Holi - Festival of Colors

This weekend was the Festival of Colors at the Hare Krishna temple in Spanish Fork. It's the Hindu celebration of the end of Winter and beginning of Spring. The holiday was actually last weekend, the 22nd but I guess we're not getting technical here. It is celebrated by tossing colored powdered chalk and burning the effigy of a witch. Here are some pictures just click on them to view them larger.

The cloud of chalk was visible quite a ways off.

A view from the temple veranda of the crowd and fire.

We definitely didn't get as messy as most people but it was still a lot of fun. If only it didn't snow the day after our spring celebration I would be a lot happier.

More Favorite Words

To continue my list...
freckle
onomatopoeia
bamboozled
peruse
genre

I Confess...

I originally started playing World of Warcraft on a 10-day trial to see what I thought of it. I had definitely had previous exposure to the game as some of my friends play. When I first met them I didn't know how far the friendship would go based on this fact alone. (Guys I jest, I jest... kind of.) As I started playing I had a lot of mixed feelings, slowly though I was won over. Maybe it was finding my first online WoW friend, or maybe it was when my character reached a high enough level to get its cat form. Whatever the special moment, I'm now Elishiwaki a level 31 Tauren Druid. What has happened to me?

P.S. For your benefit there are safe levels of playing that should be followed. This last week I reached gaming overload. Symptoms included dreams of questing, staying up til 5 am playing, and getting excited over a guild promotion. I promptly took care of it though and am at safe level once again. :p

A Hello Kitty Easter

I have been unaware of the Easter market following the Valentines Day trend of themes like Spiderman, but I quickly learned when I decided to pick up an egg dye kit from Target on Saturday. Given my choices I ended up choosing Hello Kitty. I enjoyed the poster as much as the stickers. By the way, if you can't tell, I'm trying to impersonate Hello Kitty.

Here are the 6 little eggs that we struggled to dye. Next time I'll remember to get big cups. It's really not easy dyeing eggs in small square tea cups. I gave up and dyed 2 of mine green and yellow and then decided the last one was going to be Humpty Dumpty. Somehow Humpty ended up with an "internet face" as I like to call it. That wasn't preplanned. Although what is planned is a fight between Jason's Rock Baby and my Humpty Dumpty. Next time I'm getting a better kit for better results. :)

Have Prizm, Will Travel

Mickelle's traveling home to Arkansas this weekend, but can she match this kind of fun? This pic is from my last trip home for Christmas.

I drove the '92 Prizm out for her in June and now it's making the trek back across the country a mere 9 months later. Everyone underestimates that car. Have fun in Arkansas Mickelle!

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. It was good to see my mom's family at Gary's house on Saturday.

Wes Anderson

The beginning of this week I finally got to see The Darjeeling Limited, the newest film by Wes Anderson. It was incredible. Of course, I was expecting to love it from the moment I heard about it. All of his films (minus 1) are on my favorite movies list. I say minus 1 because despite a lot of trying I have yet to find a copy of Bottle Rocket so I can see it. I don't understand why this is such a hard thing. If anyone has it please, I need to borrow it. The Royal Tenenbaums is the most-watched movie of my adult life and probably close to tying with The Little Mermaid for overall most-watched. Love, love, love. The ironic thing? I barely bought The Little Mermaid last year and I have yet to purchase any of Wes Anderson's films. I do have a burned, Clean Flicks version of The Royal Tenenbaums though. Although, it's not mine. Sorry Chris... I've tried to give it back several times.

I highly suggest watching any of his films. And if you do, I'd love to hear what you think.
1. Bottle Rocket
2. Rushmore
3. The Royal Tenenbaums
4. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
5. The Darjeeling Limited (including Hotel Chevalier)

Internet Time Waster

If you're one who likes to take quizzes about anything and everything in your life check out Tickle. My roommates and I used to sit around and give each other these quizzes. They're fun little things if you have a couple of minutes to kill on the internet. My profile says I've taken 95 tests so far, dang.

Chop Chop

I chopped off my hair this weekend. Here's a picture.

Yes, I know... this was an accidental shot but it makes me laugh so much it became the keeper. Here's a "better" one though for those who take life so seriously. I'm still laughing at my ridiculous picture so I'm overly happy.

As a side note, my friend Chelsea cuts my hair. She's one of the best, especially for color. I just thought I'd brag about her a little. You should check her out if you live in the area. She works at Platinum Studios. Don't let my simple cut fool you, she's a master. :)

Enchanted I'm Sure

Guess what is out on dvd today? If I actually had money to buy this I would do that tonight. I really liked this movie. Perfect for my sense of humor and Disney side. I went with my cousins over Thanksgiving not expecting much out of a "kid's movie" but loved it instantly. I'm sure most of you have seen it, but if not, go to Redbox and rent it!

Quote
Robert: How do you all know this song? I've never heard this song before!

"these stories don't mean anything"

This isn't really a new love of mine but I've been listening to this album again over the weekend. I first found out about Brandi Carlile while working at B&N and hearing it over and over and over for the entire 5 months I worked there. I think it was after I left that I truly was able to enjoy hearing a track besides the title track "The Story." It was just too associated with work. Anyways, now it's one of my most listened to albums. Brandi Carlile has a great style and voice and I admire the fact she's a songwriter too.

Favorite Songs
1. The Story
2. Wasted
3. Turpentine
4. Shadow on the Wall

Sticks & Stones

I bought this calendar back in September. Possibly the earliest I've ever bought a calendar for the next year. I love it though, it has some sweet art in it. This month's piece is one of my favorites. It's Ball Made From Sticks by Strijdom van der Merwe. Back in 1995 he collected sticks from a forest fire and wove them together.


The photographs of his work becomes the only lasting record of its existence. After taking a photo, he just leaves his work behind. He feels his art is "a reminder of the capacity, however feeble, of an individual to alter the universe by embracing the ceaseless changing of nature, by actively contributing to it." Just thought this calendar and the art in it was cool and wanted to share.

Thank You Internet

Today I had the pleasant surprise of reconnecting with one of my best friends from the summer. Over the summer I worked at Barnes & Noble and from the very first day I worked there I met Abbey. Abbey and I were hired at the same time and were friends ever since. We worked early mornings and late nights. We saw cycles of hires come and go. We became familiar with the "regulars." Well... you get the idea. Since I quit working at Barnes & Noble in September we've lost contact. I don't have a cell phone and Abbey didn't have the internet. It was a challenge. Now Abbey has Facebook though, yay! Contact restored.

In my life where I rarely connect so well with another girl, I shouldn't let such good friends slip away. It's something I've thought about a lot over the months and I'm glad to start reconnecting.

Some Favorite Memories With Abbey In No Particular Order
1. July 5th (and the 4th)
2. Fun chats over dinner.
3. Zone Maintenance :)
4. Talking about music & movies.
5. Cleaning the trash can outside of B&N one Sunday morning.

Mr. Jones! Mr. Jones!

A next generation Indiana Jones is hidden in the humdrum classrooms of Utah Valley. A geology teacher by profession, an explorer at heart - Michael Bunds. Now I'm not quite sure if Bunds shares Mr. Jones' affinity for fedoras and whips but they definitely both don't mind a little adventure.