Carbon Copy

Boating at Pineview Reservoir

I started my new job just in time to join the company at Pineview Reservoir for some boating. I need to admit something right now. The last time I went boating, I was eleven. I have to rethink that every time because it just doesn't seem possible, but unless you count the vaporetti in Venice (which were much more crowded and much less relaxing), I haven't been on the water in about seventeen years. I actually wasn't quite sure what to expect at a boating activity, but it turned out to be the perfect afternoon.

I got there a little late because I followed the wrong directions to Pineview Reservoir, so most people were out on the boat already. I just pulled up a towel and started enjoying the sun. After a couple minutes of sun-soaking, I realized that I had forgotten two things: 1) sunscreen and 2) a book. I was trying to work up the courage to ask one of my lingering co-workers for some sunscreen when one of them called out to me, "Wow, Katie, your skin is sooo fair." [I found that very diplomatic. Most people say I am blinding them and shield their eyes with their hand.] They followed the comment with, "Do you have any sunblock on?"

Perfect opportunity to ask to borrow some and even better, it was up by the parking lot, and I remembered that I had an old New Yorker in the car. Both problems solved so conveniently. I got to just sit back and relax for a while. It was only 80 degrees. There was a breeze.

I wished I had brought my camera on the boat with me but I was worried it would fall in the water. And it might have. I need to go boating more often.

Afterward, we (well, my colleagues) played volleyball while others barbequed.

And I chatted with my new boss's wife, who also went to Purdue, and wandered around the beach to take some photos. After reading the New Yorker, reminiscing about Venice (because boats), and just enjoying the silence of laying on the beach, I was feeling artsy. See:

Ooohh... shadows.

I ate, chatted, and said my goodbyes because I wanted to get home to my books. Sometimes I'm like that. But the scenery on the drive was so beautiful that I took a little detour up towards Snow Basin to get a better view.

It really was a perfect afternoon. I felt perfectly content.

Stars: In Our Bedroom After the War

I cannot get enough of this album. I never was a huge Stars fan before. I liked some of their songs and never changed the track when one was on a mix CD, but I never really chose to listen to Stars. However, I heard good things about this album, so I thought I'd give it a chance. On the first listen or two, it didn't really strike me as anything much, and I was caught up in one or two other CDs (I can't even remember what now), but then I found the songs sticking in my head. A song I didn't even like at first, Barricade, would haunt me until I had to listen to it and then I fell in love. and that song led to another, which led to another. It's going to be hard to narrow this down. I might have to post three or four songs. And then you might rush to the store to pick up the album for yourself, but you'll be disappointed because it doesn't actually come out until the end of September. So how was I so lucky to get it? Here's what you do: Go to eMusic right now and sign up for a free trial. You'll get to download 25 songs for free! (And if you say that I sent you there, I will get 50 songs for free.... so... if you don't mind... ) And for some reason, Stars released this album early only on eMusic, so you can get the rest of the songs there. It will be well worth it.

Some samples:

My Favourite Book

Barricade

Window Bird

Bitches in Tokyo

There really are several more that I love from this album that I could post, so be sure to check it out.

Flickr

I created a flickr account ages and ages ago (way back in March!), but I haven't done anything with it. That's because back in Indiana and here in Salt Lake, my Inet connection, which is supposed to be fast, is incredibly slow. It takes FOREVER to upload photos. But I've decided to try and do it anyway because you all (mostly Ben) have asked so kindly for it and I figure it's another good way to archive. I won't be dumping all of my pictures there (because, again, it takes FOREVER), but I'll post some of my faves. I just put up some from my trip to the Adirondacks in May and will try to do a little more each day (when I remember) until I'm caught up.

I just want to take a minute and say thanks for the compliments on my photos. I just like to take pictures. Maybe some day I will actually learn how to do it, but your compliments really do motivate me to try.

This Would Be The Best Thing Ever

I really want my own library like this one in Olive Bridge, New York. It was designed by Peter Gluck for a Japanese history scholar, and the downstairs holds 10,000 volumes. If I had this place, I might watch less tv.

A Model Life

A Model Life is one of my new favorite shows. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about it because it's very different from America's Next Top Model (which I love), but that is what's nice about it. The whole set up is different. It's competitive, but there aren't eliminations. I'm not sure what the culmination is supposed to be. I've only seen the last three episodes of the show (thank you, tivo). But the girls seem so much more real. There's no drama other than the real life drama of trying to break into modeling. And I love Petra Nemcova. Also, I really love Lucia's white coat that you can barely see in this picture.

One thing's for sure - they need a better photo gallery on their website.

The Roller Derby

A few weeks ago, Kris told me all about how she had gone with her sister-in-law to a roller derby game and how awesome it was. Then we found out there was a Sisters of No Mercy vs Leave It to Cleaver game on Saturday, so we decided to go. I was bragging about it to Tanker one night and he indicated he was up for watching "a little girl on girl" (his words) and Kris's friend, Amanda, was also curious so we all met up at the Olympic Oval. I didn't really know what to expect. I had some vague notion that roller derby was like hockey or dodge ball or something but on rollerskates.

Tanker and I arrived earlier than Kris and Amanda, so we didn't have Kris to guide us and let us in on all the rules. We had to figure them out on our own using our amazing power of observation. We got there a little late, too, and ended up in the bleachers for the first two-thirds of the game. But during half-time (which is seriously two-thirds of the way through, but called half time - those derby girls just don't follow the rules), we took advantage of the need for half the audience to go outside for a smoke and took their seats on the edge of the rink. This proved a much better vantage point for pictures, but there was always the danger of having a derby girl end up in your lap or running over your toes.

I kept getting into the game and missing all sorts of action shots, soI actually handed the camera over to Tanker for the evening. He gets the credit for all these awesome shots.

There were a couple pile ups, but no one ended up in our laps.

Mostly, they just skated around in circles really fast and elbowed each other.

I'm thinking about dressing up as a derby girl for Halloween. I just need to make a trip to Hot Topic because I've already got an awesome name - She's No Lady Katie. (I'm open to suggestions, though, so if you have any others, let me know.)

Going through these derby pictures, though, I just kept thinking of Xanadu. Watch to the end of this video (my very favorite part of the movie) and you will see why.

Or if you want something a little more high brow, I found these photos reminiscent of Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase:

Swinging

Ok, you caught me. This is really just some more pictures of Claire while we were at Daybreak. I've decided I need to learn to edit my photos more, as in, be more selective. It's just so hard when you have such a cute subject.

Here's someone I definitely need to take more pictures of because he is so cute and getting so big already. Basil:

A Day at Daybreak (Or, More Pictures of Claire)

Isabelle and I took advantage of the lucky timing where she was out of school for the week and I had a couple days off of working before starting my new job by spending an afternoon in Daybreak. Mostly, we just like looking at houses and pretending that we're in the market while critiquing the design and layouts of the houses as though we were experts.

I gave my camera to Claire for a while and let her take pictures. While I deleted about 20 photos of different colored paint, it was fun to see what elements of the house caught Claire's eye. Some photos from the perspective of a four-year-old:

Claire is learning the art of the self-portrait from her aunt. I'm glad I can leave some kind of legacy.

Now it's been a long time since I've posted pictures of Claire, so please indulge me for a moment. I just can't help it. One of the best things about being back in Salt Lake is that I get to see her more often.

Daybreak, for those of you unfamiliar with Salt Lake, is out in the middle of nowhere. It's not exactly where I would like to live - a little too planned and Stepfordy - but it does have great views.

A Little Time

Izzy and I were listening to this song by the Beautiful South whilst driving about town today. I love it.

Weekend Trip to Sin City: the city part

Generally speaking, I like Vegas. I love how it's campy. I love the lights. I love the "screw you, Europe, we'll build our own Venice and Paris" attitude. I tend to overlook the men and women standing on the street corners handing out "business cards," if you know what I mean. I simply stare straight ahead. But 24 hours of Vegas (including sleep) is enough for me. Meegaa and I were there just long enough to experience it, and not a moment longer.

First things first, Meegaa and I checked into our hotel, the Luxor. A friend of mine got us a great deal on a room. It ended up being in the West Tower, so we didn't get to take the inclinator (as their elevator is called), but I think it was one of the nicest hotel rooms I have ever stayed in.

Then Meegaa and I set out to eat and look at the other hotels and casinos the Strip (also a scenic byway, btw) has to offer. Ahh, the Paris. My accidental black and white makes it seem vintage and almost as if it could be the real thing.

Extravagance and over-the-top details remind you that you are in Vegas.

From there, I took Meegaa to my favorite hotel on the Strip, the Bellagio.

We stopped for some gelato.

And then we walked over to Caesar's Palace for the forum shops. I wanted to show Meegaa the way the ceiling changes. I don't know if you are aware of this, but Vegas in August is really, really hot. The buildings do a really good job of masking this with a/c (and all I could think about was how environmentally irresponsible Vegas it is to create this air-conditioned oasis in the middle of a desert), but it's a long walk to each new hotel. Luckily, they've found ways to counteract the heat on the sidewalks, too. Mist so fine that it evaporates almost instantly but leaves you feeling cool and refreshed.

The best part of Caesar's Palace was FAO Schwartz with its huge Trojan horse. (I wonder if they were trying to go for a Roman thing and got it mixed up with the Greeks, but I guess it's all Classical, right?)

I love how relaxed this little boy was. Just hanging out, you know. I mean, he might as well have been watching Saturday morning cartoons in his living room as being in a public store.

That gave license for Meegaa and me to play around a little, too. I mean, it is a toy store.

When I become a successful and lonely single person of a certain age (that time when I can truly give up hope and settle comfortably into my life of solitude), I think I will start investing in these dolls.

They are amazing. You can buy all sorts of outfits for them. And the accessories!! Don't even get me started. Look at these cute bags.

Each one a miniature treasure. I think it's safe to say that I could find fulfillment through this.

When we finally left Caesar's it was night time, the best time to be in Vegas...oooh, lights!

There was one more hotel/casino I really wanted to show Meegaa, the Venetian. The last time I was in Vegas, I hadn't yet been to Venice, but now I can compare the the fiction with the reality. Sadly, Vegas's Venice is much cleaner than the real thing, but the real charm of Venice (at least, for me) is that it's crumbling and sinking. This miniaturized version is like playing dress up. It's still pretty fun if you can't get to the real place.

And at least it's always a sunny day in Las Vegas's version of Venice.

I want to take just a moment right now, though, to extol one of the virtues of Las Vegas. And that is the predominance of Pepsi products over Coke. As a die-hard Pepsi drinker, I was very pleased. Pepsi is even immortalized in mosaics in Las Vegas. May this blessing never change.

Meegaa and I were getting tired and ready to head back to the hotel, but I told her we had one last stop to make - the fountains at the Bellagio.

I overheard one kid say that now he knew Ocean's 11 was just a movie because at the end of it when they are all watching the fountains at the Bellagio, no one else is around. That could never happen because it is always way too crowded. So true and wise.

The Luxor was a really nice hotel, but since it's at the northern end of the strip, we had a long walk back. I loved how no one wanted to take the stairs in Vegas. It's all about the escalators.

Ah, home sweet home (away from home):

We had options in the morning. - brunch, the Mandalay Bay Aquarium, Mongolian contortionists at Circus Circus - but in the end, we decided to just head out. A six hour drive still lay ahead of us, but I really wanted to relive my study abroad days some more by eating at the Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas. But first I had to find it, so I opened the nightstand drawer and found, along with the phonebook, a Golden Bible!

(I like that even the scriptures are glitzy in Vegas!)

A cardstock ad stuck in the Yellow Pages made it fall open right on the "entertainers" category.

My attention was caught. I couldn't believe some of these ads. Quick - time is running out! (And we'll just ignore the grammatical error in the text.)

Apparently alliteration is the way to go when you're creating an ad.

This one is just a little scary for me.

I did find what I was looking for in the Yellow Pages (and not in the section), and I ripped out a city map so I could find my way. Since it was early Sunday afternoon, there weren't too many people at the Hofbrauhaus but that didn't keep it from being lively. We still got to sing along and pound our mugs (or glasses, whatever) at the appropriate time. And the food was just as good.

All in all, a successful venture down south, and I made it home in time for brownies and ice cream with my family.

Weekend Trip to Sin City: the country part

Since we spent the night in St. George and got an earlier start than expected, I felt like we had time for a little side trip. I read about the Valley of Fire State Park Roadway when I worked at Byways because it was up for nomination. As a dedicated byways enthusiast (even after all these years), I promised myself I would make a stop when I could. It is only eleven miles off the freeway and a mere $6 entrance fee and turned out to be very much worth it, despite the heat.

It was worth my sunburned toes and nose.

Weekend Trip to Sin City: the not so sinful part (aka St. George, UT)

My friend, Meegaa, is visiting from Mongolia. I haven't seen her for three years, and last time she came, we went on a great roadtrip to Yellowstone. The result was one of the first entries of this blog. She has been wasting away in Kearns for the past three months, so I wanted to get her out of town and somewhere different. I didn't have any vacation time, though, so it had to be a weekend trip and since we already went north, I thought we'd head south this time and hit up Las Vegas.

We left right after I got off work on Friday. Our plan was to stop over in St. George to stay with an elderly couple whom Meegaa knew while they were serving a mission in Mongolia. I haven't been south of Provo in probably four years, at least. I had forgotten how lovely it can be, so at every bend or over every hill, I discovered it all new again. I was trying to show off Utah to Meegaa, but I think I was more impressed than she was. I kept trying to take pictures through the windshield and windows again.

The Nelsons had dinner waiting for us, so we didn't want to dawdle. We just stopped by the temple for a few quick night pictures.

This was the first time Meegaa had ever seen palm trees. We had a nice, relaxing evening with the Nelsons so Meegaa could catch up, and I learned a lot about Mongolian traditions. They told me about how a lot of the nomadic people in Mongolia still travel with yurts (or ger, in Mongolian), but they also have satellite television and instead of going out with their sheep and goats, they will all gather around the television while the herds go off on their own. I like to picture them watching So You Think You Can Dance because really, who doesn't love that show?

And then after a delicious breakfast, we started on the second leg of our journey towards Las Vegas. But first, a few photos of St. George in the daytime.

If you'll remember, on Wednesday at the Rentals I had changed my settings on my camera so that the manual was black and white. I thought it would help make some of the concert photos not so blurry. Well, I never changed it back and every once in a while, my camera would automatically shift from the auto mode to manual and I would end up with a black and white photo, like this one.

Meegaa and I walked around the brides towards the rear of the temple and then I had to stop suddenly because I heard a familiar sound. Cicadas. That's right. In the very trees of southern Utah, I heard cicadas. I thought I had left them behind in Indiana and good riddance, but their incessant buzz was actually kind of comforting. Even made me a little homesick. Or ... Indiana-sick? School-sick? Friends-sick? I don't know what it was really. But I had to stop and listen for a while. And take this picture, one of the accidental black and whites. Seems fitting, I guess, to have it black and white, a little nostalgic.

More pictures tomorrow.

I'm Down with P

The first time I had ever heard of the Rentals was when my older sister went on a date with some guy and he gave her the single of Friends of P (in cassette form). I thought that was so cool.

But really the Rentals remind me of 1999-2000 when Seven More Minutes first came out. I was working full time at DSW Partners (an advertising agency, not the shoe store) and getting ready to go on my mission and feeling frustrated with life because nothing was working out how I planned. And at 21, you think you have everything planned just right. The best thing about my job, though, was going on runs. I remember in particular coming back on the 201 and I had the sun roof open in my p.o.s. 1988 Honda Prelude (it was a cold fall day, so it was probably stuck open) and I was listening to this song, and I don't know what it was but the moment was perfect. Strangely enough, out of all the music that I loved and listened to before my mission, the Rentals was one of the bands I most wanted to listen to during that time of Mormon Tabernacle Choir, EFY soundtracks, and (I'm sorry to admit this) Kenneth Cope. I kept going back to that perfect moment and thinking about how nice it would be to get rid of my companion for just an hour or so and go for a long drive and listen to the Rentals.

I guess when you become attached to a moment like that, you also become attached to the band because the Rentals have become a staple in my music rotation. They came to Salt Lake last summer just after I returned back to Indiana. I was bitter, so when they came again on Wednesday, you know I was in attendance, camera in hand.

The band has changed quite a bit since the albums came out. Instead of Maya Rudolph and Petra Hayden, we had these two girls. But they were adorable and fun to watch.

I loved how the band interacted with each other.

I never really liked the song The Man with Two Brains. It gets stuck in my head and the lyrics kind of bug me, but I really liked watching them perform it.

Matt Sharp totally worked the crowd the whole night.

Besides being really cute and fun, the blonde girl also knew how to play the violin.

More pictures:

They changed my mind about another song, too. I always skip Insomnia, but I really liked the version they played as their final song. Wish I could get a copy of it. I thought my new found like would extend to the album version, so I listened to it on the way home. It didn't.

I have two videos, but I haven' t had time to upload them to youtube yet. I will later and post them. But for now, here's a song I wish they would've played.

My Head Is in the Sun

And two more, just because I have them with me and I really like them.

Sweetness and Tenderness

She Says It's Alright

Be Kind, Rewind

I don't know when this movie comes out, but I want to see it.

Bragging Rights

I'm going to brag about my friend, Kris, for a minute. She works as an interior designer at Denton House Interiors in Salt Lake. Her firm/agency/whatever was somehow talked into doing a home for the Salt Lake Parade of Homes and they won Best Interior Design for the 3 to 4 million dollar range. You can read more about it (and see more pictures of the house ) on her blog. Last night, though, she took me on the inside tour. Photos weren't really allowed, but I took some surreptitiously and was prepared with the "but my friend's the designer" excuse at any moment. Because of this, though, my pictures of the overall house didn't turn out very well, so I'm just going to post some of the fun quirks and some of my favorite features.

What you need to notice in this bathroom is the tile. Kris designed the pattern. That's right. She's known as the "Tile Queen" at her office and was the creative genius behind most of the tile design throughout the house.

I liked all the little square windows repeated throughout the house. Because they were so high, all you could see through them were the mountains and the sky. The sun was so bright, though, that it made it hard to get a picture of it.

I also liked how in each family portrait, the kids were all standing around holding wine glasses. So luxurious and carefree.

Kris kept fixing things as we would walk around. It's a good thing she was there. Pillows needed fluffing and photos straightened and repositioned. I mean, that's what an interior designer is there for, right?

And once again, another photo-worthy sunset on the way home.

Redemption (or, Young Again)

Last night, I attended the Page France/Bishop Allen show in Provo. It was a long drive, but it was completely worth it. Give this a listen and you will see why. (This isn't really the song I wanted to post. That one isn't imported to my iTunes and I'm too lazy right now to go find it, but this song's good too). Everything I hated about the last concert was redeemed at this one. First of all, small venue, not over-crowded. We could see almost perfectly, but still had room to breathe and even dance. Fans overhead and an open door in the back kept a nice, cool breeze drifting through. Everyone was really into the show, singing along at appropriate times, dancing, clapping along, etc., without going overboard and rushing the stage and pushing against everyone else. Ok, so there was a couple ahead of me that got a little too rambunctious and the body odor and sweat of the man became almost unbearable at the end of the concert, but I couldn't deny their enthusiasm. It made me happy to see how into the show they were. Seriously, who knew Provo hipsters were so into Bishop Allen? Here are some pictures from the show:

Page France

What I really want you to look at in the last picture is the bass player in the white shirt. He was my favorite. He was so intense and singing along to all the words (without a mic). I felt like he was the understudy for the lead singer and secretly dying to take on the main role. Something else you should look at in these pictures is the lead singer, Michael Nau. His outfit kept Judy and I wondering all night. I mean, isn't that a lady's jacket? And is his shirt pink-striped with a woman's neckline? I mean, not that it matters, but we just wanted to know for sure. By the way, he wasn't at all what I pictured when listening to the CD

Bishop Allen

(She was singing Butterfly Violet, which is my favorite song from the album, I think.)

The singer for Bishop Allen had a lot of dramatic gestures throughout the performance. Here he is in the middle of one.

This show went over so well that they already booked a second one in October with, I believe, John Vanderslice. So if you missed Bishop Allen the first time, just wait a bit. They'll be back.

The Weekend

I spent time with friends this weekend, as weekends should be. First, on Friday, I spent the evening with my friends, the Internet and TV. But then on Saturday, I got to spend time with real flesh and blood friends. First, Tom and his sister visited the old Salt Lake on their way to Reno. I met them at Hire's and introduced them to fry sauce. Afterwards, I took them on a quick tour of downtown. The visit was much too brief because they still had a lot of driving to do. Then that evening some other friends, Nate and Courtney, were in town from San Francisco, so a bunch of us got together at Sawadee Thai for dinner, followed by mingling at Emily's.

I couldn't help it. As soon as I spotted the US Weekly with the caption "Sexy Dads!" I was all over it.

At first I felt a little sheepish, but after I was done looking at it, there were plenty of others who wanted a turn.

By the way, these last two photos and the one at the beginning of this entry were shamelessly stolen from this guy:

And I'm also going to steal a self-portrait from Kylie because I like it.

On Sunday, I went to church with Meegaa and Heidi. Afterward, Meegaa came to my house for dinner and later that evening we ended up at Temple Square while we waited for Heidi to get home from her family's house. I kept trying to get a good picture of the incredible sunset, but this is all I came up with Believe me, it doesn't do it justice.

My camera battery was on it's last drop of juice, but I got a couple pictures from Temple Square.

Twilight Concerts (or, I'm Getting Old)

Last night I met up with friends for the Twilight Concert Series at the Gallivan Center in Salt Lake. Peter, Bjorn, and John were playing. Their songs are catchy, and I had been looking forward to the concert for a while. This was my first time attending the concert series. I had heard it was crowded, but I didn't really know what to expect.

First of all, lets document how the sky changed during the event. When we got there, it was still daylight. But twilight slowly crept in.

As far as the music went, it really couldn't be beat. Peter, Bjorn, and John knew how to rock!

Salt Lake City-ites, however, know how to be obnoxious. Crowd surfing, moshing, drunken arrests. People pushing in front of us, hovering over us, and tall, tall guys standing in front of us. I am getting old, my friends. This is how we looked the whole night.

I think this just may be my last free concert.

Catching Up

Aren't those the most perfect clouds you've ever seen? I was driving home yesterday and couldn't help but take a picture.

If you didn't notice, I've just done a few back entries. Things like fireworks and animals.