P

Two of my favorite costume dramas.

Two great stories, two dreamy leading men.

One overly-dramatic, emo clip video.

It's hilarious, in an intensely swoony "they might just be vampires" kind of way.

Enjoy. (I know I am.)

ETA: Heh. Also, niiiiice.

Bonus: Trust Me

You want to watch this. You really, really do.

Pigeon: Impossible

Why Not?

Completely adorable. Ganked from Kath's blog. New year... who would have thought you could have that much fun in the grocery store? I'm game!

Friday Bonus (Two Weeks)

CLASSIC. The drama, the soapiness, the amazingly terrible hair and clothes... hello, '80's, what were we thinking?!? Can't get past the complete catchiness of the song, though - I'll always look back fondly on the summer that this song was our (unofficial) theme for Girls' Camp. True story.

Enjoy! (Oh, and I didn't realize this until the second - or third - time I watched it, but the GUY is the one wearing the brooch.)

(ETA:  Go you YouTube and check out "Last Christmas" ORIGINAL or WHAM or GEORGE MICHAEL.  Good times.)

And, FYI, if you've got some time to kill you can go browse around for covers of this tune - some of the videos are bizarre! And hilarious! And in some ways, even more '80's-tastic! (I KNOW - who would have thought that could even be POSSIBLE?)

Don't you just want to go put on leggings and feather your hair? I know I do. Merry Christmas!

Mankind Is My Business

In which we shall see: Absolutely no blood. Just kazoos and *drool*.

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So, last weekend I had this blind date. The cold sore dropped far enough that my eye was no longer bloodshot and swollen shut, and careful makeup pretty much hid the rest. Already, my night was in the black. In reality, this "date" was actually an opportunity to get two of my friends to meet, but when I got tagged as a third wheel I insisted on even numbers just so I wouldn't feel so... odd. (Sorry.) I figured it would be a chance for me to practice, you know, talking to a boy, and that we'd probably spend most of the time gabbing as a group anyway. Not so much...

Gotta say, my non-date date was an AWESOME date. My two newly-met friends started talking, and MNDD immediately engaged me in conversation, neatly pairing everybody off. He was so easy to talk to, and interested and attentive, and I didn't feel anywhere near as stupid as I usually do trying to have a conversation with a guy. He's way too young for me, of course, but he was cheerful and funny and gentlemanly and cute and his story about getting arrested in Chicago and spending the night in jail is an absolute mind-blower! (So not kidding. It was AMAZING.) Later, one of my two friends told me she was sure we'd dated before, we looked so... cozy. That? Right there? Is a good date...

...in spite of Jason. Or, I suppose, Jason was the exception-spice that made the evening that much more tasty... (All right, ignore the metaphors. Go ahead.) We saw a play, then walked half a block to IHoP for hot chocolate. We were seated, asked for waters and hot chocolates, and before our server had left the table we found out his name was Jason, he'd just broken up with his fiancee, and he was willing to sing pretty much any Christmas carol we wanted - as long as it was sad and depressing. We got him started on "Blue Christmas" before he headed off to place our order, and we had our very own Elvis the rest of the evening. Nothing says "Happy Holidays" (or, "Your life isn't as bad as you think") like a depressed, bitter, singing pancake-house waiter! (How do we get that on a Christmas card?)

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I'm still trying to find an MP3 or YouTube video to share, but in the meantime, listen for a version of "Mele Kalikimaka" with a female vocalist and a whole chorus of kazoos. It is EPIC. It's edging up my list of favorite Christmas songs, and may end somewhere next to this one:


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Fellow Gleeks: Take a moment with me here to revisit one of the most beautiful things about a really great episode (today's) -

Have you ever seen anybody RUN like that before? *melts into a puddle of goo* Someday, I'll have a picture of that moment. And a YouTube clip to watch over and over. And computer wallpaper that plays those five seconds on a continuous loop. Merry Christmas, indeed.


(And until I get that picture/video clip/wallpaper, enjoy this placeholder from the pilot. Thank YOU, Matthew Morrison!)

Bonus Content # 9 - Sesame Street In Da House

I'm not really one for gansta rap, but...



Happy 40th Birthday to Sesame Street!

Distraction!

Now, this? Is Funny.



I would really like to find some random guy in a park somewhere and have this conversation with him. Just for FUN. Heh.

So In Love

I adored Joseph Gordon-Leavitt in "500 Days of Summer" (see it! You will be delighted!) and I'm giddy over him here. He can DANCE!!! (Okay, so it's dorky dancing, but still.... *sigh*)

80's By Way of A'Cappella Slovenia (Jazz)

Another fabulous video... Thanks, Annette!

Final Day Bonus

Video by way of Greg.

LOVE.

Sunday Snippet

A good friend and I sang an arrangement of this song in church today, with her mom on piano, and her brother on clarinet. It was nothing like MoTab, of course, but it went really well. I always enjoy singing with her - I get the impression that we make each other sound even better. Someone mentioned today that our voices are "complimentary".

I also started singing again with a local choir, the Sterling Singers. They really are an excellent group, and we're putting together a 9/11 commemorative concert. You'll all want to come - it's September 11 and 12, and the music is incredible. One of the songs is based on a poem by Christina Rossetti - it's our most difficult song, and is really unusual, and will be amazing once we get it down.

Echo

Come to me in the silence of the night;
Come in the speaking silence of a dream;
Come with soft rounded cheeks and eyes as bright
As sunlight on a stream;
Come back in tears,
O memory, hope and love of finished years.

O dream how sweet, too sweet, too bitter-sweet,
Whose wakening should have been in Paradise,
Where souls brim-full of love abide and meet;
Where thirsting longing eyes
Watch the slow door
That opening, letting in, lets out no more.

Yet come to me in dreams, that I may live
My very life again though cold in death;
Come back to me in dreams, that I may give
Pulse for pulse, breath for breath:
Speak low, lean low,
As long ago, my love, how long ago.

I'll put up an MP3 of the music if I can find one.

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I was also invited to a callback tomorrow for a show I didn't actually audition for... I'd love to do it, so I'm calling the other school in England first thing in the morning to see if they have any status updates for me. At this point, I figure if I get in to this second school, I'll go. If I don't, I'll try for this show and a job here in Salt Lake, and attend the program I really want to get into at the first school next fall. (They've already accepted me for a different program, one I applied for accidentally, but the program I should have applied for is full. I'm fairly certain I could get in for next year.)

Tomorrow morning should be interesting.