how can you not know? PART II

Continued from this post.

Picture this:

My roommates and I are sitting around on our computers doing various things ... we start playing songs that we mutually like and reminisce about what they remind us of ... high school dances, vacations, etc.

Then i play some good sappy songs ... like Boyz II Men's I'll Make Love To You and On Bended Knee and End Of the Road - and oh, the break down in this video is priceless. AND THEN THERE IS THIS ONE - MOTOWN-PHILLY. While I realize that these songs were played at my sixth grade dance ... what I forget is that they were in 2nd grade at that time. Sigh.



They stare blankly at me and wonder why I like these songs so much ... ummm ... because they are good - Hello!

it only seemed appropriate ... at least to me

Perhaps some might view this as a little sad to post such pictures, but you all know how much I enjoy old cemeteries and thus I believe it is very fitting (more on this in a bit). My roommate and I took a walk through the Pioneer Cemetery that borders the southern edge of the University of Oregon campus today since church was canceled due to the most snow Eugene, Oregon has seen in a long while. We were excited for the winter wonderland! We felt like this:

AND THIS (Doesn't Ally look great in her bright yellow coat!):

Ally made a great point that snow makes everything so majestic and beautiful and I agreed that it was especially calm and peaceful in the cemetery ... here are some shots:





Now, the reason some may find these pictures of a snow covered cemetery a bit melancholy is because President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away tonight (Sunday January 27, 2008) at the age of 97. He was a wonderful man and an inspiring and loving prophet to all. The good he did in this life will continue to live on of course and he will be missed by many. I know that many are sad today, but we all must remember the teachings of the gospel - that this life is not the end and that we can be together in the eternities. The sweetest part of his passing however is that he is now with his sweet wife of 67 years who passed away in 2004.

Gordon Bitner Hinckley
June 23, 1910 - January 27, 2008

Shots Ring Out in the Memphis Sky

I can't believe I never posted this picture ... it is from last year in DC on Martin Luther King Day. I lived by the African American Civil War Memorial on U Street and fittingly there was a service going on there. These boys were so cute ... trying hard to keep up the paintings while the speech went on and on. So sweet.

On this day of remembrance ... this is a good video to sum it all up. Typical I know, but it always gives me chills thinking about how brave and amazing he was. Really, I feel honored to share his birthday (Jan. 15th for all those wondering what the real day is).

For those who do not know, there is a National Monument planned for Martin Luther King, Jr. The National Capital Planning Commission and The Commission of Fine Arts approved the site location for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. December 1999. They broke ground in November of 2006.

This is what it is going to look like:


And this is the future location - between Lincoln and Jefferson right on the title basin:


Its funny because I still feel like I will be back to DC ... I don't know how or when or what ... but I feel like my time is not over in DC ... maybe I am in denial still ... maybe this summer?? I hope!

I am Obsessed

yes, that's right ... obsessed ...

This weekend I saw Across the Universe (at the $1 theater ... or was it a $1.50 - I can't remember but who cares!) Some parts of the movie I could do without - like the crazy circus scene and the army hospital scene ... but everything else is over the top and out of control amazing. So creative and crazy! Echoing the Beatles, the 60's in general, Yoko Ono, Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin ... ahhh it was great!

But I am even more obsessed with the SOUNDTRACK than I am with the movie because it is phenomenal ... all the renditions of Beatles songs are stellar. I am not a super fan of the Beatles ... ok lets be honest ... I only really listen to my own mix of their greatest hits ... but these songs are done soooo well. I will be singing Revolution, I've Just Seen a Face, Blackbird, and I want to Hold Your Hand for the next few weeks, among other songs on the album.

Check it out ... seriously.

i like to think i am a lover ... but perhaps I am a hater sometimes

maybe i already blogged about this at some point, but i couldn't find it if i did ... although, i didn't look very hard ... anyway, here goes:

so i am at the university's rec center ... very nice set-up i might add ... and all i can think is how i hate the skinny pretty girls. i mean they are everywhere. i can't get away from them. i am on the eliptical (bad place to start) and i am surrounded by, like, 10 skinny pretty girls sweating their butts off (literally). i go up to the indoor track/stretching area and yup, skinny pretty girls are running around all perky like on the track ... like running for reals - not the fake running that is just to be seen.

And even worse than hating them because they are skinny and pretty ... i automatically assume they aren't very bright (isn't that awful!?) ... the thought process goes like this:

i hate that skinny pretty girl sweating it up on the elliptical over there. she looks amazing in spandex and has the flattest stomach i have ever seen. well, at least i am smart even if i am not the skinny pretty girl working out.

And then I debate to myself if I would give up my brain to have an amazing body like hers ... hahaha (you girls know exactly what I am talking about ... you know you have had a similar conversation with yourself ... right?! eek, i am a bad person, huh?)

Its unfair because these girls are at the university gym which means they are attending the university ... and they are probably very smart ... probably way smarter than I am. But I automatically assume they must spend more time in the gym than they do studying in order to maintain that level of fitness ... I mean who could do both???!!! And what an unfair comparison ... they are like 19 years old and next week ... I am going to be 25, which is not old by any means, but I mean come on, its not 19.

Sigh ... and there you have it. I am mean and shallow and envious ... the worst combination i can think of.

One of my resolutions this year - not to stop thinking those thoughts ... no I am not that unrealistic in my resolutions ... I am trying something even more impossible ... i am resolving to be one of those skinny pretty girls that everyone assumes isn't very bright. If I was skinny, I could handle the hater vibes from the other girls ... because I would know it was a hard journey ... cheers to the typical resolution of eating healthier and exercising more. And good luck to all those who have this one written down too.

(I know ... you are thinking - "she came out of blogging hibernation to say that?! man, that girl is messed up" ... but hey, I take the inspiration where I can get it.