Healing marriages

No other truth is more deeply sunk into my soul than this one: "If our bodies are sick we seek to heal them. We do not give up. The same should be true of our marriages."-Elder Dallin H. Oaks

For the summer, for the summer

Yesterday, I spent the lunch hour on my favorite bench in all of BYU (it has taken me five years to choose one) listening to a live performance by the Lovecapades, which was happening across campus.

It was a moment that felt like summer. My mac and cheese tasted gross, but my feet were warm on the pavement, the breeze moved the branches of my shade tree about, and my skirt fluttered. The moment only got better when the Lovecapades began playing a cover of this old, old song from my childhood. It's a silly one (actually, it's downright ridiculous), but it's one that brings back summers long since gone and pays tribute to the 80s and 90s.

Enjoy.




The Lovecapades also favored us with a cover of "Read My Mind" by the Killers, a song which is truly great in all seasons of weather and life. Take a listen to this to cleanse your palette.



To hear some real Lovecapades and download their album, check out this link.

My Debt to Spongebob and SG-1

Between the hours of 1:30 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. this past week, I've seen ships destroyed, a wrongly accused man, alien abductions, a drug that makes you hate your neighbor, an army of brave men slaughtered, one good-looking psychiatrist, and the joyous return of that same psychiatrist—only as his usual anthropologist self, but with amnesia.

No, these have not been my early morning hour dreams. Rather, I've been watching the television show Stargate SG-1 with my brother, Shawn. On Sunday, we sent him off to become a marine.

Read more here.

Shawn's the one who looks most like a marine

When I see WinCo ads...

I worry and worry about how to cook for my children someday. I'm terrified I won't be able to keep making meal after meal after meal forever. I've done it before for my parents and siblings before, but still it scares me.

Moreover, I'm really afraid of being able to pay for meal after meal after meal. Today though, I saw the ad for WinCo this week. I took one look . . .  Read more

Social awkwardness is not a sin.

Social awkwardness is not a sin. Why does it feel like it is sometimes? Here are some of my thoughts.

http://byuwsr.blogspot.com/2012/06/social-awkwardness-is-not-sin.html

Bless you, Black Keys

Is it more surprising that Pat has rainbow drums or that Johnny Depp plays the guitar?

The Black Keys - Gold on the Ceiling featuring Johnny Depp (Live) - Music - More Music Videos

Film montages are seriously happy things

I worked on this video for my class on genre film. It's loosely a screwball comedy, with references to Smoke Signals (a movie I love and highly recommend), I Love Lucy, and a few others.

Now, I am no film maker as this video shows. But I'm pretty proud of this montage and the outtakes at the end for just being happy material. I also love this song we used. It's by the Aquabats. Kara's uncle (she's pictured to the left in the stripes) is actually in the Aquabats. How's that for awesome? Enjoy.

Truth is beauty

When I first moved into my apartment, I noticed this quote on the mirror: "Beauty is not in the face. Beauty is a light in the heart." And after I read it for the first time, I thought, that's a stupid quote. It says nice sentimental things, but it gives me little reason to believe, no way to conform to the statement, and no motivation to think it's true.

A year later, I still haven't taken down the quote though, flat sounding as it is. Read more...

For want of rain

To the north of me, a beautiful storm is brewing over that portion of the valley. I wish it would blow in my way, drench my parking lot till the low spots are puddles, and pour and pour until everything is washed and new again.

That would be nice. That could cleanse things again. And I could stop waiting out on my porch for such things.

The storm never came, so I instead made the greatest decision I've made in a while: I moved the couch to the balcony of my apartment building. Though I sometimes feel I'm somehow invading the privacy of my neighbors by bringing myself so permanently into the open, they're outdoorsy people too, so I'm sure they'll be okay with it.

It's awkward for me too, this being so exposed to the world, but since this couch isn't exactly a scrumping couch—as the great Marcie Glad would call it (scrumping actually refers to a whole host of activities, including menial tasks such as walking along at a slow pace and more intense tasks such as punching someone with all the force of your soul. It's a versatile word, really.)—I think spending my time reading and writing out here will be good exposure for my soul.

My friend came to help me move the couch. When he asked if there was anything else he could do, I told him that since we've been struggling with similar things as of late, he could come and talk to me more, since it makes me feel less alone and crazy. His response cheered me greatly: "You're not alone. There are at least 3 of us crazy people out there in the world." Bless your heart, good sir, bless your heart.

My balcony, pre-couch

If it were raining, I'd use this:

Mood music for miracles

Today I rediscovered the album Beautiful Letdown by Switchfoot. Despite all their popularity, Switchfoot is at heart, a Christian rock group. I love this album for those moments when that shines through.

It's particularly true in the last song on the album, "Twenty-four." I thought it might be good mood music to accompany my last post on miracles.

"I want to see miracles, see the world change, wrestle the angel for more than a name."-Switchfoot