Happy Birthday, Marcilyn!

If you were this stunning at 23, is the world ready for you at 24? Crikey.

Erin Go Ahhhh

I love that "Falling Slowly" won the Oscar for Best Song. The songs from Enchanted are cute and all, but this one gives me wee goosebumps every time. Is that partly because I'll be on the streets of Dublin in 11 days? Possibly.

Britpop

I'll probably never be this cool or be brave enough to wear a suit coat without a shirt underneath,

but I can still dance around in a gangly white guy fashion every time I hear this song.

Oh Boy!

I'm going to have a nephew! Yessir, Michael and Eleanor found out yesterday that the little one will indeed be carrying on the noble Potter name when he decides to make his debut this summer. He looks pretty cozy until then, though.

Congratulations! I'm all smiles.

Eureka!

Note to self: You may be tempted when baking that pizza dough that you love to do like Peter Reinhart suggests and pull that beautiful pie off the baking stone after 8 minutes, but you know better than that.

The formula is simple, son.
12 minutes at 450 degrees = the exact minute that the crust achieves that perfect thin crispness and when the cheese on top browns just enough.

Next stop, Heaven.

I Love the Smell of Napalm in the Morning

Farmington library, Feb. 15th, 4:30 PM.

Me: Hello! Are you returning these movies, ma'am?
Incredibly Sweet 82 Year-Old Woman: Yes! But call me Grandma (she pats my hand).
Me: Sure thing, Grandma.
Grandma: Do you have one of those machines that can rewind VHS tapes quickly? I feel so bad for not rewinding and I don't want to get a bad reputation.
Me: Um, I don't think so. But don't worry, we can just pop them in the VCR in the back.
Grandma: Okay. I just don't want anyone mad when they borrow these movies and see that they're not rewound.
Me: I wouldn't worry about it.
Grandma: TV's just so bad these days so I love coming to the library!
Me: Oh good! Are you here to get some more movies then?
Grandma: Yes! My husband and I just love these old time musicals and watch them when there's nothing on channels 7, 9, 11, or 22.
Me: (scanning in the VHS tapes) Yep, these are classics: Around the World in 80 Days, The Jazz Singer, . . . Apocalypse Now?

Grandma: We loved all of these musicals! Do you have any more like that?
Me: Like this? Apocalypse Now? Um, I don't think we have any other more "musicals" like that.
Grandma: Well, I'll just look around then and maybe find a CD (DVD, but we understand) to watch so I don't have to rewind it. Have a good night, young man (pats my hand and goes to the CD/DVD section).

The Origin of Love

Oh-ho, here you thought the Week of Love was over and "Phew! No more 'Hedwig' videos," but I'm sorry to tell you, you were mistaken. So sit back now, my friends, and listen to Hedwig's presentation of Aristophanes's speech, glam rock style.

Happy Valentimes

Comic Love

I somehow caught up on projects last night after class and felt the slightest bit free since a professor had mercifully moved a huge exam to next week, so I curled up in bed to read my favorite parts of Blankets before drifting to sleep. Inevitably, I leafed through nearly every one of the gorgeous 600 pages and was shocked back to reality when I glanced over at the clock on the nightstand.

I was never into comics as a kid; in fact, the only comic books I can remember owning were this adaptation of The Muppets Take Manhattan (Oh my gosh--merely looking at the cover brought back so many childhood memories just now) and these bizarre Christian comics that I guess my parents picked up somewhere (Michael! They're now available to read online! Our childhood on the computer screen! Now everyone will know how Hansi was wrong to love the Swastika.)
Thankfully, Blankets' author Craig Thompson gave up his initial idea of drawing Christian comics and instead created some of the best told and illustrated graphic novels I've ever read. The only downside is it takes years for a new one to come out, but I guess I can't complain if I stop to imagine how much time it must take to even draw a single page.

Love: 1, Fear: 0

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear." --1 John 4:18

I've always liked that scripture and was reminded of it when I read this quote from the third chapter of this year's Teachings of the Presidents of the Church manual:

"Those who have died in Jesus Christ may expect to enter into all that fruition of joy when they come forth, which they possessed or anticipated here. . . I am glad I have the privilege of communicating to you some things which, if grasped closely, will be a help to you when earthquakes bellow, the clouds gather, the lightnings flash, and the storms are ready to burst upon you like peals of thunder. Lay hold of these things and let not your knees or joints tremble, nor your hearts faint; and then what can earthquakes, wars and tornadoes do? Nothing. All your losses will be made up to you in the resurrection, provided you continue faithful. By the vision of the Almighty I have seen it."--Joseph Smith

Go ahead and call religion a crux and the afterlife a concept just to get people to be nice. Even if it were, my faith in this promise has always gotten me through rough patches and will see me shrugging at anything else thrown my way.

What is Love?

Let's get this week of love started on the right foot with two tender tales on the subject.

The first is from a 13 year-old girl which reaffirms how love can just walk right through the door sometimes, and the other comes from Yahoo's MAILER-DAEMON; proof that love is much more than a human emotion.

Cheers to You, Greg.

I'm only about halfway through this book, but Greg Mortenson is already my hero. Briefly find out why here and help him out here.

Darjeeling iPod

I can see why Jason Schwartzman's character had this song on repeat in The Darjeeling Limited.

It's terribly catchy.

Hedwig

A conversation a few weeks ago reminded me that it's been a very long time since I've seen Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

I wonder how much money it would take to persuade John Cameron Mitchell to allow me to sit in during some therapy sessions.

Repetition

I was in the computer lab when the corner of my eye recognized a girl from my class the night before. She was busy using the copier and I went back to my paper when I stopped and realized in embarrassment, "Oh no...This is the same sweater I had on yesterday. And I think I was wearing these same pants too! Will she see me and think me a total slob? Should I act like I'm going to get a drink and bump into her to say hey and casually steer the conversation in the direction of 'Oh you're really busy? Yeah, me too. This morning I had to rush to campus really early and I only had enough time to jump into these clothes which I'd only just thrown on the corner of the bed the night before. But I gotta get back to this paper--I'm too busy to concern myself with other things.'"

I sat at the edge of my chair, debating whether to get up or not to defend my normally adequate grooming habits when I realized that she was also wearing the same sweater from the night before.

Repetition

I don't know how many consecutive times I've listened to this theme from the beach scene in Atonement, but it still devastates me every time. For the full experience, you really should see this masterpiece of a shot on the big screen, but here it is in small YouTube context:

That really might be the best thing I've seen in a theater in a very long time. And true to form, it's no surprise that I'd love to visit the mansion from the film, but what else is there to do up in the Birmingham area? Who knows.

Snow Day

To a small kid and even a tired college kid, the words are magical: "Classes have been canceled today due to snow." Whoo! I'm stayin' in pajamas! I'm making pancakes and then watching TV and going back to bed! But first, I guess I should shovel the walk...
But what's this? Some kind soul has snowplowed our driveway and sidewalks! I'm stayin' in pajamas! Viva secret do-gooders! Now I can make some tea and look at the icicles outside the kitchen window.

And then I can contemplate like every day how the snow piled on the table on the deck looks like a gigantic cake.

But today I actually have time to cut a huge slice of the cake to enjoy with my tea. Mmmm.

So even though it's the dead of winter outside, inside I feel like this: