Lovely Commercial #1

I've watched this old commercial fifteen times in the last three days because it gives me such a radiant glow of inner satisfaction. Watch it! I know you'll love it. Patrick Wilson and Claire Danes! I love these two, especially together... I just watched the movie "Evening," when they play opposite each other; I declare the film to be superb. I had to buy it ($5.25 on Amazon including tax, what a steal!) and I can't wait to show it to Mom when she comes back home. ...rambling... anyway...

Irish Dancer's Hair

Irish dancers MUST HAVE curls. It's actually written into the technique book of styling--I do not jest. But it's ridiculous! They go overboard...not just taking "curls" as they are, but making them huge. Take a gander at these pictures for a website that sells hairpieces.

Yeah, THAT'S realistic. No eight year old has that much hair. Come on!

Blessed

(Picture of my leg a week after it was broken. NO, I am not wearing nylons. That's the real color of my leg after surgery, due to the internal bruising of shoving a titanium rod inside the bone. Believe it or not, it was way more yellow a few days before. Note the contrast of the pink leg next to it.)

Hebrew Bible Theories class today: I hadn't made it into my chair before my teacher Jared Ludlow asked me, "how's your leg?" It always strikes me as odd that people who should have no clue that my leg was broken at all (Dr. Ludlow found out from my parents at church) still remember that it was busted when I often forget it myself.

I had to laugh. I'd just finished an hour and a half of Advanced Irish Dance (phew! what a workout!) and had run across campus from the RB to the kennedy center so I'd be on time to class. How's my leg? he asks. "Oh, it's just fine. I'm on a dance team, " I said with a smile.

Really, I do forget. Trust me, this is a fact I am VERY grateful for. I can't believe how blessed I've been. Sure, I feel a twinge every so often (like in Irish when I'm constantly leaping and bouncing and I can feel the bone-screw near my knee) but generally I'll forget my leg was broken. I fly up the stairs at the speed of roadrunner, oblivious to the memory of having to hop one-footed up each stair individually while grabbing onto the bannister bars to hoist myself up. MAN AM I LUCKY.

The QE II Wedding Gown

Queen Elizabeth II's wedding dress, designed by Norman Hartnell, has a 13 ft train and is embroidered with crystals and pearls. Due to post-war restrictions (married in '47) the pearls were not available in England; instead, a whopping twenty thousand seed pearls were imported from America.


The Queen Mother specifically asked that Hartnell should use an unusually rich, lustrous stiff satin which was made at Lullington Castle. The satin was ideal for the train, but Hartnell thought that the dress required a more supple material of a similar tone. He ordered the similar fabric from the Scottish firm of Winterthur near Dunfermline. Wait for it--this is the best part--complaints arose about a rumour that the Scottish satin was made from 'enemy silk worms', either from Italy or possibly Japan. A telephone call to Dunfermline settled the scandal. Mr. Hartnell was assured the silkworms were from Nationalist China and were not 'enemy silkworms'. Ha! Isn't that awesome?


Oh yeah-- don't forget the picture of the cake. Whoa.

"I could use one of those"

"So tired... that's what happens when you get a science geek for a roommate."
"Actually it's a toga sir."
"I HAVEN'T SLEPT IN EIGHT DAYS!"

Really, I AM very tired. Very tired. A caffeine patch would be welcome. New schedule to adapt to... so tired....

Oh yeah! There are four movie quotes on this post... can you find the one that isn't from Meet the Robinsons and identify what movie it comes from? Come on, Melissa, I'm rooting for you on this one.

Leonard Nimoy's Ballad of Bilbo Baggins

Where did this come from? Best-friend-Joni told me about it but I just didn't understand until I saw it for myself. HOW do things like this come to pass? If you wish to laugh your head off, please avail yourself.

VOTE

Each semester I sign up for more credits than I can handle intending to drop horrible, evil, no good, very bad classes during the first week of school until I reach my range of credit-comfortability. To weigh the pros/cons of the purge I will observe: homework levels, lecture interest, teacher worth, and how-cute-the-guys-sitting-two-rows-over are, before making my final choice. The trouble is I can't decide what to eliminate from my schedule this time, when usually I know long before I walk into the classroom on the first day. 

TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. I HAVE SEVEN CLASSES IN ONE DAY, AND I'M HEADING TO THE GYM AT 6 AM. HEAVEN HELP MY POOR ADDLED MIND. 

Please help. Offer advice! Vote on which class seems the most odious to you and I will consider your input when choosing which of the 18 credit hours I've registered for...to kill. (Grayed out courses will NOT under any circumstances be dropped, don't waste your vote on them). I'm sure one or two of the religion classes will vanish--but which?

The Byzantine Empire (HIST 390 R)

Ancient Near Eastern II (HIST 239 R)

Hebrew Bible Studies (ANES 343)

Advanced Irish (DANCE 373R)

Advanced Tap (DANCE 335 R)

1 RB Folk (DANCE 378 R)

Revelations of John (REL A 392R)

Marriage "Prep" (REL C 234) 

Doctrines of the Gospel (REL C 431)

Old Testament II (REL A 302) --Taken it before, but this is from Dr. Parry, my favorite Hebrew prof. 

Jealous?

This is what you're missing. 

Merlin Trailer- BBC One

Best TV show BBC has made yet. SO GOOD! And... Aaron posted links to all of them on the family "secret stash." I highly recommend them.

Crushed and Melted

This sign is outside of Chili's. It's almost tight enough security for BYU's Condo row--they boot permit-less cars within five minutes. I know, I watched it happen. Crushed and Melted reminds me of something. What was it? Oh yeah: "usually leaving it with its carcass dismantled and its innards plucked and... mutilated." Ha! Can anyone name the quote?

Petty? No. Funny? Very.

Oxford Dictionary Term 2

tran-syl-vania:
[noun]

Latin: the land beyond the forest. A region and former province in central Romania: formerly part of Hungary. 24,027 sq. mi.

"Mmm, delicious!"

Too many posts in one day, I know. I just couldn't help myself! I HAD to show you these-- my textbooks for HIST 239--Ancient History of the Near East, Part II. An expensive lot, and all for one class! Much better than Part I of last semester (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Hattusa, Mitanni, and Ugarit--yuck!) this class will be studying Persia, Greece, Rome, and Byzantium. To which I say, "these are few of my favorite things." : )

Trivia: Without cheating, can you name (in order) the first 15 Emperors of Rome? ...I can. (Hee hee. I'm incorrigible!)

photo taken of books as they lay on my desk at work.

Astronomical Clock, Prague

I'm aching to see this.

"One of the most crowd-pleasing aspects of the Astronomical Clock, mounted to Old Town Hall, is its hourly display of moving figures, including the Apostles and figures representing four evils and four disciplines. The oldest part of the clock, a physical interpretation of the cosmos, dates to the beginning of the 1400's. The moving figures were added much later - in the 17th century (allegorical figures) and in the 19th century (figures of the Apostles)."
notes courtesy of about.com

Portrait of a Seaman

Evidence that men used to pose for portraits: all physical traits were captured by the artist and the non-essentials (clothes) were filled in later so you only had to stand there until your face was done. (If you've ever seen Slipper & the Rose you'll see the prince move his head away from a cardboard cut-out of princely-garb after his face was sketched and it's very funny.)

I don't know who painted this or who the man is, but I love him, don't you? The soldier, that is. I'm sure he looked rather handsome in his uniform. The sketch of his hat resembles those worn by lieutenants in 'His Majesty's Royal Navy' around 1810. I think he must have been a dashing "left-tenant." Yum. Ha! I sound just like Lydia and Kitty-- "officers!"

Do you think he sailed on the Indefatigable with Captain Pellew and Horatio?

"Thanks that helps a ton."

This scene is from one of my favorite TV shows, Roswell. 

I once polished the lids of the salt and pepper shakers on the table at Denny's for 40 minutes while bantering with a guy. This scene with Michael, Maria, and the sugar shakers reminds me of it...vaguely...my exchange didn't end this way of course. But boy would I love to have somebody grab me like this and cover for it by saying "that was to calm you down." Especially if it was Michael Guerin. Or Max Evans. Hmm. Either or. ; ) Hahaha