Vegas Does Something Right

Say what you want about Vegas, but man do they know how to put on a good show. We saw Vampire Weekend at the Palms Hotel Pearl theater. There isn't a bad seat in the house. They also have tons of helpful ushers to guide you to your seat. And don't get me started on the restrooms. They were several notches up from your normal concert venue.

Vampire Weekend was great in concert. It's always fun to see bands live but some bands are just better. Vampire Weekend definitely falls into the latter category.

We also got to see my favorite free show. The Bellagio fountains. I always forget how amazing they are.

So if you ever have the opportunity to see a show in Vegas I would definitely recommend it. I haven't been disappointed yet.

See, I can be spontaneous!

I mentioned a few weeks ago how sad I was that I missed Vampire Weekend in concert. Well, I get to see them after all.

A little over a week ago, I decided to look up if they had any concerts nearby. The West is not at all like back East where you can drive through 2 states in about 2 1/2 hours. It takes somewhere between 6-9 hours to get to a large city in any of the surrounding states. So I was hoping Vampire Weekend would be performing in Denver or Las Vegas. Well I got lucky and they do have a show in Vegas.

Here's the best part. I found a deal on a flight and hotel package so I don't even have to drive. It only takes about 45 minutes to fly to Vegas from SLC. I talked KK into going with me on my crazy quick trip to Vegas, and tomorrow we'll be off for a fun day in Sin City.

If Librarians Could Talk Back

Sometimes I really wish I could say these things to patrons at the library. Ok maybe I've actually said a few of them.

Disclaimer: These are just thoughts when I get frustrated. Customer service can often be a challenge. As a general rule I love helping people.

• Lack of preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
• We are not an office supply store.
• No, I won't loan you some batteries. Why would you even think I would?
• Grow up.
• I am not your slave.
• No, I will not do your homework for you.
• Your child is a crazy monster who was climbing the shelves over there. If you were paying any attention at all, you would have seen this.
• Just because we are a nonprofit organization does not mean that you only have to follow the rules you want. Nor do I have to do everything you say.
• No, I am not just a volunteer I actually have to have a degree to work here.
• No, I cannot help you with that online game that you have been playing for the last 4 hours. I actually have work to do. Unlike you, obviously.
• What part of this is a library and therefore should be quiet is so hard to understand?
• Just because I am a woman does not mean you don't have to listen to me.
• No, I do not want to hear about how eating lunch meat can kill you.
• No, I do not want to hear about how we should ban all Muslems from immigrating to the US.
• No, I do not want to hear that stupid joke about getting a free internet pass EVERY time you come to the desk
• I am a human being. Please do not throw your money or library card at me.
• We DO have a list of all the DVDs owned by the Library. It's called the catalog. 
• We are not your free babysitters.
• I'm sorry you didn't get that COURTESY reminder email when your books were due but you still have to pay the late fees.
• Yes, I know how to spell Dan Brown's last name.
• I don't know what rock you were living under but the rest of the world has known about The Hunger Games for a while and therefore there is a waiting list.
• Your tax dollars do NOT pay for my salary. You don't even own a home here.
• I know you didn't know there was a no cell phone policy on the 2nd floor. That's why I am telling you about it.

Being White Trash is Hard

This summer my friends and I decided that since we live in Utah we should embrace the culture and go see all the big White Trash events. We had plans to go see a rodeo, monster truck rally, demolition derby, and roller derby.

Well summer is now over and we only made it to the demolition derby. Apparently you have to actually work to be White Trizzash. So after our failure during the summer we decided to extend it into to fall. Last night we went to see a roller derby. Salt Lake has a derby league called the Salt City Derby Girls that compete at the Salt Palace. If you've seen the movie Whip-it then you'll know what I'm talking about. Tough chicks dressed up in micro mini skirts with fish-net tights bash each other around as their team skates to get the most points.

Salt Lake's  Sisters of No Mercy vs. Ogden's Junction City Roller Dolls

I was not expecting the game to be so confusing. You really have to pay attention and know the rules to understand what is going on. Also, I thought the audience would be screaming and yelling, but everyone seemed very calm. Maybe it's just Utah. Still a fun and unique experience.

We're now thinking about a whole White Trash year just to get it right.

Fall Hiking

Now that it is officially Fall, I decided I needed to go on a hike to see all the beautiful Fall colors. I went to Battle Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove. You have to hike up a ways to get to the the trees that are starting to change color, but it is beautiful once you get up there.

Bragging moment: I hiked all the way from the trailhead to the top of Battle Creek Falls without stopping once. That last bit before you reach the top is brutal. I also hiked it in under 15 minutes. It is a little less that a mile to get above the waterfall.

I was also excited because I finally found the connector trail to Dry Canyon. I've looked at maps and I know these two trails connect, but the only time I've tried was from the Dry Canyon side. I ended up on a cliff high above Battle Creek Canyon and I couldn't figure out where the trail went down into the canyon. Now that I know where the connection is in Battle Creek, I can follow it from there. I really wanted to do it today, but I just didn't have time. In fact, I was so short on time that I did one of my favorite things to do which is to run back down the canyon. I love that feeling of being out of control running down the mountain, but you have to be careful and not get too out of control. I'm pretty good at doing this.

What I am not good at is traversing log bridges. Something about crossing over water on uneven or wobbly bridges always gets me into trouble. Yes, I had a little mishap today. On the bright side, the water felt great.

Big Day

Today was a big day for me. I closed on my condo refinance. Yay for me!

You want to know what is really awkward? Asking a friend for a recommendation on a mortgage loan officer, then having to call that person with no introduction and explain to them how you got their name, and then that person not knowing who your friend is. Yeah, I'm already not a fan of calling people I don't know and talking to them about stuff I don't know anything about, but it's even worse when they have no idea how you got their cell phone number.

Now on to the good news! Once all the number crunching was done, and after I signed about a billion papers, my monthly payment came in at about  $170 a month cheaper than it was. Wow that's some amazing savings!

Strangely enough I felt really depressed after closing. I think it's just hard to see how much money your committing to pay over the next 30 years.

I decided to reward myself with a fideo from Cafe Rio. Fideo is a Mexican pasta. It's kinda a strange meal, but I love it. So 1300 calories later (well maybe not since I couldn't eat the whole thing) I am one satisfied girl and not feeling as depressed as I was earlier.

"My Cat Can Eat a Whole Watermelon"

Writing about A Hard Days Night got me thinking about other cult films I used to watch. There is of course the ubiquitous Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I actually own the collector's edition which has some pretty entertaining extras. Like these awesome scenes below where the film was dubbed into Japanese and then translated back. What the Knights of Ni want in the Japanese version is almost better than the English version.



Here's one that not many of you will know about. Rubin and Ed filmed right here in our very own Utah. The film stars Crispin Glover, who is probably most famous for playing George McFly in Back to the Future. Here is the plot summary from IMDB.com.

Reclusive Rubin Farr teams up with vocal but unsuccessful multi-level salesman Ed Tuttle on a quest to bury Rubin's dead cat in the "perfect spot." Their trip takes them across Utah's desert where they have run-ins with Ed's ex-wife Rula and an elusive Andy Warhol critic.


I mean, come on. Doesn't that sound like the best film ever? Below is Rubin's dream sequence where he fantasizes that his cat can water ski. It is one of the best scenes of the movie and has the best line from the whole film.



There are so many other great cult films out there. Here are some others I used to watch all the time.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Better Off Dead
The Princess Bride
Real Genius
And Now for Something Completely Different
This is Spinal Tap

What films did you watch over and over again?

I'm a Mocker

The other day I was flipping channels and I noticed The Beatles mockumentary, A Hard Days Night, was on TV.

If you've never seen this or the Beatles' other films, you absolutely must! Watching it again brought back such nostalgic feelings. My friend's parents, who were in a band, had recorded all of them. We used to go over to his house and watch them all the time.

The basic gist of the film is that the Beatles, along with their managers, and Paul McCartney's (fake) grandfather are headed from Liverpool to London for a show. The film follows them through all the crazy things they get up to along the way.

John, Paul, Ringo and George make fun of pretty much everyone, including themselves and their fame. This film is very much about how different the young generation was from the stayed old fuddy-duddies of the older generations. Watching it again I was struck by the genius of it. It is definitely worthy of it's cult classic status.

The title of my post makes reference to an interview with Ringo. A lady asks him if he considers himself a mod or a rocker, and he replies, "Uh, no, I'm a mocker."  I love it!

You can find the whole show broken into pieces on YouTube. This part has the "mocker" line at the very end of it.

Are We BYU?

Today at the Library a tiny toddler was walking around chanting BYU, BYU, over and over again. It was pretty adorable, but it kinda depressed me at the same time.

For the last month or so there have been street lamp banners up on parts of University Ave that read “We are BYU.” The banners were not put up by the university but by the Utah Valley Visitors Bureau. Now as I understand it, this year’s theme for BYU Football is “We are BYU Football.” But I have a real problem with the Utah Valley Visitor’s Center proclaiming “We are BYU.” Yes, BYU is a big part of Provo, but to say, “We are BYU” implies that we are ONLY BYU and that is just not the case.

Take it from someone who has lived in Utah Valley nearly her whole life. You can live perfectly happily here without ever stepping foot on BYU campus. I do of course visit BYU from time to time. I appreciate their art museum and dramatic productions, but how about we focus on what else makes Provo great instead of the thing we already all know.

How unobservant can I be?

Apparently a lot.

I went to the gym this morning and after I finished my jog I was looking down at my feet and for the first time noticed that I was wearing two different running shoes. I've heard of people wearing one black sock and one blue sock before, but I've never actually seen any one wearing different shoes.

To be fair to myself, the shoes are pretty similar. One is light gray with purple trim and the other is white with purple trim (pink and purple trim are pretty much your choices for women's running shoes). But I thought I would have been able to feel the difference. After all, my old shoes gave me shin splints a few months back because they had lost all their cushion. So now I'm wondering if new shoes fixing my shin splints problem was all just in me head.

I guess if I'd read Born to Run, I would already know this.

Piranha Zwei

When I took German in high school. There was a section in our text book that represented a typical conversation between two young Germans. It went something like this...(translated, of course)

"Hello friend. What did you do last night?"
"I went to see a movie."
"A movie. What did you see?"
"I saw Piranha Zwei (two)."
"Piranha Zwei! I love that movie!"

My friends and I thought this was hilarious that 1) the text book writers were obviously trying to appeal to Americans by picking an American film (a really bad and really outdated American film), and 2) that they translated the title into German which only involved changing two to zwei. It became something of a joke for those of us in the class.

On Saturday, I babysat my nephew. It only took being with him a few minutes before I discovered that he has recently become obsessed with fish, especially piranha. He told me all about how you have to have a special permit to own a piranha or you could be fined $1000 and sent to prison for a minimum of 16 days (yes, he very seriously explained to me that that was the minimum sentence).

So naturally I decided we needed to visit the aquarium. I discovered many years ago that while babysitting young boys it is best to take them somewhere where they can be thoroughly entertained. Otherwise, they exhaust you.

Sandy is home to the Living Planet Aquarium. I had never been there before, but was very pleased with it. It's a little small for the price ($9 adult, $7 child), but as mentioned above, what price can you put on preventing a child from running you ragged?

We saw many different types of fresh and sea water fish. Some of which my nephew could tell me about before I even read the sign. And yes, we did get to see piranhas. This guy is just under a foot tall and in a tank with 20 or so of his friends. According to the information plate, piranha can only take down large mammals in schools like this. I really wanted to see their razor sharp teeth, but alas no such luck.

?!?? Flamingo

The new Brandon Flowers solo album, Flamingo, came out on Tuesday. I had already listened to his single, Crossfire that came out about a month ago. I liked the song (didn't love it). It is very catchy, plus the music video is hilarious. Brandon Flowers keeps getting captured by ninjas who want to torture him for some reason and Charlize Theron, with bad-ass skills, has to keep saving him which she seems none too pleased about.



Anyways, I couldn't wait for the library to purchase the album (my way of previewing albums before I decide if I like them enough to buy). So I bought the MP3 from Amazon. I love instant gratification.

I'm not exactly sure what to think about the album. I just can't pinpoint what I don't like. There are a lot of ballad like songs which isn't necessarily a bad thing (The Killers have some ballads). The album is definitely more pop/main stream than The Killers, but this isn't always a bad thing. The album kinda reminds me of Erasure (there is a lot of synth). I like synth. And from what I've read, Flamingo's been getting decent reviews. So why don't I like it more?

This is obviously Flowers' ode to his home town, Las Vegas. The first song is in fact called Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas. And it is the perfect example of how I feel about the album. Which is that one minute I love it and am marveling over Flowers' vocals and the next I am cringing over his vocals.

The songs I like the best are:

Only the Young
Magdalena
Crossfire
Swallow It

Thursday is Must See TV

Do you remember NBC's Must See TV? Seinfeld and Friends were the ones I watched. I was never much in to ER.

Well, my sister and I have started our own Thursday night Must See TV. Basically we wanted a reason to hang out together and since my other sister was always going on about how much she loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and neither of us had ever watched the series before, we decided to get the DVDs and watch every Thursday.

Buffy, however, started a precedent that I don't think we realized when we began. Namely, the shows we watch need to be cheesy, overly dramatic, or take themselves too seriously. This leads to making fun of the shows we watch. Which is a form of entertainment in itself.

Here is what we've watched so far:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

BBC Robin Hood (my suggestion)

Firefly and Serenity (sister's suggestion)

The Legend of the Seeker (sister's suggestion)

Alias (my suggestion)











We're on the last season of Alias and then we are planning to watch the new Doctor Who. As you can tell from this list, both my sister and I like the Sci-Fi/Fantasy stuff the most. Any suggestions on what else we should watch?

Climb More Trees

"If I could do it all again. I would climb more trees and eat more wild blackberries."

This is a line from a Bloc Party song and I was thinking about it the other day. At first I thought the line was talking about what you regret in your past that you wish you could do over (not the big things but the little things). But today I decided that for me it's more about how we should be more spontaneous. After all, when do you ever sit in your house and make plans to go outside and climb a tree.

Spontaneity  is something I definitely wish I was better at. I have a friend that used to ask me to go camping or river rafting at a moment's notice. I would never go with him even if I was free because it was just too spontaneous for me.

I think it's especially hard when you are an introverted person like me because you need that down-time each day to rejuvenate yourself. Unfortunately, this usually turns into the whole evening, and before you know it, it's a habit to never go out unless it's planned, never call anyone unless you need something, etc.

For me what I want to be more spontaneous about it going outside and enjoying nature more (even just taking a walk around the neighborhood) and calling friends and family just to see how they are.

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

Yes, in this scenario I am the old dog.

The other day, out of no where, I suddenly wanted to learn how to play the guitar. I have never before in my life felt this desire. I played the flute and the piccolo through middle school, junior high, and high school and loved every minute of it, but I was kinda burnt out after that. So I'm not exactly sure where this desire came from.

The last time I tried to learn something new it was a embarrassing mess. A few years ago I wanted to learn how to swim properly. I have never been afraid of the water and actually love to go swimming, but I was never taught how to swim laps and I wanted to know how to do this. So after looking around, I discovered that the Provo Rec offers adult swimming lessons. This seemed perfect for me until I got to the pool the first day and discovered that not only was I the only "adult" that had signed up, but my teacher was a fresh out of high school young man. I had to show up in a bathing suit once a week for two months and try to learn several different swimming strokes by a boy who clearly did not know how to teach an adult. It was utterly humiliating and I am sad to say that I did not progress at the rate I or my "teacher" had hoped for.

That horrific experience aside, I think it is important to keep learning new things and experiencing new things. You just have to be prepared that you might be embarrassed along the way. So maybe if I can find a guitar I will try to learn.

Rethinking Sterotypes at the Library

Below are some of the stereotypes I frequently come into contact with at the library.

Chauvinistic old men
Superior business men/women
Snarky teenagers
Defensive mothers
People with no social skills


While I love to help people at my job, none of the above are very much fun to deal with. So generally when you see one of these stereotypes coming, you pray the encounter will be brief.

That is exactly what I was doing when two greasy looking skater boys walked up to my desk for help finding a book. Who knew it would be one of the best encounters I have ever had with teen boys. First of all, these boys were amazingly polite. They kept apologizing for interrupting my work. Next, they said thank you over and over again for my help. They made eye contact with me, and finally one boy even told me how much he liked using the library. Now, based on some of the things they said, I very much doubt that these boys come from good homes or have much interest in school, and yet there they were trying to use the library.

This experience gives me hope that teens in less fortunate circumstances can 1) still be brought up to be nice, and 2) know they are welcome at the library and that all they need to do is ask and we would be so happy to help them. It also reminded me that even if it's 1 in 100, there are great people out there who you just might dismiss because of a stereotype.

What I Read

So if you asked me to put in order what genres I read from most to least read, it would look something like this:

Fantasy
Contemporary Classics
Teen Fiction
Historical Fiction
Paranormal
Chick-Lit
Romance
Nonfiction
Suspense/Thrillers
Mystery

Which is why I was so surprised at how much I enjoyed the book I just finished reading.

Juliet
by a newer author, Anne Fortier.

This book, which could be considered a Da Vinci Code read-alike falls to the bottom of the genres I enjoy reading, and yet I could hardly put it down.

At one point while I was reading the book, I realized that take away the modern dialogue and add in some overly detailed descriptions of the scenery and Juliet is almost exactly like Mystery writer Mary Stewart whose novels almost always follow this outline:

A young single girl alone in a foreign country accidentally gets embroiled in some local conspiracy, meets a mysterious man whom she is drawn to but who may or may not be on her side, and ends up solving the case without his help.

So apparently if a Mystery or Suspense book follows this exact plot line then I like it, but otherwise I just really don't care.

Also, while I adore Mary Stewart novels, I've never actually met anyone else who likes to read them. Boring and slow is what I usually hear from people. So even though I am thrilled with the connection I made, it really won't help me when suggesting books to other people, however I would definitely recommend Juliet.

Go here to read my review of the novel, Juliet.

Wildflowers of Utah

I checked out a book from the library the other day called, Wasatch Wildflowers: A Field Guide. It is a newly published book. I was so excited to discover that it is the first useful guide to the wildflowers of Utah that I have found. I have checked out a handful of other titles but none of them have ever helped me identify the flowers I have seen while hiking.

I went back through some of my hiking pictures. It was so much fun to finally identify these plants.

Alfalfa (who knew!)

Showy Milkweed. Dry Canyon Trail

I think this Monkshood. Timpooneke trail to Scout Falls has some of the most beautiful wildflowers.

Parry's Primrose. Timpooneke trail right next to Scout Falls.

Colorado Columbine. Timpooneke Trail.

Silvery Lupine (purple flowers) and Common Paintbrush (orange flowers). Timpooneke Trail.


Mulesears. Squaw Peak Trail. Hike this trail at just the right time of year and you will see a whole field of these flowers.




I think this is Elderberry. Big Springs Trail.



Leafy Jacobsladder. Timpooneke Trail.




I think this is Showy Stickseed. Rock Canyon Trail.

Provo's Farmers Market...You're a Peach

I went to Provo's Farmers Market today. It is held every Saturday until the end of October. I didn't ever make it last year so the last time I was there was two years ago and man has it grown. I believe it has tripled in size! Good job Provo for working hard to bring back the market each summer when I'm sure it isn't easy.

Anyways, I went there to get some fruit. Specifically the peaches. I really hate store bought peaches. They are usually rock hard when you buy them and mushy and tasteless when they are finally...dare I use the term "ripe."
But the peaches from the farmer's market are tangy pieces of heaven. I bought peaches, apples, strawberries, and some locally grown honey. I was tempted to buy a lot more produce because it all looked so great, but had to remind myself that I wouldn't be able to get though it all before it went bad.

When I got home, I couldn't wait one minute longer. I immediately cut up a peach and some of the strawberries and ate it with some yogurt and granola. Yummy, yum!

Delusional Megalomanic with Benign Intentions

I haven't mentioned yet that I am a librarian. I'm sure you'll be hearing plenty about this in future posts. Working with the public gives you lots of opportunities to observe hilarious human behavior.

This post isn't so much about the patrons I help. It's about my evil plan to manipulate what people read...pause for evil laughter.

So at the library we have many places to display books. Some of these are at the ends of the shelves. I like to go through the stacks and either find books that I have read and loved (but don't check out much) or find books I think need to be read by our patrons and put them out on these shelves. It actually amazes me that almost every time I put something out it gets checked out that day. The Pages also put books on these display shelves, but they just put things there that they don't want to re-shelve. Those books don't go out as well as mine do...pause for evil laughter...Sometimes if there are multiple copies of the same book, I'll put a new copy out every day. Thus forcing several people to read what I want them to read. Fortunately for them, I have excellent taste in books.

This is also a great way to ensure that your favorite books will never get discarded from low circulation.

Musical Odyssey

I haven't just discovered one new band, I've been on a whole musical odyssey. When I was in high school and college I went to many a concert and owned many a cd, but after college I kinda stopped listening to music. Mostly I just pulled out my old cds and listened to a favorite. Usually The Smiths, Blondie, ABBA, or The Beautiful South, but I never really listened to anything new.

Recently I been listening to a lot of newish Alt and Indie music. This is in part due to my friend KK who always invites me to concerts (Modest Mouse, Snow Patrol, The Killers), but partly because, and give me some examples if you think I am wrong, I think that there just weren't that many good songs/bands in the late 90s early 2000s. I think that Alternative music (in all its forms) has made a comeback in the last 5 years or so and my ears thank all the great bands out there for doing it.

Too Late!

I discovered a new band the other day. Something that is not always easy since I haven't listened to the radio in years (I like to listen to audio books in the car).

I was watching a rerun of Saturday Night Live. I don't always watch the musical guests, but I noticed that I recognized the band name, Vampire Weekend, from an article on NPR about the best albums of 2010 so far. I decided to watch them, and I liked them ok. So then I went to the computer and watched their music videos on YouTube. I think I had the sound turned down on my TV too low, because once I had my headphones on and could really hear the music, I loved it!



So here's the sad part. Vampire Weekend released their second album, Contra in January. According to their website, they've pretty much been on tour since then. The day I discovered I liked them was, September 3. Guess what day they came in concert to Utah? Just guess!!  September 2! How harsh is that? They also apparently came in March too, so I have missed them twice this year.

The same thing happened to me last year when I learned about T in the Park (the Scottish music festival of most-awesomeness) shortly after the most amazing year ever. Although it is a little far fetched since had I actually know about the concert I probably wouldn't have spent thousands of dollars traveling to Scotland, but it still makes me sad. Below are some of the bands in attendance at the 2009 festival. 2010 didn't have near as good a line up.

The Killers
Snow Patrol
Franz Ferdinand
The Specials
Bloc Party
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Tempur Trap
Lily Allen
The Airborne Toxic Event
Keane
James

I know, right? And those are just a few.

Fun for Labor Day Weekend

I had a great time Labor Day weekend. Utah had several festival/celebrations going on this weekend and I was able to go to two of my favorites.

Tim Tingle telling a very un-politically correct story about pretending to be deaf.

On Saturday night, there was the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. Last year was the first time in 13 years, I wasn't able to attend (vacationing in Istanbul is a pretty good reason not to go, though). I was glad to be back there again this year.

The festival brought back one of the funniest storytellers of all time, Bil Lepp. His story was sadly all too brief, but hilarious non-the-less (something about quilting while hunting). My favorite storytellers are the ones who talk about their own experiences or ones of friends and family. I don't much care for the folklore and myths. Which is why I was so surprised when Tim Tingle, the official storyteller for the Choctaw nation, was so funny.

If you've never been to the Storytelling Festival, I urge you to go next year. I have dragged many family members and friends over the years and there has never been a single person who didn't love it and now attends regularly.

Border Collie in standard herding position; head down, tale clamped between legs

Trying to get the sheep in the pin. The dog and the handler cannot touch the sheep.

On Monday, my sister and I went to the Soldier Hollow Classic Sheep Dog Championship. This festival might not be for every one, but I really love it. If you've ever seen the movie Babe, then you'll know what kind of competition this is. The basic gist of the competition is that Border Collies are directed by their handler through whistles and shouts to run up the side of a mountain find the group of sheep grazing there and bring them down through a series of  gates (which sheep raised on the range HATE to go through) and ultimately into a very small pin (which sheep hate even more).

I am always amazed at how intelligent these dogs are. Through instinct and very, very good training, these dogs are just incredible to watch in action.

Apparently this year, Soldier Hollow broke a world record for the most people watching a sheep dog competitions. That really surprised me because I know that sheep dog competitions are much more popular in other parts of the world.

All-in-all is was a great holiday weekend.