Catch up time!

So, I am a horrible blogger. Acceptance is the first step toward fixing the problem. And, knowing me, it will probably be the only step I take. :-) Just kidding. I hope you are all doing well. I'm mostly blogging for my sister Mel, but everyone else is invited to this blog party as well. :-)

It has been a crazy couple of months, for sure. To be honest, everything since the middle of October has just blended together for me. A couple of choice things stand out to me, though....

We finally got to see Mel, Stephen, and Kyle! They came to visit and it was such a blast to see them and get to meet the cute nephew. He's adorable! You should take a look at my sister's blog if you have any doubts (she's a much more dedicated blogger than I am). I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with them because I was studying for a beast of a test and preparing a speech for the UVSC Presidential Scholarship Ball.

I was chosen to speak at the scholarship ball, basically to thank all of the people for spending their money so I can go to school. :-) The Ball was so much fun!! It was a black tie event, so it was fun to have an excuse to get all dressed up. Matt came with me, and we really enjoyed eating the seven course meal and the hors d'oeuvres.... Yum. Plus, we got to sit on the table with all of the people in charge, and it was nice to know exactly what was going on. And, just so you all know, my speech went well. I was a little nervous about tripping and falling on my face, but I made that long trip from my table to the podium without any mishaps. I don't really have any pictures of it, (unfortunately)but I'll take some pictures of my dress when I have access to a camera.

And, on a not-so-pleasant note, the day of the ball was also the same day that my neighbor (and old bishop) Scott Thomas was killed in a car accident. Is it just me, or does it seem like there have been far too many deaths lately? And, come to mention it, there have been far too many car accidents, as well. I'm just throwing it out there. So, I hope all of you drive safely, because funerals make me sad.

Well, let's bring this blog up to the present: Thanksgiving was fun, I'm working on homework, I just saw Enchanted and loved it, and we're enjoying having Grama Sue here to visit. I hope all is well with you! XOXOXOX

Across the Universe

I finally got to see Across the Universe last night. I have mixed feelings about it--part of me loved it, and the other part of me was mildly disturbed. In any case, it's a beautiful and unique film. I loved the music, and how they found a way to incorporate so many Beatle's songs into the story. And visually it was very innovative. I just had a couple of issues:

1. Some of the scenes were excessively long and/or made little to no sense. Examples: The "I Am the Walrus" scene and the Eddie Izzard scene. Granted, many of the Beatles' songs were trippy, but these scenes felt a little conjured to me. "We want to do something really artistic here and we really like this song, so we're going to put in a pointless scene."

2. Random nudity. I get uncomfortable seeing boobs on screen, particularly in a PG-13 movie. I know they justify it because it's art and all that jazz, but is it really necessary? I dont think so. That must just be me, though. :-)

Those are just some of the things that bothered me. However, I did love lots of things about it: "Strawberry Fields Forever" was so cool, and the scene in the bowling alley was awesome as well, just to name a couple.

All in all, I'm glad I saw this. I won't buy it or anything, but it's worth seeing.

Lament of the Vocally-Impaired

So, I'm having another "I can't sing" week. It's very frustrating, to say the least, especially since I'm trying to go into choral conducting. I try to sing, but nothing comes out except air. Maybe it's a sign that I need to choose a different career...something with less talking, maybe? Charlie Chaplin did okay with the whole silent thing. Hmmm.... Oh well. I will get better. I just have to keep saying that to myself, because I don't think I can pull off the bowler hat and mustache look.

Catching up

Well, I officially have my first church calling that doesn't involve music. Yay! I'm a Gospel Doctrine teacher, which means I get to brainwash and teach as much false doctrine as I want. Mwhahahahahah. *Jules grins in an evil manner while tapping her fingers together.* Actually, I'm excited. It will be a nice change for me.

It's been a while since I've posted, so I just have to talk about the awesome concerts I went to! My fried got me into the Muse concert for free a couple of weeks ago, and it was amazing. I'm no longer terrified of GA, though I'm not a big fan of getting kicked in the shins and covered with everyone else's sweat. Ah well. It's all part of the experience. The moral of the story is, if you get the chance to see Muse in concert, do it. And bring ear plugs. They definitely know how to put on a good show.

The other show I went to was Guster. I liked them, but oddly enough I liked the opening band better. They were called Tally Hall, and they were amazing performers. I'm a fan.

In other news, I'm enjoying living away from home. It's nice to be able to meet people, instead of sitting at my house watching movies every day. However, I don't think I'm ever going to get any homework done. Oh well. I don't have much motivation anyway, seeing as how this is my last year. Whoohoo!! I can't wait. Speaking of homework, I think I'm going to do some. :-)

Quote of the Day: Things do not change; we change. --Henry David Thoreau

WHY AM I SICK AGAIN?!

I have strep. *Jules cries a little.* I've never had strep before, but I'm not a fan of Strepto and his band of Cocci's, as I've decided to call them. Here they are:



They just decided to move in and make themselves at home in my throat without permission. Normally, I'd try to find a way to put up with them first, and then lovingly kick them out, but right now I'm trying to find a way to plot my revenge--I want to make them suffer!! You see, I'm trying to move out this week while going to school and teaching piano lessons. I don't have time to be sick.

So, I'm hoping Strepto dies a horrible death and decides never to return. The good side to all of this: Now that I have a diagnosis for my illness, I feel justified in staying home from school until I feel better. That will help in the war against strep, for sure.

Quote of the Day: It's no longer a question of staying healthy. It's a question of finding a sickness you like. --Jackie Mason

Back from Burley

I hurt. Ha ha. I just got back from a trip to Idaho, and I injured my neck and back in an unfortunate incident involving Nick Kanno, the park, and jumping. It was actually really funny to watch as I flipped over these bungee cord things and landed on my head. I'm fine, besides being sore and having some cuts on my face from wood chips. You just feel stupid more than anything else: Here I am, 21 years old, and I manage to hurt myself while playing "Lava Monster" in the park. Oh dear. I wonder how I have made it through life without breaking a bone. I am seriously so accident prone!

Oh well, besides one minor accident, our road trip to Idaho was another success. Any road trip with Griff is going to be entertaining, I've decided. Highlights:

--Floating down the Snake River. It is in Beka's back yard, after all.
--Climbing up to Bath Rock at the City of Rocks.
--Playing at Lake Cleveland.
--The rodeo.
--Meeting Ana, the German exchange student living at Beka's house. Ha ha. I asked her what the stereotype of Americans is in Germany and she said, "Short skirts and lots of partying." Whoohoo!!
--Listening to Griff sing "Seasons of Love" from Rent.
--Rock Skipping Championship
--The movie "Stardust." It was awesome!


All in all, it was a fun swan song for the summer. I will miss you, Summer. Take care of yourself until next year.

Red!

I bought some very impractical high-heeled red shoes today, and I love them. :-) I used to always get red shoes when I was a little, and I guess I'm reverting back to my childhood or something. I keep getting more and more girly with time. Anyway, the shoes are ridiculously high and now I look like a monster, but I don't care. *Jules clicks her shoes together and says, "There's no place like home."*

Thoughts

Here are a couple of thoughts for today. First of all, I realized that I never wrote any tribute to my dear friend, Harry Potter. The 7th book is amazing, and if you haven't ever gotten in to the Harry Potter series, I suggest you read them. (And I mean, really read them. Don't just watch the movies because they aren't nearly as fun. ) And, if you really don't like reading, I will come and read them to you. Seriously! I've done it before.... So, if you need someone to read it to you, just give me a call and I'll come be the Story Lady for a little while...relatively free of charge. :-) Just give me some chocolate cake. :-)

Second thought: I am pretty glad to be moving out of my singles' ward. Once again this week I had the feeling that I'm not a part of the "cool" church group because a)I'm not a man and b) I'm not a returned missionary. Maybe this is a problem in every ward, but I hope not. I'm tired of feeling like a second class church citizen just because I happen to be a woman.

Alright, enough ranting.

Dancing in the Rain

Last night there was an amazing rain storm! (Amazing for Utah, anyway.) It had been so long since I just went out and played in the rain, so I was so excited when the clouds opened and it just started pouring outside. Everyone who was at my house last night went outside and danced and laughed and played like little kids.

Maybe I should move to a place where it rains a little more often.... So fun.

Quote of the day: "Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain." --Source Unknown

Kyle!

So, here's my cute nephew. I wish I could see him for real, instead of just looking at pictures, but oh well. He's not too bad looking for a newborn--kind of cute, actually. My mom is in Texas right now and she keeps raving about him:

Mom: "He's one of the cutest newborn babies I've ever seen!"

Me: "And you're not prejudiced or anything, right?"

Mom: "Of course not. I'm serious, though. I thought my own kids were ugly as newborns--I wasn't a big fan of the way you guys looked when you were that age."

Me: "Thanks, Mom."

Ha ha. She's so funny. You have to admit, the little squirt is quite adorable.

Hello?

Ahem. Hello? Is anyone still here? *Jules brushes cobwebs off her dusty Blog page as her voice echoes in the emptiness...* Man, I haven't been here for a while. I was waiting to get pictures of my various summer adventures before I posted anything, but naturally I haven't been able to get pictures from people. And, in Julianna fashion, instead of just posting something without pictures, I decided not to post anything at all.

So, please forgive me for abandoning you. I hope it doesn't cause too much of a strain on our relationship. I never meant to cause you pain. I'll post some flowers as part of my apology....


PHEW. Now that we got that out of the way, here is a quick recap of the summer up to this point:

1. Went to Moab with some friends. I had never been to Moab before, but I loved it.

2. Started working at Los Hermanos, and promptly quit. That place was Hell on Earth! I still need to go pick up my last paycheck, but I've been avoiding it because I don't want to deal with the crazy managers....

3. Went on a road trip with Nicole. I'll post footage of that. Very fun!

4. I'm now officially an aunt! Kyle Stephen Cooper was born on 7/18, and he's not bad looking for a new born. I'll post some pictures when I have them.

Okay. There's a lame recap. I hope we can still be friends.... :-)

A New Favorite

I love kickboxing! This was my second week going to my kickboxing class, and I'm wondering why I didn't decide to do this before years ago. I mean, I get to hit stuff, AND I'm working out at the same time? Brilliant. I think I might hate myself tomorrow, though. I'm going to go camping with some friends in Moab, and I just know I'm going to be sore. Oops! I'm sure everyone will enjoy hiking with me. "Wait, guys! My legs hurt! I'm sore!" *Jules sits down in the red dirt and starts crying as everyone else leaves.* Oh well. Bring it on, I say. :-)

Moral of the story: Punching stuff is fun.

Quote of the day:Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person. --Dr. David M. Burns

(That's a good quote for me.)

Yeargh.

I got a text message forward today. (I hate them so much.) It said, "Someone you miss will realize how much they want you today. Don't ignore this! Send it to 8 people, including me, and watch who calls." Do you know who sent it to me? I'll give you three guesses.... That's right! The ex boyfriend.

UGH. WHY DOES HE SEND ME THESE?!! It's so irritating because part of me actually does miss the boy and whenever he sends me junk like this it just messes me up. Why can't we just move on and live life? I tell you, the boy is persistent. I've gotta hand that to him. *sigh* Oh well. Hopefully I've finally solved the texting problem. I was hoping that if I just ignored them they'd go away, but I told him to stop and hopefully he will this time.

I really think I need to move away for awhile. Nick was talking about how nice it would be to move to a place where nobody knows you--have a clean start. That sounds really tempting sometimes.

Oh well. At least life is funny around here. I'll just keep my sense of humor about these things. :-)

Quote of the Day: Humor is everywhere, in that there's irony in just about anything a human does. --Bill Nye, Interview with Wired.com, April 2005

A Miracle!

Yay!! My Ipod isn't dead after all! It just doesn't like my computer. We just plugged it into Jeff's computer and now it lives again. Of course, now I don't have any of my music on it, but that's beside the point. :-) I'm happy anyway! But, even though I'm happy now, I just know the Ipod's going to die again and leave me disappointed. Ipods are not my favorite. I love them when they work, but they're so fickle. Oh well. Today is a happy day.

A Confession

I have a secret, and I can't keep it in the dark anymore! Prepare to be shocked...

I am addicted to Smallville.

DAH DAH DAH!! (That was supposed to be dramatic theme music.)

I don't know what it is about this show , but it sucks me in! I don't know if it's the incredibly cute (but not-so-good-actor) Tom Welling who plays Clark, the cheesy synthesized soundtrack, the over the top lines and often sappy dialogue, or the incredibly simple solutions to difficult problems that draws me in. Maybe it's the fact that these actors who are supposed to be playing high school students are really 28 years old in real life. Maybe I just enjoy counting how many times the show ends with Clark standing by himself while Lana walks away, or counting how many times the Kent family's red truck is totaled. Lex's character probably has a lot to do with my odd addiction--he's cool.

Whatever it is, I have rekindled the Smallville addiction after abstaining from it for two years. So, if any of you want to join in on the Smallville fest that I'm having, come on over. And bring some popcorn and chocolate--we're going to be watching for awhile. :-)

Rant

I'm putting a disclaimer at the top of this. Whenever I vent about the Church, people get offended and think I'm a sinner or that I'm going apostate or have a bad attitude or just don't understand the Gospel. (Yes, I realize that is a run-on sentence.) I love the Gospel, I just get very frustrated with people who try to give church programs priority over more important things. I also get irritated when people mistake the culture surrounding the Church for actual Church doctrine. Here is my rant about that. So, if you feel the urge to read this, please do not use your RM scripture quotes to attempt to bring me back to the fold. I'm doing just fine. I don't need or want to be preached to...I guess that's why I'm venting about this online instead of face to face with people. Here we go.

This was stake conference weekend for my stake, and like a good girl I went to the Saturday meeting. To be honest, I don't get incredibly excited for Saturday meetings, but I go because I know they're good for me...like vegetables. Usually they're great experiences and I come away feeling like I've learned something. Not this time.

I won't go into great detail about it, but let's just say it felt an awful lot like "Open Mic Night" at the church. The presiding authority (who was a great speaker) made the mistake of allowing the congregation to comment. One of the main topics that people were commenting on was how we can help "the youth." People talked all about how troubled the youth are and what danger they're in and blah blah blah. I am currently in the "youth" category, and I felt like I was some little kid who had just gotten in trouble at school and was eavesdropping on the conversation between my mom and the teacher.

It made me feel awful the whole time. I can't really explain why. I think it's because I feel that I understand the Gospel and I love it, but then I go to meetings like that where everyone in the congregation doesn't seem to be hearing the same things I am, and I get frustrated. And then when I try to explain this to other people, they treat me like a hellion because I don't feel the heavens open every time I go to church.

Luckily, my family is amazing. I was there with them, and when I came home I just kind of broke down because it bothered me so much. And they had the same issues I did. My parents are so awesome and we just sat and talked about the Gospel for awhile until I felt better...and not so crazy.

So, I can always run to my family and know that they will "get it." I worry, though, about finding someone to marry who will "get it." So far, most of the guys (especially RM's) I've gone on dates with are too busy trying to preach to me to listen. i guess I'm spoiled. I've got such a cool family that it will be hard to find a guy who can trump them. Time to become a hermit.

Okay, vent is officially over.

Birthdays and Procrastinating....

So, Saturday was my birthday and it was so much fun! It was nice to just have a chill day without any real pressure. Mel and Ben threw me a party and it was fun to see everybody. I really do have some awesome friends...who are still nice to me even when I'm almost 2 hours late to my own party. Yikes. How does one work on being more punctual? I really do try.... Hahaha. Oh well. That's a New Year's Resolution for next year, I suppose.

You know, it's funny that I worked myself really hard at the beginning of this semester trying to do everything perfectly. And now, at the end of the semester when hard work really matters, my procrastination habit is running rampant. I can't seem to get anything done, and I don't really care. Ah, spring semester. It always seems to end this way for me. I guess I should go do some work, though. Either that or go get some sleep. Oooh, sleep sounds nice....

Don't Hassel the Hoff!

Ahem. Hi everyone! So, I'm not very good at this whole blogging thing, obviously. Oh well. March wasn't that exciting, anyway. ;-)

I am so dreading tomorrow. I just remembered that I have this awful dance lab that I have to attend for 5 hours, and to make matters worse I have to dance the polka in it. THE POLKA!!! That's the most humiliating dance ever created. No wonder it's a drinking dance! Only people who are completely smashed would start dancing the polka of their own free will. Ah, Germans and their drinking dances. :-)

Speaking of Germans, I have to show you this frightening video of David Hasselhoff. It has to be a joke, but either way it's disturbing....


BLEH!! He scares me so much! But, oddly enough, that song gets stuck in my head. Kinda catchy....

The Joys of Teaching

I teach piano at The Music School, and for the most part I love it. It has been a great experience for me, but it does have its irritating moments. One irritating element of teaching: dealing with the parents.

The Director of Education at the school (coolest woman in the world) sent me an email to give me a heads up about a call I might be receiving from one of the parents. Apparently the woman called the school to report her "disgust with me." She told them that I'm always canceling without giving sufficient notice and blah blah blah. I guess she was just incredibly angry about the whole thing. I thought it was funny because I do try to give her sufficient notice, but oh well. I called her, fully expecting to get chewed out, and looking forward to it, frankly. Sometimes I just love being able to put people in their place, you know? And I wouldn't be too heart-broken if she moved her kids to a different teacher, either. One of her sons is the kind who must be right no matter what.

ME: "Don't play like that. It's bad for your wrists."

HIM: "No it's not! I play like this all the time."

ME: (In a sarcastic tone) "Oh! Excuse me! You must be right, then! You in your six years of experience in this world must know more about the piano than I do. You just keep playing like that, son. Enjoy carpal tunnel. STUPID HEAD!!!"

Ok, maybe I don't say that to him, but you get the idea. Anyway, I called this woman this morning, fully prepared to give her options to switch teachers, lesson times, anything. I also was expecting her to chew me out just a little bit, which is why I was so surprised when I talked to her. She was as nice as can be! When I asked her if she wanted to switch teachers, she said, "No! Of course not!"

Ugh. You know, if you're going to call my employers and complain to them about me, I'd appreciate it if you at least have the decency to voice your complaints to me. Don't pretend like everything is fine and dandy when you talk to me. Have the courage to insult me to my face, why don't you? Hahaha. Sometimes people bother me.

Quote: I wish people who have trouble communicating would just shut up. --Tom Lehrer (1928 - )

Needing a Change

I think it's high time for me to move. I need something new in my life, because I'm getting excessively bored. Why am I still living in my parents' house when I'm almost 21? I'll tell you why--I don't like doing things that are outside of my comfort zone. And moving in with a bunch of girls I don't know is definitely outside of my comfort zone. For all I know, I might end up with a girl version of Norman Bates who ends up stabbing me in the shower when I'm not expecting it. Or worse, she might be one of those people who can't sit through a movie without asking, "What's going on? Who's that? What's going to happen next? Does he die at the end?" Ugh. I shudder at the thought.

Oh well. Time to put my unfounded fears about roommates aside, pack up all of my junk, and move to a lovely ghetto apartment somewhere. There. I've said it. Now it will probably take me another 7 months or so to actually act upon it. :-)

Quote of the Day: No matter how rich you become, how famous or powerful, when you die the size of your funeral will still pretty much depend on the weather. --Michael Pritchard

(I know that quote has nothing to do with anything, but it's cool.)

Blasted Colds

Guess what?! Drew and I won third place at the Cha Cha competition on Saturday!! How awesome is that? I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad that I was forced against my will into this competition. I've discovered that dancing can be loads of fun, and I'm not completely terrible at it. (Take that, all you people who have told me I'm a terrible dancer.)

In other news, I'm sick...again. I think I'm stuck in this terrible vortex of sickness; just when I think I'm getting better I get sucked back down into the abyss of coughs and congestion. Is there no hope?! Drat this blasted common cold with his inexhaustible supply of disguises. He somehow manages to constantly trick my immune system.

My Immune System: "Hey, you look familiar? Haven't I seen you before?"

The Cold: "Um...NO! Of course you've never seen me. (Nervous Cough) I have a mustache and sunglasses! Last time I just had a mustache! I mean...ahem...I'm a completely different person that you've never seen before!"

My Immune System: "Oh. Why didn't you say so? Come on in and stay as long as you
want!"

The Cold: "Excellent. The day is mine!! MWHAHAHAHAHA!!!"


And that's how it happens. Believe me.

Moral of the Story: Get a smart immune system--one that won't be fooled by cheesy disguises.




Quote: To achieve the impossible dream, try going to sleep. --Joan Klemper

Valentine's Day

Quote for the day: Valentine's Day is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap. --Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

I probably misquoted that, but oh well. I hope everyone's Valentine's Day has been filled with love and chocolate and all that junk. My Valentine's Day consisted of a dentist's appointment and a date with my mom and my sister. Whoohoo!!

We went to go see Catch and Release, and I must say that it was terrible! I hated almost everything about it, which is so sad because I love Jennifer Garner so much. Sad day. I just didn't like the characters and the plot line was very weak. Bleh. Don't go see it. Please.

Yay for Talking!

I can finally talk again!!! Praise the Lord. I can't tell you how much easier life is when you can communicate without being in the mime box. I won't be able to sing for a while, but that's okay. It will come back eventually.

I taught Kindermusik again today. I think I'm going to love this job. How cool is it to get paid for playing with little kids? Of course, I kind of feel like an idiot when I'm rolling around on the ground or singing dumb little songs like "Hey Lolly," but oh well.

So, my little brother and his buds have been spending a lot of time making a movie called "Nocturnal Children." It's a sequel to a movie they made last year called "Nocturnal Kid." In honor of them, I'm posting it. Enjoy.

Random Ranting Tantrum

I really don't have anything to write about, so I just thought I'd choose a random thing to rant about. And the random topic for today is *drum roll*:

Fake drawers in kitchens or bathrooms...or any room, really. It drives me nuts when I go to open a drawer and realize, "Oh wait. That's just a fake drawer." I feel so cheated somehow--like I didn't get my money's worth. Do carpenters do this as some kind of practical joke? I mean, if you're going to go to all the trouble to carve a drawer look-alike, can't you just go the extra mile and PUT A REAL DRAWER IN THERE?! It can't be much more expensive, can it? (Don't fret, I'm not going to say the word "drawer" any more.) I have the same issue with fake pockets in clothes. Enough said.

Okay, I'm done. Hahah. Sorry for the randomness. I'm losing my mind.

Cha Cha's and Explosions

This week has been so interesting. Today I somehow got roped into performing the Cha Cha in a dance competition. HA HA HA!!! I'm still going to try to escape, somehow, before I humiliate myself in front of lots and lots of people. Don't ask me how I got roped into it. Let's just say it involved a beginning dance class and my inability to say no. Hahaha. Oh well. It will be fun...I guess. (Jules has an anxiety attack, stops breathing, falls on the floor and starts convulsing.)

Okay, I'm back. Another interesting occurrence--my family was eating dinner on Sunday night when we heard this strange hissing noise coming from the oven. We thought that was strange, seeing as how the oven was turned off, so my dad opened the oven door...and the heating coil was sparking and then EXPLODED!!! I've never seen an oven explode before. Hahaha. I'm not sure exactly what we did to anger the gods of mechanical objects, but everything mechanical that we own seems to be malfunctioning: cars, ovens...okay, just cars and ovens. :-)

On a brighter note, I got another refund check from school today. Yay! Grand total: 1 whole dollar! Yay! I'm going to go get me a JBC from Wendy's.

Deaf Date

I've had plenty of blind dates, but this was my very first "deaf date." I was supposed to go out with this kid a week ago, but that was when I first lost my voice, so we postponed it. Then I found out about my mandatory three-week vow of silence, but I felt bad to cancel again, so I still went. I took my little pad of paper and just wrote everything. He was a good sport about it, and I think it was a good thing for me because then I didn't keep rambling on and on...like I'm doing now. :-) So, I'm not really interested in the guy. But he's nice and it was fun. And the waitress at California Pizza Kitchen was super nice to me because she thought I was deaf. Hahaha.

Of course, the whole date paled in comparison to last night's pinochle game. ;-) Hahaha. Nick and I actually won! That doesn't happen...and probably will never happen again. It almost made up for Nick mocking me all night. Almost. Oh! And Mel taught me how to make the computer at work talk for me. Maybe I won't have to cheat during my lessons anymore. Here's hoping.

You know, this whole silence thing has given me a new respect for this scene:



Ariel and I have a lot in common...minus the red hair and fins and tiny waist and seashell bra. (Minor, insignificant details.) Okay, so we don't have much in common. It's still a good scene, and it's nice to know that she got her voice back in the end. Not to mention she got a hunka, hunka burnin' love to go with it.

Wow. I'm tired. Time for sleep!

Moral of the Story: Having a handicap isn't all bad, I suppose. ;-)

Quote of the Day: Trust one who has gone through it. --Virgil (70 BC - 19 BC), The Aeneid

Unfashionable me!

(Here's a picture of me with my good ol' squeaky toy hedgehog -- PHIL!!! He's an ugly bugger.)

Fashion makes me laugh. I didn't want to do my hair today, so I borrowed my little sister's headband and wore that. I feel like I'm back in the 80's/ early 90s again! Last time I wore my hair like this, I was really little and my older sister told me my hair looked really ugly and unfashionable, and I went and cried. And now it's back in style! (Well, as close as I can get to being in style, anyway. I doubt anything I wear actually qualifies as "in style) Funny how that happens.

I dropped my acting class yesterday, because I figured there was no point in staying in a class like that if I can't participate. Granted, I would be awesome if we did a pantomime unit, but I don't think that's part of the curriculum at the moment. :-)

By the way, I'm writing a research paper on music during the Holocaust. If any of you happen to know where I can find some primary sources and can help me out a bit, I will love you forever! (Don't hold me to that, please. There are extenuating circumstances.)

Moral of the Story: Fashion is stupid. Wear what you want. (Again, there are extenuating circumstances.)

Quote of the Day: I base my fashion taste on what doesn't itch. Gilda Radner (1946 - 1989)

"MUTE LIKE ME" Update: People are so nice! Some LDC friends dropped me off a package of fun stuff last night in typical "doorbell ditching" style. It made me happy! I feel guilty, though. It's not like I feel terribly sick or anything. I just can't talk! I feel like I'm conning people out of their money... (Jules tries to suppress an evil laugh, but can't.) MWHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! Oh well. :-)

Starburst Rant

Random thought: Why did the makers of Starburst change the flavors in their tropical mix? That was my favorite mix and now they've ruined it! And have you ever noticed that no one ever wants to eat the yellow Starbursts? It doesn't matter if the flavor is lemon or pina colada or whatever, no one ever eats them. Strange.

Well, that's all I really have today. I'll end with my observations for Day 3 of "Mute Like Me."

DAY 3:

--I went back to school and work today. It was so interesting to see how different people reacted to me as they found out what was wrong with me, and watched me try to communicate through my own mixture of pantomime and sign language. (I think I'll dress like a mime tomorrow and just pretend to be in a glass box all day.) Some people laughed, other people felt really sorry for me, and some people just scared the living daylights out of me by telling me horror stories about people they know who've had vocal nodes. Hahaha.

--TEACHING IS HARD TO DO WHEN YOU CAN'T SPEAK. I cheated. Many times. :)
But my favorite reaction was from my 8-year-old student Jordan. I told him that I couldn't talk, so i was just going to have to write to him and tell him what to do. He got a big grin on his face and said, "Oh boy. This is going to be FUN!" I'm glad you're excited, buddy. We'll see what you think three weeks from now.


Moral of the Story: Don't buy the Starburst Tropical Mix. It's depressing.


Quote of the Day:

I think the first virtue is to restrain the tongue; he approaches nearest to gods who knows how to be silent, even though he is in the right.

Cato the Elder (234 BC - 149 BC)

Silent Screaming!!

Well, I finally managed to schedule an appointment for the otolaryngologist (whew-say that one three times fast) on Monday. (I'm just trying to sound smart. An otolaryngologist is an ear, nose, and throat doctor. That's my word of the day!) I've got to tell you, that was not a comfy experience. I'll spare you the gruesome details and just give you the diagnosis: I have vocal nodes. ARGH!!! Those are the nemesis of every singer alive. If you don't know what a vocal node is, here's a picture (these are not my vocal folds, by the way):


Gross. Haha. A vocal node is a callus that occurs on the vocal folds from "vocal abuse." Vocal nodes are really not good, and if they get bad enough some people need surgery (like Julie Andrews, for instance). Luckily, mine are really small, so I'll only have to go on complete vocal rest for three weeks....

WHA...?? THREE WEEKS?!

That's right, ladies and gents. I'm going to have to try my best to be silent for the next three weeks. I have no idea how I'm going to do this, especially since almost everything I do involves talking or singing. You never realize how much you talk during the day until you can't. Oh well. At least this will teach me how to hold my tongue. :-) And I'll let you know how my "Mute Like Me" experience is coming along.

Observations for Days 1 and 2 of the "Mute Like Me" project:
-When you can't talk, people treat you like you're either a) stupid, b) helpless, or c) not there. It's incredibly frustrating.
-It's so hard to get people's attention without using your voice! I've had to resort to carrying a squeaky dog toy with me, and rapidly squeaking it whenever I need to "talk" to somebody. (It's true! The toy is an ugly little hedgehog whom I have lovingly named Phil.)

That's it for now. I hope these next few weeks go by fast....

Moral of the Story: Be kind to the mutes. And if you happen to get sick, for the love of Pete let your voice rest!! Don't try to push through the sickness!!!