The Reason I'm not Blogging this Week

I've finished Mockingjay (and desperately need someone else to read it so I can talk about stuff) and am now gearing up for the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. The Festival officially begins Thursday night but there are activities taking place at libraries, schools, and other location beginning today and of course there is a lot of setting up that needs to get finished up in the next few days. As a result I will be spending a great deal of time not blogging. As a little introduction to one of our new tellers, one Mr. Antonio Sacre (I just met him about an hour ago and he is just as nice as he could be), here is a short story he tells called The Barking Mouse (which is also a lovely children's book should you be interested):

The first minute or so is made up of a silly Elementary School style song so just move through that to the story

MOCKINGJAY

(AKA the reason I'm not blogging for real)

I've just about finished off my Jane Eyre obsession

(Loved The Eyre Affair--just so much fun and clever)

and am now happily 50 pages into Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.

Talk to you soon.

Free Gift Tags

Just look at how lovely these cards are:

And they can be downloaded for free over at Whisker Graphics. I particularly like the umbrella (you know, should anyone want to give me a present with a gift tag attached).

All Things British

Five things British that are occupying my time:

5. Jane Eyre (actually just finished it yesterday, but as it was the unabridged version it has been occupying quite a bit of my time of late--had to get it finished for Book Group).

4. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (happily felt that it needed to be read again following the finishing of Jane Eyre).

3. Jane Eyre the BBC movie with Timothy Dalton which fairly stinks but I was in the mood to watch Jane Eyre before Book Group--highly suspect one or more Book Group members of borrowing the good versions from the library.

2. Football (or soccer for the Amerosnobs--not sure if that is a real term but it is similar in structure to the term Eurosnob: someone who dislikes non-European club football/soccer). The English Premier League is up and running!

1. Doctor Who. The most recent season is over (it was quite brilliant) so now I am happily ensconced in watching Season 1 again.

And those are the reasons I have not been on the Internet very much of late.

Storytelling

It is just about that wonderful time of year again when storytellers descend on my little town. Here is a little advert:

Utah Shakespearean Festival

Really, I don't know where the last week has gone. Perhaps I left a small part of me down in Cedar City and the rest of me has refused to move on without it. Completely understandable considering that Cedar City and the Utah Shakespearean Festival are completely wonderful (as is the Pastry Pub and those really wonderful tarts). I'll just do a really quick recap and then attempt to really move on.

I saw Pride and Prejudice and thought it was quite good.

Okay, maybe I will say a few more words.

Mrs. Bennett absolutely stole the show. She was brilliant. Mr. Darcy grew on me--although I didn't care at all for how much of a comedic performance the script called on from him. I just didn't care much at all for Elizabeth (really rather tragic as she is one of my favorite characters of all time). The show wasn't stunning, but it was quite good--the scene changes were quite ingenious. Oh, I forgot Mr. Collins (aka Brian Vaughn) who was also simply brilliant and co-stole the show.

And one final thought. Have you scene the line up for next year? Really rather disappointing for a 50th year anniversary line up in my little opinion:

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Richard III

Romeo and Juliet

The Music Man

The Glass Menagerie

Noises Off!

I'll still go, of course, but I was expecting something just a bit more exciting--sigh.

I'm Back and Off Again

I went.

I got dirty and sweaty and smelly.

I was attacked by mosquitoes (but only twice).

I cleaned the bathroom

and didn't sleep.

I hiked and bore my testimony.

I hugged a lot and was hugged.

I know the girls much better (even though I only went for 2 nights).

I'm home again.

I am in possession of a shower and a bed again.

Pure Bliss.

And now I'm off again.

But this time I'm going to Cedar City.

5 Things to do Before Going to Girl's Camp

Yes it is that time again. Time for Girl's Camp. Admittedly not my favorite time of year or my favorite part of serving in the Young Women organization. That said, this year I am going for 2 whole nights. Last year I only went for 1 day. I don't know if this is an improvement, but it is something. Now, in something of an attempt to get myself ready (in a mental sort of way) I have come up with a list of 5 things to do before I head out into the mountains.

5. Get a haircut (a ridiculous attempt to pretend that I am going somewhere fabulous with some fabulous new hair) and maybe a color.

4. Buy cute fabric and have mom teach me how to sew a bandanna (cause the dollar store bandannas are atrocious but I refuse to spend real money on a bandanna).

3. Buy lots of candy to get self through the 2 whole nights of camping I have volunteered myself for.

2. Paint fingernails red (a ridiculous attempt to pretend that I am going somewhere fabulous but also the chosen color theme for camp this year).

1. Get a new attitude (although, I do not feel any need to work on this until Thursday and possibly not until I actually am seen by any of the girls).

Your thoughts, prayers, and advice would be much appreciated--and please don't judge me, I just am not a camper (or a crafter--I believe there are 4 crafts planned!).

Right This Second I

am craving sugar

am trying to resist

am so excited for some sweet jazz tonight

and soccer this weekend

Oh, who are we kidding, I'm totally going to give into the sugar.

In Need of a Little BBC

Well, so much for thinking I was on a new track for being a good blogger with lots of posts each week. I was on a bit of a run last week thanks in part to the World Cup (did you notice how I got every pick right for the matches over the weekend? I beat out every single ESPN analyst! That just proves what taking a purely scientific approach to soccer can do for your gambling habits--not that I did gamble, of course) and thought I would continue on with that--sort of. You see, I've been spending so much time with my World Cup that I have begun to notice that other things are falling by the wayside (or nearly so). My reading is down dramatically, my non-sports-watching TV is down to nothing (not really such a bad thing, though), and my laundry is sadly piled up on my bedroom floor. And that is not all! My watching of BBC-produced shows has fallen off completely--as was pointed out in an email from a dear friend who enclosed the following to remind me of all the things I am missing:

I particularly liked that bit about Americans liking the British accent--which is totally true and is actually where I place the blame for my BBC neglect. You see, the World Cup has this British analyst who has this British accent that I quite fancy:

I haven't the slightest idea at what point I decided a Liverpudlian accent is cute (or even understandable), but I am completely sold and it has caused me to completely lose track of my BBC priorities. Something that I intend to remedy with a little Dr. Who (the new one with the new doctor who I think is just brilliant):

My Friend Landon

I got an email from my friend Landon Donovan the other day thanking me for my "amazing" support during the World Cup--something that comes as quite a relief after all my worries that I had caused their last loss with my skirt-wearing bad luck. Beyond this, the gist of the email was to ask for my personal support and help in bringing the World Cup back to the US in 2018 or 2022. Well, when Landon Donovan asks for my personal support, he gets my personal support. So if you wouldn't mind lending a bit of your own personal support to the cause, please sign the online petition at the link shown below:!)

Do it and, just maybe, you too will receive a very personal email from my friend Landon.

(note: I do actually realize that Landon Donovan is not my personal friend and that he did not personally send me the above referenced email. I do however fully support the cause! And Landon Donovan.)

Another Word

Earlier this week (can you believe how much blogging I have done this week?) I titled a post One final Word about the US World Cup exit. I hope that the title of that post didn't cause you to believe that there would be no more World Cup posts because if so, you were quite happily wrong.

Those of you who are fairly regular readers will have perhaps picked up on the fact that I love my sports. I love the Yankees, the Olympics, BYU sports, and soccer. I don't claim to be an expert, but I do think I can claim to be reasonably well versed in many a sport topic. As such, I thought it might be helpful to some of the less sports-minded individuals if I were to divulge my very scientific approach to picking winners. Let's take the World Cup games being played this weekend.

The Picks (and how I got there):

Netherlands vs. Brazil

There are two basic ways to look at this. First, the Netherlands are the underdogs and I will almost always support the underdog. Second, and really far more important, the best pancakes I have ever eaten were in Amsterdam. Therefore, Netherlands beats Brazil.

Uruguay vs. Ghana

I have not yet officially recognized this game (this would have been Uruguay vs. USA had we advanced) and so I cannot comment on a projected outcome.

Argentina vs. Germany

Now this is a tough one. On the one hand Germany did cause WWII. But, Argentina has harbored of Nazis and Nazi collaborators. Argentina, I hear, has good beef and leather projects, but I am cutting out nearly all red meat from my diet. Argentina, according to some recent press, is a disrespectful team with disrespectful fans. However, those press reports are coming from the Germans. I could go with Germany simply because they are the underdogs, but the reason I am going to pick them is because I'd rather visit Germany than Argentina.

Paraguay vs. Spain

I am going to completely buck the underdog trend I normally follow and pick Spain in this one (and not even just because I would rather visit Spain than Paraguay). I am picking Spain because Torres cut his hair and went brunette and I feel that it is very important to support good fashion decisions:

vs.

Well I hope that was useful to some of you.

Booktalks Round 3--Sort Of

You can find my booktalks on the previous 8 Beehive nominees that I have read here and here. I have 4 more books to go and while I had meant to read them and finish up my booktalks last week, a little thing called the World Cup got in the way. And while the World Cup is still in the way, I thought I would give you booktalks on 2 of that 4--sort of. During Round 2 I admitted to not loving a couple of the books but being committed to booktalking all 12 books. Now, however, I have changed my mind and this is what you are going to get from me:
The Devil's Paintbox by Victoria McKernan

A gritty tale about Aiden and Maddy, orphaned on the prairie, who join a wagon train west for a chance at a new life that I did not like at all.
The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

Kyra, a 14 year old member of a polygamist sect, is chosen to marry one of the elders who just happens to be her 60 year old uncle. Her refusal puts her life and the lives of those she loves and trusts in danger. I didn't love this book because the topic is just not one that I would choose to read for myself, however it is hands down the most suspenseful book I have ever read (and the more I think about it the more I do really like it and think I maybe ought to be doing a real booktalk on it). My heart was lodged in my throat for nearly the entire book--which just might be another reason I didn't love it as thriller books aren't often my thing. Note: There is some violence that makes this a book for mature teens.

Final installment coming next week (hopefully).

La Vie En Rose

I thought I would just say a few words on my new blog title (hopefully the last one since I'm pretty sure changing blog titles is kind of frowned upon and this is my 3rd one--at least I'm not change blog addresses).

La Vie en Rose is both a favorite song of mine and a way of looking at life that I would like to be better at. The translation from French is something like "Life in Pink" that loosely means that life is beautiful (or at least that is what I am told). I just think that seeing life as beautiful--choosing to see life as beautiful because I do think it is a choice--is a wonderful thing and I would really like to be better at living my life like this. So maybe this one extra reminder will help me out a bit.

For those not familiar with the song, here it is (the trumpet just kills me--in a very, very good way):