Eight Moments in the Life of the Writer: # 2 Observations

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It started as a young girl of six months, little more than a baby really.  Like our earlier ancestors, I perfected storytelling, babbling to anyone who would listen and, much to my parents' dismay, even to those who would have rather not listened. 

 I mastered the art of simile at four when I exclaimed to my usually petite, pregnant aunt, 

"Aunt Sharla!  You look like a Big Fat Turkey!"

Charming. An astute observer, like any good writer, and I only spoke the truth.

Insieme

In about...

48 hours...

I will see:

This handsome boy. 

Merry Christmas B.

Sure do love you.

abbracciami, abraços, Salāmu `Alaykum

Dr. Gary Chapman tells all about the languages of love.  Acts of Service, Quality Time, Words of Affirmation, Receiving Gifts and, of course, Physical Tough make up the list.  Hugging, and the many emotions that come with it, makes up a language all its own.  Many types of hugs abound.  There is the Side Arm Hug used after an awkward date, hugging someone you don't know very well or perhaps you don't remember their name.  One arm around the neck, hips barely touching, "Hey....you...Well good to see you...buddy..." There's the Bro Hug, grasping hands and slapping each other hard on the back.  The faire la bise is quite common in France, also appropriated by those in the New York and Los Angeles Area, where two air kisses are given on either side of the face, lips not quite touching skin.  This is usually accompanied by a "Hellllooo daaahling."  There's the kind of hugs my Italian grandpa gives whenever he comes to visit, picking us up and almost crushing your bones.  In Afghanistan, the greeting As-Salāmu `Alaykum (Peace be with you) is accompanied by a nod and a hug between people of the same gender.  There's the Wrap Around Hug with one arm on top, one reaching around the back.  Squeeze!  This hug is close to the Master Hug, but not quite as fully committed. 

            A Master Hug, well, it's something that's fully committed.  No holding back.  It's sharing a little bit of yourself.  What does that feel like?  The sharing of souls?  Does it feel like pyaar karna,  jhappi, étreindre, or umarme.  A Salāmu `Alaykum, abraços, dakishimeru or abbracciami? Can it be captured with a word?  Is it an ink blot, soaking the page, spreading tendril into the paper fiber, veins of love?  Is it a thread in a woven rug, strengthening the whole, but different from the rest, still unique and beautiful on its own?  The moment right before a balloon is pricked with a needle?  A flock of birds against a sunset?  The fog of the morning just before dawn?  The cool stillness?  The golden light bathing green valleys and ruby grapes of the Tuscan countryside?  The skein of liquid melting into a river at night, swallowing the darkness, enveloping the light from the stars, from the shops, from the two on the bridge, the two in the cafe, the two on the train, the two in the museum, in the church, in front of the paintings, the sculptures, the city, the night, the sky, the stone?  The warmth?  The glow?  Or is it the emptiness, the absences, the space between?

List Nine: Places I've Lived

1. Provo, UT

I was born.

2. Murray, UT

My brother was born. I colored on his head and bit him. Poor thing.

3. La Crescenta, California
I don't remember most of this place.

4. My Gramma's House
My brother poured dishsoup down the hallway. Left a big stain there for years. Way to go.

5. The House I Live in Now
I shared a room with my sister. Then, got my own room. Thank goodness.

6. Malibu, California
Hooray for Pepperdine.

7. Florence, Italy
Hooray for Pepperdine again!

8. Malibu, California (again)
Hey, I need nine places. I moved back and lived in a different apartment. It counts.

9. Back home.
Full circle. Kind of.

Clarification: That is not my room. I wish it was!

Send Me on My Way

Yes, please.

Chris Guillebeau is awesome. He's on a quest to visit every country in the world. And at 149/192, he's preeeetty close. He's also written an article on quitting your job and traveling the world:

It happens to me every time I travel overseas. I talk with people who hear about where I’m going, and they always say the same thing: “That sounds amazing! I wish I could do that.”
My reply is always the same: “What’s keeping you from it?”

Yes, I would like that Chris. I've been to some pretty amazing places, but if I could go anywhere in the world, I would go to Turkey. Hands down.

If you could go anywhere, where would you go?

You Make Me Feel Like Dancin'

In honor of the last post,  I thought I'd share my favorite songs for Happy Dancing. 

In college I might have Happy Danced so vigourusly that my downstairs neighbor thought I was having serious trouble. 

Happy dancing!!




Black Keys - Tighten Up



Slumdog Millionaire - Jai Ho!



Rusted Roots - Send Me on My Way



Simon and Garfunkel - Cecilia



Florence and the Machine - A Kiss with a Fist



Dirty Heads - Stand Tall



Sweatshop Union - Oh My


A Goofy Movie - Stand Out

List 8: Songs You Remember Dancing To

1. Pioneer dances
In fourth grade, we had Pioneer day. We learned square dancing. I had to dance with a boy I didn't like. Gross.

2. Waltz

In sixth grade, for Valentine's Day, we learned to dance. We learned all the essentials, the waltz, the tango. We even had dance cards like in the 19th century. What the?

3. Boot Scootin' Boogie

Apparently, this dance is relegated to those places where conservatives, Bibles and rednecks abide. None of my friends in California knew what I was talking about. I performed it and everyone laughed at me.

4. Macarena

I loved this dance. I still love this dance. What's it to ya?

5. Awkward Middle School Slow Dance to Savage Garden
AHHHHHHH.

6. Cowboy Take Me Away
I danced to this at church camp. The boy asked me to dance on his feet. What the?

7. Any American hip-hop song
Italy. Every night straight for a week.

8. Smells Like Teen Spirit
Dance club in Monaco. A fat French man tried to kidnap me. He picked me up and I kicked his fat belly.

List 7: Fashion is Smashin

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Over at Yes and Yes, Sarah Von indulges in list making every Sunday. She also travels the world and is all sorts of awesome.

The List:

Fashion Trends.

1. Fifth Grade
Let's be honest. I didn't have the best fashion sense. For some reason, I decided I had to wear a dress for fifth grade picture day. Everyone else is in t-shirts and overalls. Then there's me. Bottom row. In a dress with a huuuuge collar and blue and yellow flowers. Keepin' it classy.

2. Sixth Grade
I had a track suit combo I loved. It was yellow and stretchy. Combined with tennis shoes (the big, white kind for running) and a stretchy tattoo necklace, I. was. so. cool. I also had a perma-ponytail. Everyone had a stretchy, fake tattoo necklace right?

3. Seventh Grade
My jr. high decided we needed to wear uniforms. However, some days, we got a free day to wear whatever we wanted. My mom bought me: a long sleeved Tommy Hilfinger shirt, a pair of Lucky jeans and Doc Marten mary janes. I also had short bleached blonde hair and wore a lot of white eye makeup. Nobody from elementary school recognized me. When I walked through the halls at school, a girl yelled at me, "Prep!"

4. Tenth Grade

I cut off my hair. It was supposed to look like Mia Farrow, but ended up looking more like a mushroom.

5. Eleventh Grade
My poor mushroom hair grew out. I decided that everything looked better with a bow and took long lengths of ribbon and tied them around the arm of my shirt and through the neckline. Big bows were always on my shoulder. Trend. Setter.

6. Senior Year
I had long, stringy bleached blonde hair, the result of a home highlighting gone wrong. I wore a lot of black eyeliner. Taylor Momson took inspiration from me. Kidding. Eventually, I got a normal hair cut and wore high heels. My teacher called me Barbie.

7. Freshman Year of College
Arrived in California with a whole mess of blonde curls. Scared my roommate and she thought I was a total weirdo.

Which I might be. :)

Things I ♥

grappphic

♥ sunshine and 77 degree weather
{and then 40 degree weather and SNOW}
♥ Scrub Your Nose in It by Soap and Glory
{seriously gave me theeee smoothest skin EVER}
♥ bright pink nail polish
♥ yoga pants
♥ flower headbands
♥ chunky necklaces
♥ RED
♥ skirts in warm weather
♥ my kindle (love, love, love, love, love)
♥ Life is a Verb
{(love this book. author Patti Digh wrote it to her daughters after she learned her dad only had 37 days to live. What would you do with only 37 days left? At the end of each chapter she gives an assignment to do for 37 days and then an experience to free write about. She has a blog too!)
♥ san francisco with b
♥ the anthems Smile On from the San Diego commercial. Thanks TV.

Ten Steps to Success

Olivia(Doesnt)Swallow[s]

♥ Have a creative career plan.

Mark points from one to twelve in your journal, one being where you stand now in your career, and ten being where you want to be in five years.

With the ten middle points, mark two things you could do each year to creatively impact your career.

• Account Manager
• update resume
• obtain internship/museum experience
• study for GRE
• take GRE (Summer!) *note to self: look into this
• get into master's program/ internship
• write master's thesis
• graduate!
• obtain letters of recommendation
• apply for museum job - ANY one will do now that you're a schmarty-pants
• Awesome museum job

Legally Blonde was pretty good. It wasn't as good as some other shows I have seen on Broadway. Because, I'm a theater snob. Dur. It was a fun time though. The show was really fun itself. Nothing ground breaking, but definitely a good time. The Young One and I got a good laugh out of it. And I've come to the conclusion that I need more color in my wardrobe. OMG! You guys!

As part of following my bliss...I'm working on a cover letter.

M.Y.L..aaaaaa

I know, I'm so far behind on the Make Your Life train. My apologies. I went to California for a little while and was too busy soaking up the sunshine. I'm going to miss going every now and again....a lot. Really a lot. I think I'll keep up with M.Y.L.A., but I don't know how often I'll blog it.

Today was all about managing your time. Not just for planning and organizational purposes, but planning each day with meaning. In other words:

" ♥ Making the most of our time requires consciousness and awareness"



I think one of the biggest lessons I've learned from doing Megan's M.Y.L.A. series is that happiness is a conscious thing. Life isn't going to come and smack your over the head and demand you be happy. You guys? Sometimes. Life. Sucks. I've been feeling that way lately even though I have all kinds of great things going on around me. I've accomplished a lot. But life takes all kinds of weird turns and twists. And right now, I'm not all that enamored with it. However, I'm trying to have a better outlook even though it is far from what I want to be doing. Although, I don't have all that solid of a grasp on what I want to be doing.

Giving each day a purpose will help. I hate the feeling of ninetofiveandhometobed. But, that's what I do every. single. day. I hate it. This M.Y.L.A. came at a perfect time. I need my days to have a purpose now. At least one little thing that's planned to look forward to and break up the days.

So, I joined a gym. With classes! Also, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I watched American Idol. Haha. And, I'm going to try to go on adventures like I did in L.A. Any cool spots in the SLC I should know about? Yelp has become my new best friend. Anyone want to be my spinyogapilatesadventurenewbestfriend? I'm really good at planning adventures, I promise!

Day 15...Say THANKS!

macaroni & glue

"♥Take a moment to consider all that you already have, and be thankful..."

Homework:

♥ Say thanks.



Thanks...

Thank you for all the opportunities. For the chance to go to an amazing university, study abroad and meet all kinds of amazing people. Thank you for my best friend. Thank you for all the beautiful things in my life and for this beautiful world. Thank you for the sunshine and early mornings. Thank you for the love of my family and friends and all those who really care about me no matter what. Thank you for delicious food...especially butternut squash and feta cheese. Thank you for B. Thank you for good books and good discussions. For inspiring writers. Thank you for late nights. Thank you for the ocean and Tuscan hills. Thank you for mistakes made and love lost. For people forgiven and those who have forgiven me. Thank you for this chance to live, change, breathe and grow. Thank you for letting me be me.

I'm taking a photoshop class next week! I'm pretty excited to finally learn this program that I use at work LITERALLY every single day. I can do a lot of complicated things, but the simple ways to make a photo look amazing....not so much.

I am so tired of this whole "winter" thing....after being in California for the past three and a half years....I forgot it even existed for this long!

Dinner Party

[This picture has nothing to do with our dinner success. I took it way back in February when my family went to San Francisco. And I edited it using picnik.com]

Jear Bear and I made dinner for six people yesterday. We were only planning on four but then Andrew and Mike decided they wanted to mooch eat with us too. We barely had enough food but here is what we (succesfully) cooked:

One small pot roast (one bottle of Italian dressing, two brown gravy packets, one package of Lipton Onion Soup. Salt and Pepper. Leave in the oven for up to 8 hours at 225. Don't add water, or it won't fall apart!)

Potatoes and carrots (cooked in the same pot as the pot roast....yuuuuuum)

Salad (tossed with carrots, olives, cheese, and crutons. i wanted to put in sunflower seeds, but we never got around to it)

Cresent Rolls (with honey and butter)

Cupcakes (for dessert!)

It turned out really well! It was an expensive meal though, since Jared has absolutley nothing in his apartment, we have to go out and buy everything fresh everytime. It's good practice for a family though I guess! Feeding six people is hard! Next time, someone else can do the cooking!