A Little Rambling

because if you have a book, you can break out of this world and get lost in another. It's so easy for hours to slip away silently as I roam through space and time, lost in the pages of a favorite story. I've spent most of this week in the far reaches of the universe, traveling through Anne McCaffrey's worlds once again. There are a great many books that I can read over and over without losing interest. My library is off in storage still, but it's filled with books whose worlds are familiar from long acquaintance. I am always seeking new novels, but sometimes I go back to the old ones simply because they are comfortable, like an old friend with whom one can sit in silence. I already love the characters, and the plot is still exciting. Each time you read it again there are new nuances to discover, new subtleties you missed the first four (five, six, seven...) times. Anne McCaffrey's books are probably the most often read on my shelves. Though she writes throug...

I'm sitting here watching the final hour of The Fellowship of the Ring with my darling sister. She moves back to the dorms tomorrow, and so we are enjoying our last summer evening of bonding. It involved a few hours of grudging productivity in packing and cleaning, a trip to the grocery store for copious amounts of ice cream, and watching this beloved movie. Well, I've been mostly watching and half grilling chicken and making pasta salad and folding laundry, preparing for my upcoming week of housesitting. She's been guilt-tripping me every time I step out of the room...I love her. We've had several moments in the last week of laughing till our faces hurt, breath stops, and bladders threaten embarrassment. It's not like she's going far away, but school is a lot further than the next bedroom - although even then I have a bad habit of texting her instead of getting up (or even shouting), to which she replies via facebook. We're tight like that. "...

The first Harry Potter book came out in 1997, when I was 9 years old. I don't believe a copy came into my life until I was 11 - the same age as young wizards begin their time at Hogwarts. My grade school required all books to be read and approved by parents before being put on the shelves, and my mother had heard that this book was supposed to be some kind of phenomenon, so she brought it home. Her intention was to read it out loud to us every night as family time, at which idea my sister and I groaned. We were not interested, we didn't want to be read to, but we were grudgingly dragged into it. It grew on us quickly. Every evening, mom would sit down on the couch, dad in his chair, and Elisabeth and I would get ourselves comfy. My mother is a wonderful reader, and her voice brought the story to life from the pages. We were enchanted, to say the least. Every night we'd want to hear more and more, not wanting to be done and go to bed. By the time the book ended, we...

Oh how I love summer vacation! The freedom to lounge around and soak up sunshine without a care in the world but not frying and not being late for a barbecue. It doesn't get better, does it? I've had such a fun week! I went to Big Surf with Jessica and lounged around in the wave pool and on the slides during the hours when very few people venture out to a water park. Delightful! I saw Marc and Mohamed perform in "The Music Man" at the MAC, which was way better than I was expecting. Afterward, we enjoyed deeeeelicious food at Old Chicago , along with copious amounts of laughter, as usual, and one particularly awkward moment. My bad. I took my first piano lesson in 7 years, and my first jazz lesson ever. I have a healthy new respect for my adult students now! But it was great fun, and I'm excited to continue. I had a girls night involving a ton of scrumptious junk food and lots of really bad 80's movies, redeemed by finishing the night with Dr. Horrible...

Most challenging post to date? I think so. How am I supposed to complete this without a) totally overwhelming you all with my bibliophilia or b) completely selling all the other fabulous books out there too short? I think I will arbitrarily limit myself to 10 slots, and allow authors to count as "books." If you ever need something to read, come ask me. I can't lend you mine, as they are all currently in storage. Major boo! But I can give you a great many recommendations and talk about them endlessly! And I'm sorry that I didn't just list 10 books, I can't limit myself that way. If you've been reading this far, you know how indecisive I am. And the size of my library. I can't pare that much away. If you want titles, ask me. :) Also, the Bible is first. 1. Anne McCaffrey She gets the first slot by simple virtue of - I own more of her books than any other author. They are marvelous! The Dragonriders of Pern was my first love of hers, and then ...

This one was difficult! Do you know how many pictures of myself I have? Waaaaay more than any normal person, we'll leave it at that. I love to take pictures, and I love to have my picture taken, and I occasionally do some modeling for photographers. All that combined means I have a ton of too many pictures of myself, and I like a lot of them! I was thinking through ones I loved and started noticing a trend. "Aww, this one is with my Bekah and Rachel! They were so cute. This should be it cause they're such a huge part of my heart. Or maybe the one with them and the Thompson kids and the Lindly kids and Seth with the beanie babies on my head..." "Oooh, what about this one, with Jonathan and Sean? It was so great to see them the night they got back! Or the one of me and Nellie when she surprised me?" "This one of me and the guys from this weekend is pretty cool, all smiling and laughing with our Butterbeer. Or one from our day trip to Old Town Gil...

I'm going house hunting again on Friday! Or, I will be if I can find a house that stays on the market that long...this is hard. Wish me luck!! I am not exactly pursuing my dream house, though, so don't let this post mislead you. My dream house...well now. It has a library. A room lined with shelves full of wonderful books. There's a section of leather-bound tomes that have held their secrets for sharing for ages. There's a section of childish delight in bright colors in the corner. Row upon row of magnificent volumes fill the walls, each beckoning me to dive into the world contained in their pages. There's a large window, an overstuffed and terribly comfortable chair (or two), a fireplace, and a cushy rug on the floor. It has a bright, open kitchen with lots of counter space and a large sink, and no cupboards too high. Another big window in here. And stone countertops of some sort. Lots of space for me to cook and to experiment. And to bake! The master b...

For some reason, I have this theory - if a thing is too popular, it can't really be good. I make my judgment and then avoid whatever it is I have deemed 'too trendy.' And, as often as not, I end up looking into it anyways and changing my mind a year or five later. Some notable examples: 1. Harry Potter - mom made us listen to her read it, and fell I fell in love with it. Opinion changed. 2. Facebook - opinion obviously changed. Not that that means it is good. 3. LOST - after 2 seasons, Ashley got me to watch one episode, and I was hooked. But not hooked enough to make it past season 4 on Hulu. 4. Christian school - everyone at church was going to PC, and I went to Apollo. Lasted one year, then I was begging to be at Northwest. Fast forward to college, a huge chunk of my friends are doing Southwestern, Grand Canyon, Point Loma, Cal Baptist, etc etc etc. I choose ASU...and where did I end up? 5. Twilight - okay, just kidding. Never did jump on that bandwagon...

I kind of feel like I am doing school backwards, in several respects. I started at an enormous state university, moved to a small private college, and am now doing a semester of community college. I have a hefty amount of my major requirements fulfilled, and now, as a senior, am taking gen eds. On a minor scale [accidental music pun], at SWC I took Acts-Rev before Gospels and Prophets before Gen-Song. So today was my first day of community college. I had high hopes. At ASU, my classes ranged in size from 21 to 600 people, but the professors still managed to be professional and good and I stayed involved in my classes, even if I almost never opened a book. Southwestern raised the bar in professors, but not necessarily in academics. PVCC has dropped the ball entirely. And it's been one day. Okay, so that's not fair. My public speaking teacher seems delightful. My biology professor will probably drive me crazy before the end of the week, but the class itself should be fi...

So, today was my last day working at Jamba Juice , and I have once more become a "normal" person with only one "real" job. I am thrilled beyond saying. The last couple semesters have been kind of insane. Last fall, I had 22 credit hours at school and was working two "real" jobs (teaching and nannying), as well as all those little odd jobs - babysitting, housesitting, tutoring, modeling, donating plasma (not a job, I know) - that start to add up. Besides that, I was doing the school musical, and dating, and living on my own, and paying my way through school. Unfortunately, school proved to be a bit more expensive than I could handle, so I ended up taking last semester (mostly) off to work instead. So now, I only had two credits at school (voice lessons and my junior recital), but I had three "real" jobs, plus the odd ones. At first, it was not overwhelming. I had a lot of close friendships, and a boyfriend, to help share the stress and mak...