Song of the week 8

Procrastination is kinda my thing so here I am finals week trying to cram everything I can into a few days... So it is 2.35 am and this song came to my mind. I used to love this song. Still do actually. Enjoy.

A semester wrap up.

So I am finally caught up in my blogging, and with the end of the semester coming up I thought I would do a little semester wrap up.
This is what my last three weeks looked like:

I had four papers due on the last week of class, all of them were research papers with a required length of 8-10 pages. Lots of stress, writing, reading and a few tears went into the papers but I am happy to say they are all done. I am just a few finals and a graphic design project away from doing whatever I please, including reading whatever I want.

I think I was crazy when I signed up for 4 English classes because this is how many books I had to read:

That is a lot of books. I want to write my review of the books I read so that when I forget if I liked the book I have an easy reference. If you are looking for something to read there are a few good ones here!
A Long and Happy Life -Reynolds Price 
This book was a fast and easy read, with an ok story and much better on the second read (ya I had to read it twice, but it was the only book for my writing class...) I learned a lot while I was writing so I now appreciate this book more than I originally thought. Not a bad quicky! 
The Old Man and the Sea -Earnest Hemingway
If you like Hemingway, or fishing maybe you will like this. I don't love either and while it was an ok book and a classic not a favorite of the semester. 
Herland - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
This is a Utopian feminist novel. I thought it was great and did a wonderful job highlighting women are equal to men in many ways. Slow at times but I enjoyed it. 
The Blacker the Berry -Wallace Thurman
I really liked the way this book was written. Great character development and a great look into racism in America. 
America is in the Heart -Carlos Bulosan
I also liked this one. The thing I found most interesting was how America was portrayed in this novel. We were awful to the immigrants and this shows a lot of truth. 
Possession: A Romance -A.S. Byatt
This took me a while to get into it but then it was awesome. The story is very unique and compelling. (much better than the movie) 
Translations -Brian Friel
This is a short play but full of a lot. I didn't put it down until I finished because I wanted to know what happened. 
The Cure at Troy -Seamus Heaney
A really cool take on the famous Greek story of Philoctetes. It's also a play and a quick read. Not bad. 

A House for Mr. Biswas - V.S. Naipaul

We only read a couple chapters out of this book, but it seemed interesting. I am not sure I will take the time to read the rest of the book though...

The Famished Road -Ben Okri

This book is trippy. It is African magical realism and has a lot of really strange stuff in it, but it was a good book and had a great ending (kind of a Moral of the Story end). 

Midnight's Children -Salman Rushdie

By far the strangest book I read all semester. Half the time you don't know what is going on. The other half you only think you know what is going on. It is beautifully written but Rushdie is kinda a crazy. 

The Return of the King- J.R.R. Tolkien

Well the only thing this book did for me was make me want to watch the movies. I am sure if I knew the story better I would have been more interested but come on Tolkien do you have to spend pages describing every little detail?

Omeros -Derek Walcott

Epic Poem. Like 500 pages.... Not a fan. 

Northanger Abbey -Jane Austen

This is an Austen take on the Gothic novel. Not my favorite Austen book, but the story is fun and her imagination shows in this one. 

Emma -Jane Austen

Probably my second favorite JA novel. I love Emma and I think she is funny. Read this! 

Persuasion -Jane Austen

This is the second time I have read Persuasion this year and it grows on you. JA wit is enjoyable all the time, this isn't my favorite but also a good one. 

Washington Square - Henry James

I was excited to see this novel play out and was very satisfied with it. I have learned to love Henry James and his twisted views on life. 

Daisy Miller - Henry James

Like not love. Daisy Miller is an intriguing character and the way it is narrator really shapes your view about her. James is good at that! 

The Turn of the Screw -Henry James

Said to be one of the greatest ghost stories ever told, and I have to say that although I didn't lose sleep over it, it was thrilling and a fun read. 

Jane Austen: A Life -Carol Sheilds

As far as biographies go, this is a keeper it was interesting had some great stories about her life and I didn't feel like I was reading a biography. 

TaDa. The End. Wish me luck on finals. 

Forts.

I love Forts. A lot. Dezi wanted one for her birthday and I think it is by far the best fort we have ever built. We used the whole family room, using ropes, sheets, bag clips and blow up mattresses. It was so great they left it up for a week!
These pictures aren't the best but they show the epic-ness of the fort!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1: A night of Magic, Excitement and Awe.

 A night of Magic, Excitement  and Awe. 

Along with everyone else in the world, I could not wait for this night. The first installment of the last Harry Potter film. Growing up with Harry has been quite the adventure and I am not looking forward to the day that the journey ends. What will the world be like with out any more HP books or movies on their way. What do I have to look forward to in life. OK so maybe HP isn't everything but it is definitely  something. The movie was awesome, I loved every minute of it and I am glad they split it into two parts! 

I went and watched it in So Jo with my Family and  Leianne, because we have seen almost every movie together, it's tradition. (and we didn't have to wait in line!) But before going up to So Jo I met up with these people to have a mini photo shoot. (this is my pre-outfit.)

 Gage, Me, Rach, Caity, Claire. 

Then I went home and put on my REAL outfit and had another photoshoot with Niques! (take a look at her thoughts on this night here)
Here we are with our full robes on! (gotta love the London pictures behind us! It is like we are almost there)

 Cute Sisters!

 We probably would both wear these outfits in real life...

Hiding from Voldy... 

The Fab Five Ds (minus Dezi, she couldn't go because she hadn't finished the book, Sad) Does this remind you of anything?

I can't wait for the last movie! 

Aquabats vs. Reel Big Fish (songs of the week 7)

For my Birthday Dylan got me tickets to an AWESOME concert. Aquabats vs. Reel Big Fish. Any fan of ska knows this is epic. It was epic. It was a 5 hours of pure craziness and fun. I really really liked one of the opening bands: Suburban Legends. They were so much fun. It was the perfect birthday present and Dylan was so excited to give it to me he gave it to me a few weeks early (even though the concert wasn't until the first week of November!) Thanks Dylie!

Beard Boy aka Dylan took this footage, and it was one of the best moments of the concert. I mean there is a ROBOT on stage. How awesome is that:

Wanna watch some more of our epic concert check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/user/KlingonKapla#p/u/0/kRIZqVvRFek

500 days of summer.

In case you were wondering, I still love JGL, also I want Zooey's dress.

-d.

I don't want to do my Homework anymore, So I will remember a better time.

OCTOBER.
Well I am sick of staring at my research and I am ready for a break so the catch up continues. October has never let me down. With my birthday, Halloween, spooks, thrills, and fall weather what is there not to love. This October lived up to its expectations. It was fantastic. To celebrate my actual birthday I went over to Racheal where some of the greatest friend in the world were ready to eat some delicious cake

with some of the COOLEST plate ever invented.

Then we made our way to Nightmare on 13th. I love haunted houses and was so excited to go to this one for my birthday. It was lots of fun and full of lots of spooks and haunts. 

Here are the girls. I love them all. 

Here we are with Freddy Krueger. Scary! 

The only part of my birthday I didn't like was the snow. It always snows on my birthday. Why mother nature why? The rest was perfect. Afterwards I went home where my family had a pumpkin ready for me to carve and warm chocolate chip cookies. It was perfect. I loved my birthday. Then the next weekend I decided to throw a Birthday/Halloween Dinner party. I was really nervous to do a dinner party, but in my opinion it was a hit! I loved every minute of it. I am grateful to have such wonderful friends and family who would spend the night eating and playing games with me! 

I had so much fun decorating. I really would love to be a party planner for a living. Best job ever! 

Here is my appetizer setting. 

 The place settings.

 The Menu!

 The Table

 I was so happy with the way my poisoned apples turned out!

 Derek looked super creepy!

 All of us ready to eat!

 Yummy fingers

 Zombie meat topped with a ghost!

 Graveyard.

 Group photo.

The games were probably the best part! We were laughing all night long. So much fun! 

I am so glad this party was so fun because I was sick the next night and didn't get to go out and wear my other Halloween costume. Luckily I have great friends (Carly and Spencer) who let me eat dinner and watch a movie with them! I had to take a couple pictures of my costume though because I had been waiting to wear it since last Halloween. Don't worry I am sure I will find a reason to wear it again!

 The force vs magic. Epic.

 Padme- ready for battle.

 Gage and I had so much fun making his Sirius Black costume. He had THE greatest costume of all time.

The Day I almost Died : the flight home.

After a wonderful and exciting trip I was a little sad to have to go home, especially knowing that I would be starting school in  about a week, and summer was ending. But I got on the first leg of my trip back home. I was flying by myself again. My Parents flight left later that day. From Boston to Memphis was smooth sailing. I still wasn't feeling too great and was able to sleep a little, read a little and we landed with out any problems. Well my flight from Memphis back to Salt Lake was a different story. We took off fine, and about half way into the flight we started hitting turbulence. Nothing too abnormal but as we got closer and closer to our destination it kept getting worse and worse. I should mention that we were on this tiny little plane. One of the smallest I have ever been on.  I have never had a fear of flying, but I started right then to fear for my life. Finally we are circling around the SLC airport getting ready to land. We were flying down and hitting huge pockets of air. We were bouncing all over the place. I was starting to feel pretty light headed, I am sure I looked like most of the people around me, wide eyed and terrified. The Big Cowboy of a man next to me was cursing under his breath. He told me he doesn't like to fly. This was not helping. Well we get down to the runway and just as we are about to touch down a gust of wind sweeps under one of the wings of the plane causing the plane to tip to one side. Well the pilot immediately swooped back up and told us that we were going to have to circle around and try again. At this point a lady two rows behind me started to feel very sick, the flight attendants came back and decided it would be best to get the oxygen out and see if there was a doctor on board. Ok... wow this doesn't help anyones  nerves. The pilot gets on saying they are trying to figure out what to do... WHAT they don't know what to do. They are professionals, they have to know what to do. I can hear the Dr. and flight attendants talking a few rows back. He says the girl will be ok, she is just having a bit of an anxiety attack, and should get off the plane as soon as possible. That is when they say we are going to have to land soon no matter what because we are going to get low on gas. GAS. We need that to fly. At this point I am about to have an anxiety attack. I start having flash backs to what I said to my parents as I left. Did I thank them enough for the trip. Did they know how much I loved them. I am not exaggerating this all went through my head. I was thinking about how if we crashed what the chances were for survival. Maybe if we landed in the salt lake we would float? This was one time having an active imagination was not the greatest thing. It might have been my imagination but it felt like the air was getting thinner, it was definitely getting hotter. I of course was in the Exit row so I had to think about how I was going to help everyone else off the plane. It was terrible. Well finally after what felt like hours and after we had tried going down again unsuccessfully the pilot gets on and tells us we are going to have to land in Provo to fill up on gas and wait for the winds to pass Salt Lake. The flight attendants ask him if people can get off in Provo (mainly for the girl who is on oxygen.) The pilot comes back on saying whoever wants to get off in Provo  can but they would still have to pick up their bags in SLC. I was all over this. I only had carry on, I was a light packer, Thank goodness! The runway in Provo is short, the pilot told us, so our landing was going to be hard and they were going to have to hit the breaks right away. Well they were right. We hit down pretty hard and the breaks slammed us down. But we were on the ground. I was alive. I called Carly to see if she would be able to pick me up from the Provo airport, and then called Derek who was already waiting at the SLC airport (we were obviously running late at this point) and told him to turn around and start heading towards Provo. I hopped off the plane at first chance, and looked around at the anxious faces still on the plane. They had to wait for a fill up and then were going to head back up to the DEATH ZONE and land in SLC. A few others got off the plane with me. We were relieved to be on the ground and breathing fresh air. It was one of the best feelings in the world. I said about a million prayers that day, ending with a Thank you for keeping me alive prayer. Who knew that at one point in the day I would look out my window and see this and think how pretty.

And then a few hours later I would think I am GOING to DIE.  Well that is the story of how I thought I was going to die. True story. Also this was a long one, if you made it through Thanks. I hope it was worth your time.

A day of New York: Day 4

Someday I am going to wake up in New York because I live there. I am excited for that day. Until then this day was pretty close to perfect. We started by getting some breakfast and headed over to Tiffany's so I could  eat my breakfast there just like Audrey. On our way we window shopped, because all of the stores were still closed. It was fantastic. I think New York may have the best window shopping. Here are some of our favorites: 

Here I am with my breakfast and Tiffany & Co. I about died when I stepped inside this store. LOVE.

Then we went for a walk in Central Park. This park is Huge. We only touched the tip of it and I easily could have spent the whole day here. 

It was so fun to see the skyscrapers popping out from the tops of the trees. So cool.

My mom needed to stop by and see the Temple. It is also very unique, just stuck right there in the middle of the city. And as soon as you walk in it is so quiet and peaceful, a huge difference from the hustle and bustle of the city. 

On our way back we stopped by FAO swartz. It was much smaller then I thought it would be and well we kept comparing it to things in London and it was no where near  as cool as Hamleys. But this was a sweet toy. Beamz. Look it up. 

Next was a stop by Dylan's Candy Bar. I don't know what drove us here but why not. A store dedicated to Candy. Deal. I think we needed to go because it is Dylan's. and we like Dylan.

Mid day snack-Lunch in between some shopping and walking. Hot Dogs. Well my mom got the vendors last polish and my dad and I were stuck with regular hot dogs which tasted like, well regular hot dogs. Hers was much better. But it was on my list. Finally after years I got to eat a Hot Dog in New York.

My Favorite part of the day was the MOMA. I bet you were expecting shopping huh... Nope. I am in love with this museum. We all some how got lost in the shuffle of the art and I spent most of the time listening to my little headset and wandering through some of my favorite artists. I also could have spent all day here. It was so hard for me to pick what museum I wanted to go to (museum was my number one so I got to pick!) and I am so so so glad I picked this one. I loved seeing Van Gough, and Picasso and Warhol and Dali and Matisse and Seurat, and Cezanne and Monet and well basically it was beautiful and wonderful to see works I have studied and learned about. Love this place. We were getting very tired at this point. So much walking and seeing and doing.

This is Yoko Ono's Wish tree. I love this idea. Write you wish on a peice of paper and put it on the tree and hope it comes true. I want one. 

Next stop FIT. I have dreamed about going to FIT for a very long time. I was afraid if I saw it I might never want to leave. We went to their little fashion museum and I loved it. I would love to be able to attend any fashion school, especially in NY, and even more especially FIT. Someday? I am putting that on my dream tree.

After this we split up.My mom and I did a little more shopping. I had to step foot in a Topshop because I miss it. and my dad wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. So we split. We headed to soho and did a little more shopping. I loved the vibe and feel of soho and greenwich village. I could live there. (I could live anywhere on Manhattan and be happy I think.)
The place to catch the ferry to Staten Island.

This was about what my view of Lady Liberty was like, probably even smaller.

This was my Dads. He loved his boat ride. I am kinda sad I didn't go with him, but I also knew I would be sad not going to Topshop. Next time.

After we shopped until we could no longer stand, quite litterally we went back to our bus to meet my dad. We saw a bus coming our way and were on the other side of the street and for fear that we would have to walk further we ran to catch the bus. (at this point I am not sure why we didn't take a taxi but somehow it was easier to take a bus?) After making it on the bus after we ran for it we felt pretty accomplished. It is not everyday you catch a bus like that. We met up with my dad walked through the Wallstreet area, very businessy, and put together area, saw "ground zero" which now is a construction site, because there are building some memorial/building something. We were starting to get to the Feed Me Now point. There were NO resturants in the area so we had to come up with a plan. I was starting to feel sick, and tired. I was so sad I was feeling sick, which probably made me even more sick and only made the FMN (feed me now) even worse. So we got a couple drinks and some fries here. Come on, what is more American than McDonalds.

The Bull. I guess if you touch it you will have financial luck. I will let you know how that works out. Also lots of people take pictures coming out of it's butt. That was funny. We did not.

Then around 1030 or so at night we finally made it to one of the places on our list to eat. Katz's. WOW. Best sandwich ever. I could try and describe it to you but words aren't there. Just think of the best pastrami sandwich in the history of your life, now multiple it by 100. That is Katz's.

Look at the size of that thing. I was still feeling sick but I downed my part. Delicious isn't a good enough word for this sandwich.

YUM.

We got out of there pretty late and it was amazing. People were getting ready to go out and the town was as busy as it was that afternoon. Oh the city that nevers sleeps. Amazing. Well we were not ready to stay up all night. We headed back, my dad to get the car and my mom and I to Times square to get some last minute souvenirs. (the traditional I &hearts NY shirts) Once again I was baffled and overwhelmed with the lights and sounds. It looked like it was day time. We hopped in the car. I was as happy as I could be. My NYC experience everything I wanted and only left me wanting more. I was sad to leave but so tired I was soon asleep. We arrived in Boston at who knows what hour. My mom and I took turns talking to my dad to keep him awake. I slept like a baby. It was AMAZING.