Carbon Copy

Happy Halloweeeeeeen!

{The extra Es in Halloween are to make it seem spooky.}

A Kind of Nostalgic Weekend

This past weekend somehow ended up taking me to places I haven't been for a while. On Friday, I planned to meet up with friends and heading clear out to The District in South Jordan to see The Darjeeling Limited. But I had to meet them in my old neighborhood, so I drove the same route I used to take from my first job. I used to take this side road because I liked driving past the ruins of the old mill.

I was a little early, so I decided to drive around the old neighborhood a bit. I remember when this house was being built. I loved all the little windows and how vertically oriented it was. It seemed different from the typical east benches home.

{Sorry the picture is a little crooked. I took it quickly by barely slowing down to a stop.}

Kylie grew up just a house away from me, so we've been best friends since sixth grade. We met at her parents' house because they were babysitting, so I got to see the house I grew up in.

They've painted the garage, changed the light fixtures, built a fence, and replaced our green door with a wooden one. It seems strange to see a truck outside the old Armstrong home. We're not really truck people.

We stopped by Pier 49 for pizza and then still had some time to kill, so we tried on shoes at DSW. The District is a new shopping center catering to all the new developments in the southwest corner of the valley. It's got the typical stores, Famous Footwear, Target, Office Max, Ross Dress for Less, but a Coldstone? Nope. They just have:

I could give you the same postcolonial reading of the movie that I somehow ended up spouting off on the way home, but you would get bored and never come to this blog again. I don't want that. I like people visiting. Suffice it to say, I liked it. On my way home, I drove past the Home of the Hawks, Alta High, just for fun.

Before we left Kylie's house on Friday, we heard a news report about how they were switching out the bridges on the 215 freeway the next morning. It was supposed to be quite the showcase event, according to the FHWA. I decided to walk over in the morning and see what was up. I honestly didn't expect to see anyone there, but there were.

The reason for the spectacle was that this was a breakthrough way of rebuilding the freeway entrance bridge. They have been building the new bridge by the side of the freeway for the past year or so. It looked like a space shuttle launch. So what they did on Saturday morning was remove the old bridge and then they were going to replace it with the new one. By the time I got there on Saturday morning, they had removed the old bridge and were buffering it with lots of wood for some reason. But that was it.

I walked around the park for a while, but they it was slow-moving.

So I walked back home. I saw some beautiful flowers along the way.

That afternoon, Izzy invited me to go to see Hairspray at the dollar movies with my mom and Claire, so I went to pick them up. Claire and I had so much fun playing in the leaves that we almost didn't want to go to the movies.

The movie was better than I expected, considering I had no previous desire to see it. I have more to say about that movie, too, but I won't. That evening I went for sushi with Judy and April. We went to Ichiban, which is housed in a beautiful old church.

This was only my second experience with sushi, and I'm pleased to announce that I was very brave and tried all the different kinds we ordered and liked it. And strangely enough, I ran into a girl I knew in high school there. Afterwards, I watched the last four episodes of season one of Friday Night Lights. I love that show so much. In fact, I dreamed about it that night and woke up thinking about it and realized that I could watch episodes from the current season online, so I did. Later that afternoon, I went to spend time with the senator, since Tanker was out of town again. I love that cat, and I'm jealous of Tank's typewriter. I want one.

Afterward, I took a walk downtown and then pulled up a seat in my favorite little nook behind the Lion House and wrote a letter to my friend, Tom, and chatted on the phone with Erica.

Looks like it's time to plant the bulbs for spring tulips at Temple Square.

I know I already took a picture of these trees, but I love them. And I love the Hotel Utah, which is now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. I secretly wish it were still a hotel so I could stay in it.

That evening I went to a Halloween party thrown by the sister-in-law of my best friend. I was lazy about my costume. I had forgotten about it because I was so caught up in Friday Night Lights, which actually kind of inspired my thrown together costume of a Purdue football fan. The party was held near another spot from my past, Quail Hollow Elementary, so I decided to drive by it, and to add to the nostalgia, I was listening to a mix I made in November of 2003. It has one of my favorite love songs of all time on it.

Air: You Make It Easy

Kristin already blogged about the party, so I won't add much more except the very few pictures I took. Here we have Margot and Richie Tenenbaum:

I provided the fake cigarettes, which were a big hit. Baby Basil even liked them. Speaking of Basil:

Awww... He went as Tigger, but I was thinking about it today and realized that he could've been one of the characters in one of Margot Tenenbaum's plays. But my favorite costume of the evening had to be Kelsy's, who went as teen pregnancy. This picture does not do the costume justice.

It was perfect down to the smallest detail, such as the fake press-on nails. A pretty near perfect day was rounded out by talking to Miss Kris for a while just before bedtime.

But now it's the working week and tomorrow I have my first review at work. We'll see how that goes.

Hearts Locked Up Tight Again

Some of my friends who maintain MP3 blogs have already posted about Caribou's new album, Andorra. And since they both posted my two favorite songs, I'll just direct you to Antarctica Starts Here for "Sandy" and to The House of Leaf and Lime for "Melody Day." Last night, I attended their concert at the Urban Lounge.

But first I had plans with Tanker for milkshakes, which ended up including the most delicious grilled cheese sandwich and an episode of The Simpsons. I know you're probably tired of seeing pictures of the sunset from a) my front porch and b) driving on the freeway, but I can't help it.

I met up with Kylie and Jonathan at the bar at 9:30. The show was supposed to start at 9, which, old fogeys that we are, already felt really late. The first band didn't go on until 10:30, and since they looked about 16-years-old, it was obviously past their bedtime, too.

The Born Again Ruffians were pretty good, but we were still kind of bored. So we took pictures.

We were right next to the pool table, and I kept having to scoot out of the way because I almost got a cue to my cheek.

I really considered buying a Caribou t-shirt because they were such nice colors, but I never got around to it.

Of course Concert Aaron showed up. He likes to talk about math with my friends and even though I've seen/met him at a lot of shows, I don't think he even knows my name. But progress, he totally high-fived me that night.

Finally Caribou came on stage and we moved up to the front so we could get some good photos. During the first song, just as we raised our cameras, some disheveled hair, skinnyjean wearing girl slunk in between us and in front of us and proceeded to dance. Now this dance was a combination of the slow motion bullet scene in The Matrix and Elaine's dance on Seinfeld made extra annoying because of the limited space. Eventually, we decided to follow her lead and slipped in front of her. While we didn't have anyone blocking our view, we were now extra close to the two sets of drums. It was loud, but awesome.

One of the best things about the projector they had was the shadows it made.

Caribou put on a great show, but I have to admit that I wasn't interested in staying for an encore. At 1 am, I just wanted to get home. I really am getting old.

Rebuttle

Some people, I won't name names, say that short hair can't be lustrous. I beg to differ.

Weekend Getaway to the George

My friend, Judy, set up a great weekend trip to St. George where we could take advantage of her aunt's vacation home and, as she put it, "watch tv in a different location." Which is kind of what we did. But it was a sunny and warm location and with side trips to the hot tub and short hikes in the desert, it provided a nice escape from what was shaping up to be a dreary weekend.

We left Friday afternoon and arrived in St. George just in time to catch the sun setting on the cliffs.

That night we ate pizza, played some Boggle, and had our own bachelor-like hot tub experience, since TR was, as yet, the only fella. We also saw a few shooting stars. Or at least, that was the report. I actually never did see one. But the still, twinkling stars were good enough for me. I fell asleep much earlier than the rest that night, which meant that I woke up much earlier too. I scanned the bookshelves for something to read and happened upon Cordelia Underwood: Or the Marvelous Beginnings of the Moosepath League. I was intrigued and read for an hour or so before I decided to take a walk.

At first I thought I might be stuck within the confines of the gated community because I couldn't remember the combination for the gate, so I took some photos of the vegetation.

But then I saw TR coming back from a morning run, and he gave me the password to my freedom! I could now venture towards the canyon.

I kept seeing signs about tortoises in the desert, and I really wanted to see one. I figured I would have more luck if I got off the road and followed a trail in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.

Still no luck, though. After a while I decided that maybe wandering the desert all alone with no cell phone and no water and no one that knew where I was at was probably not the best idea, so I headed back towards the house.

I loved these plants:

After everyone was up and ready to go, we decided to all go for a drive/hike through Snow Canyon. Let's just preface this with a reminder that I'm a leisure hiker, meaning, all I want to do when I go hiking is take some pretty pictures and nothing too strenuous, thanks. And looking around at the shoes that everyone else had, I felt comfortable that we were all on the same page. We drove straight through the canyon and then turned around to park and go for our hike.

We ended up on a trail leading us to some lava caves. The first one we came to already had some people in it. High schoolers. But they gave us some glow sticks.

The next cave was free of high schoolers, so Judy and Suzy took some glow sticks and went exploring.

Apparently it wasn't a very long cave because they came out the other side moments later.

I stayed above ground (because claustrophobic) and admired the pretty colors of the desert.

And the delicate little flowers.

Bryton, Emily, and Tracy stayed above ground, too.

After walking around and waiting for so long, though, we started to get thirsty. I remembered from an episode of Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, wherein Captain Jonathan Power and Corporal Pilot Chase are stuck in the desert, that you can survive from the moisture in cacti. Bryton stabbed one to see if this might be true. There was a moist pulp, but could it be edible?

We didn't want to risk it. It's hard to tell with a cactus whether it has leaves of three (let it be) or leaves of four (eat some more). When TR emerged from the cave, though, he gave us a lesson in what blossoms of the cactus are tasty.

I also discovered that soft-soled shoes are not good for leisurely hikes where it's really rocky. I felt every single stone.

After a late lunch at one of St. George's fine eating establishments, we settled in to watch episodes from the first season of Friday Night Lights that everyone keeps saying is so good. Turns out, it really is! We paused just long enough between episodes to watch the sun set again, bringing out the red of the cliffs.

I also liked the half moon, which looks so tiny and distant in this photo.

We drove home on Sunday afternoon.

Rainy Fall Days, etc.

This week the weather seemed to turn and became much colder and rainy. It's even snowed a couple times.

I went to the opera for the first time (other thana field trip in high school) on Wednesday. Tanker and I saw Wagner's The Flying Dutchman. I thought it would have more spectacle.

The secret to stopping Mia from jumping on you all the time is to try and take her picture. She's scared of the camera and kept hiding behind my legs.

Another Holiday

This song is perfect for a Friday morning right before I take off for a fun-filled weekend in sunny St. George. And the music video makes it even better.

Forgotten Downloads Remembered

Every once in a while, I will visit all sorts of MP3 blogs and just download a bunch of stuff that I never really get around to listening to. At work today, I decided to listen to a playlist of songs from the now mostly defunct House of Leaf and Lime and stumbled upon this song by The Bird and The Bee.

I'm a Broken Heart

*This link is now fixed so the song actually works. I also fixed the links to these songs by Kate Bush and Sonic Youth that I posted back in July.

Sugarhouse

Isabelle Armstrong, RN

We finally have someone belonging to the medical profession in our family that I can take all of my aches, rashes, and hypochondriac fears to. Isabelle graduated from nursing school on Saturday, and we got to attend the pinning ceremony at Salt Lake Community College.

When asked what she plans to do after graduation, Isabelle responded, "I'm going to Disneyland!" Which is true. Matt, Izzy, and Claire departed for the Magic Kingdom yesterday afternoon. (I get to watch the dog, Mia.) But in November, she will start her dream position as a labor and delivery nurse at the University of Utah hospital. Congrats, Izzy!

Another Good Thing About Fall

Oh sure, the leaves are pretty. I love the crisp air, the chilly mornings, the smell of leaves, and the Halloween ghosties floating in trees. But there's something else that makes fall a special season: TV. I'm not ashamed (ok, just a bit) to admit that my weeknight plans must now consider my most dependable friend. I'll think twice before scheduling something on Thursday nights because of 30 Rock and The Office. And you better believe I was eagerly anticipating the latest cycle of America's Next Top Model. But there's a new show on Wednesdays that also helps me overcome my midweek depression: Pushing Daisies. It's already gotten a lot of critical acclaim. I missed the series premier, but luckily my roommate recorded the replay on Friday, and I watched it before The Bachelor on Monday. I just caught the second episode, and I totally have new TV crushes. Think Amelie. The show has the same highly stylized and quirky feel. Do I wonder if this is sustainable? Yes, I kind of do. But right now I'm just enjoying it.

Millcreek Canyon

As I walked out of work yesterday, I couldn't imagine just going home and sitting in front of the tv or reading or cleaning my room. I decided to go for a drive up the canyon and wander around a bit. Good thing I always have my camera with me.

Don't worry. There are more photos on my flickr.

The Week in Pictures

{Sunset on Tuesday; view from my new place.}

{The Postman, drawing by Claire on Tuesday}

{Sunset on Wednesday, taken from the freeway on my way to Alberto's carne asada burrito goodness.}

{Parley's Canyon on Friday}

{Outside Matt and Izzy's on Saturday afternoon.}

{Deerhoof concert on Saturday night.}

{Spending quality time with the Senator while listening to general conference on Sunday morning.}

Getting Reacquainted with the Mountains

When I drive home at night, the snow-covered peaks look like phantoms.

Bodies of Water

Just the phrase "Christian Rock" conjures up a strange time in my life when I wore shapeless jumpers and tights every day. Often it was the same shapeless jumper and pair of tights with varying shirts or sweaters. My mission president was actually pretty liberal on the music policy for our mission. Where some could only listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir or Classical music pre-1850, President Hoglund just said to follow the white handbook. I can't remember now exactly what that little guide said, but we took it to mean anything connected to the LDS faith and some companions extended that further to Christian rock. So on our drives around Montana where things are measured in how much time it takes to get somewhere rather than miles, I listened to a lot of Hilary Weeks and Michael McLean. There was one song by Mr. McLean that had nothing to do with church or God or anything. In fact, it was sung as though by a lounge singer and called "No More Love," and I remember feeling a little guilty and a little exhilarated listening to this song because it had a bass line. There was one transfer in particular when I had to drive ALL BY MYSELF, which is unheard of as a missionary, from Billings to Great Falls because they needed another car there. So there I was, a missionary who hadn't been on her own in a car for over a year, listening to a love song with a bass line, and I thought it was the most beautiful moment of my life. One of the best parts of getting to know your new companion was the prospect of having new music to listen to. I got tired of the same old EFY soundtracks, so when Deb introduced some Jars of Clay into my daily rotation, I didn't complain. In fact, I welcomed it. It was almost like listening to real music again.

I get uncomfortable around Christian music and Christian paraphernalia. Those license plates in Indiana with the "In God We Trust" on them made me unreasonably upset. This is a strange quirk for someone who considers herself a pretty devout Christian that I haven't quite worked out yet. But I just can't shake this image of people swaying with their eyes closed and their hands reaching out, palms open. So when I first listened to Bodies of Water last Sunday while driving around town, I felt a little tricked.

Wait a minute, wait a minute. Are they singing about giving glory to God? Hold on, isn't this almost a little Christian rock-like?

But I loved it. I was hooked, and I've been listening to it ever since. And let's not call it Christian rock. Let's say Gospel-influenced. At least, that's what they say on their website. To quote exactly, "combining the metaphysical intensity of gospel, the primitive gusto of punk rock, the earnest idiosyncracy of american folk, the sonic inclusiveness of tropicalia, the planned jamming of prog, and the sincere melodrama of musical theatre." All I know is that I like it and can't help but sing along and feel happy while listening. Here are a few songs:

Our Friends Appear Like the Dawn

These Are the Eyes

Roar Roar Roar

I Turned My Face

And a video from YouTube:

p.s. I totally love the girl's hair in this video. Makes me want a haircut.

Adventures in Solitude

So I did things a little backwards, as is my wont. I am just barely giving the new album, Challengers, by the New Pornographers a listen (instead of doing so before the concert). I really like this song.

Adventures in Solitude

I have some more good, new (to me) music to post sometime soon, but I'm still trying to decide on songs.

Also, thank you to everyone for the comments. I felt a little sheepish last night after I wrote the entry and thought maybe I'd come delete it this morning, but then I had some new comments! And they made me happy. And I love that they were all by people who already comment. You guys are the salt of this blog.

Exciting News for This Blog!

For the first time ever, this blog has more comments than it does entries. Er, it did, until I wrote this entry. Now it's tied again. Quick, someone make a comment!

Just fyi, that's 415 comments and entries. That's a lot!! But don't you think we can get some more comments? I know there are people out there reading that aren't commenting. I don't know if you know how much I love getting comments. It's a whole lot! In fact, it makes my whole day. On the other hand, I secretly harbor resentment towards those that read and don't comment. I know it's irrational, but I can't help it. Comments help me to know that there are people out there actually reading this blog, which is somehow essential for wanting to keep it.