A Cathartic Experience

I love winter again!

If I'd known all I needed to do was vent my feelings a little bit, I would have done it long ago. Shortly after shamefully admitting that I no longer love winter, I had a miraculous reversal of feelings. It was just like when the Grinch's heart grows three sizes! I wanted to post immediately and proclaim my rediscovered love of winter, but KK made me promise not to until we had a real storm and I could experience a couple of true winter days (or more specifically cold mornings) and then see if I still felt the same.

So I patiently waited...and waited...and got excited when we were warned about an upcoming blizzard and then when that didn't happen, I waited some more.

And then it finally happened. It dumped a couple of inches on us and I let the experiment begin.

Results:

While perhaps my love of winter isn't as fervent as it was when I was younger. What feelings, I ask you, are though? I am definitely feeling the love again.

I still don't like how early it gets dark and I still don't love the morning commute, but otherwise I have been cured of the winter blahs. Hallelujah!

Did You Notice?

Maybe you noticed that I haven't posted for several days. My computer broke down about a week ago so I haven't had a convenient way to post anything. I noticed it wouldn't boot into Windows days before I got around to doing anything about it, and of course by the time I realized it was a serious problem, Thanksgiving was upon us. I then had to wait until today before I could bring my computer to work and beg for help from our trusty Systems department.

I used to work for a computer support company, but that was many years ago. Now, it's just easier to rely on other's expertise than to try and figure things out using my out-dated computer knowledge.

So cross your fingers that my computer is fixable. Not that I would mind the excuse to buy a new computer. Mine is over 6 years old now (although it was top-of-the-line when first purchased). The most important thing is that I recover all the information saved on there. I of course only have back-ups of a few things.

Men like a little curve

My dentist told me today that men like a woman with some curves. My front teeth, however, are a little too curvy.

Dentists should never say things like that when their hands are in your mouth. Because it's very easy to choke when you are laughing that hard.

The Naming of the Moons

Today I finished an excellent book called, The Girl who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen.  I meant to read her earlier books, Garden Spells, and The Sugar Queen, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I quite enjoyed this book, so it gives me more motivation to go back and read her others now.

In the back of the book is a description of the Native American lore around each monthly full moon. I got the following info from the Farmers' Almanac.

Full Moon names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern and eastern United States. The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full Moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred. There was some variation in the Moon names, but in general, the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior. European settlers followed that custom and created some of their own names. Since the lunar month is only 29 days long on the average, the full Moon dates shift from year to year.

November is called the Full Beaver Moon.

Beaver traps were set during this time, before the waters froze, so furs would be in abundance for the cold months ahead. For some people, the full Beaver Moon is the last chance to do something they've wanted to do but put off, before the heaviness of winter settles over them.

When I went to check when the full moon was this month, I discovered it was today! What a coincidence.

So this is a good reminder to stop putting off something important or something you want to do and get it done. I know I tend to be lazier during the winter months because it's just so darn dark (and cold).

Winds-day (hehe)

Man it was windy last night and today!

The wind actually woke me up during the night. I could feel my condo shaking.

Today was a pretty low-key day so that's all the commentary I have.

I've Officially Decided

I like Arcade Fire.

The jury was out for a while, but it was decided in favor of the band when I heard this song.

I couldn't find a great version of the song. So this will have to do.




The singer here, Régine, is not the main lead singer. Usually it is Win Butler. I find her voice fascinating. It is so different from what you expect some one on lead vocals to have.

Great Day!

I had one of those days where I woke up happy and then had reason to be happy all day.

1. Was able to do a service for someone that meant a lot to me and the other person!
2. Connected with my sister in a way we never have before!
3. Saw a number on the scale that I haven't seen in a while!
4. Finished a great book!

Plus many more I am sure.

The only bad thing was I bashed my knee really hard at work. I even had to fill out an accident report (just in case). I will definitely have a bruise there soon.

A New Library Card for the Library

So being one of the few graphic designers at the library, I have been asked to design a new library card to be entered into a competition we will be holding in a month or so.

This assignment simultaneously strikes fear and excitement into my heart.

1. I am by no means a professional artist. I just taught myself Photoshop and Illustrator.
2. People will be judging my artistic work. I hope people don't hate it.

But on the plus side:

1. It will be so much fun to create something like this.
2. If my library card design is chosen, that would be awesome.

 So I already have a couple of ideas in mind, but in the meantime, check out this awesome card found by AMM.

Getting to Happier

I just finished a very interesting book called, Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment by Tal Ben-Shahar. This is not the type of book I would normally pick up, but I had to choose a self-help book for an assignment at work and since I remembered seeing the author on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart several years ago, I decided to give it a try. I'm very glad I did. Not because I'm happier after having read it (although I'm sure I could be if I followed all the advice), but I just found the content so fascinating.

First of all, so much of the book covers what I whole-heartedly believe in. For example, the book explains that we need to find meaning and happiness in our everyday lives AND invest, make goals, and so on towards our future happiness. Just doing one or the other (or neither) will not make you happy.

Second, I found the scientific research so interesting. For example, Ben-Shahar discusses a study done on people who won the lottery and another study on people who became quadriplegic. The research showed that both groups were not necessarily happier or sadder after a year or so. People tend to work their way back to their happy norm even after major life changing events.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book which was actually from another book called, A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?"

Need a boost to your morale?

Then come hang out with my nephews and niece for an hour. That's exactly what I did last night. Man those kids are cute.

First, my 3-year-old nephew asked if I wanted to see him challenge a shark. I said of course. He then jumped off the couch and rolled around on the floor. I asked if that was how he did it and he said, "No, that's how I drown in water." He then proceeded to show me how to punch a shark in the nose.

Here's where the morale booster part comes in.

When I was ready to leave they ran to the door and barred me from leaving. They then proceeded to ask me when I was coming back and if it would be tomorrow. Then they hugged me over and over again. I had to actually walk out the door with 3 kids hanging off me before I could get away from the hugging. Even then when I finally made it to my car, the 3-year-old came running over to my door and said, "I need one more hug." Now wouldn't that make you happy too?

New Philly Cheese Steak Restaurant

Went with AMM to a new restaurant in Provo today called Angels of Philly. I like to try new restaurants especially if they are locally owned so you will probably see a lot of reviews here in the future, but I just haven't been trying anything new lately (or anything old either).

I'm not really big on beef so I can't say that I've ever had the urge to try a Philly cheese steak before, but there were three reasons why I wanted to try this restaurant.

1. I found out over the weekend that my brother knows the wife of the owner.
2. Supporting friends of family AND supporting a locally owned restaurant. What could be better than that?
3. Found out that they have chicken cheese steak!

We went over lunch and I am willing to forgive them since I am sure they are still working out some of the kinks, but it took FOREVER to get our food.

I of course had the chicken cheese steak. I also added mushrooms and chose provolone as my cheese, but I was tempted by all the cheese choices

• Cheese Whiz (yeah you heard me)
• American
• Provolone
• Spicy Provolone

Now I know that cheese steak normally comes with onions, but I generally prefer sandwiches without. So next time I will be sure to ask for this. All-in-all a pretty good sandwich though.

I also ordered the curly fries to share with AMM. I don't know of any other restaurant besides Arby's that even have curly fries. I like curly fries.

One odd thing about lunch was we were the only women in the restaurant. We figured it was mostly the lunch crowd from NuSkin, but aren't there any women that work at NuSkin? (Maybe just none that like cheese steak.)

ABBA Maniacs

I first heard Abba when I was in high school and my friends and I would go dancing on the weekends. Now I know this was more than 20 years after the band first formed, but I was still rather shocked last night to see that KK and I were some of the youngest people at the Abba Mania concert (quite a change from last week with the Neon Trees concert).

The tribute band performers were quite good, and Abba songs are so upbeat you just can't help having fun, but it was slightly awkward watching grannies shake their booty.

I'm actually kinda torn on the whole thing because on the one hand I'm happy that they're out there having a good time and willing to be uninhibited and dance very badly in front of a large audience, but on the other hand it sort spoiled the evening for KK and me. We kept looking at each other and asking if this is what we were going to look like when we were older.

It Depends on What You Want

You know what really strikes fear into my heart? I mean apart from being jabbed with a needle.

When a patron comes up to the desk and asks, "Can you do me a favor?" or "Could you help me with something?"

Why, why, why do you have you ask your question this way? Can't you just ask, "I need your help with the computer" or "would you look over this document for me?"

It concerns me greatly that I have no idea what I am agreeing to. I know I should just say, "Sure. What do you need?" But what I really want to say is, "It depends on what you want."

I have, however, found a way of circumventing this problem. Now, when a patron asks for a favor instead of answering I just say, "Why don't you tell me what you need." That way I can let them know that I am willing to help but haven't actually agreed to anything.

Yes, I am an evil genius.

It's That Dreaded Time of Year Again. . .

What did you think of when I said that?

Well for me it's the time of year when I have to decide if I want to change my benefits. I really hate this because I have to make decisions that will affect my future life with no real idea what I am doing. I always feel incredibly guilty that I don't know more about my medical benefits. I'm sure that part of the issue is that I am a pretty healthy person. I rarely go to the doctor. So I've never really had to deal with benefits much, but that's not an excuse to be so ignorant.

I did, however, feel much better when we ran into the mayor on the stairs and he claims to be just as confused about this kind of stuff as me.

Let's Shuffle Up and Deeaall!

Anyone like Poker?

I can't say that I'm a huge fan, but what I do love is the World Series of Poker. If you haven't heard of it before, it is an annual poker tournament held at the Rio in Las Vegas. There are several different poker games played, but the best is the Main Event where they play no-limit Texas Hold'em Poker. Every one who wants to play has to pay $10,000 to enter (although there are some ways to win a seat). The final man (I say man because a woman has never won) wins a portion of the total buy-in money. The total varies from year to year depending on the number of participants, but ranges from $7-12 million. The winner also gets a giant garish bracelet to lord over the losers.

I love to watch the whole tournament on TV. Poker has the most awesome characters. Like Phil Hellmuth, the Poker Brat, who has to make these huge entrances like dressing up as cesar and being carried in on a bed by scantily clad burly men. Or Mike "the Mouth" Matasou who is a ticking time bomb you get to watch explode every year (until he found his zen place just recently and now just lets it all role off his back).

The commentators are awesome as well. Lon McEachern and Norman Chad have these running jokes that continue right where they left off the year before. They make fun of the players, comment on great and terrible plays, and generally make the competition into Entertainment.

Tomorrow is the Final Table where the last 9 players will play to the death. It is intense.

I'm kinda upset though because I forgot to set up my Tivo to record it this year so I haven't seen any of the tournament so far. They will show everything in reruns, but I will have to wait until I watch the earlier shows to find out who wins.

Real Salt Lake Ties and Loses at the Same Time

My brother invited me to the Real Salt Lake playoff game tonight. Soccer is a great sport to watch. The crowd really gets into the game and it has a fast enough pace to keep it interesting. I've been trying to learn the rules of the game. I still miss a lot of the fouls and their calls, but I think I'm getting better.

Tonight Real played against FC Dallas. It was a really intense game because Dallas made the first goal, but Real kept almost scoring over and over again. They were finally able to tie it up towards the end of the game. However, for Real to continue on in the finals they needed to make two goals. So even though they tied, they will not be moving on. Kinda sad that the MLS Cup Champions had such a great year and then didn't make it past the semi-finals.

There is still some good news in all of this. Real Salt Lake has never lost a home game in the last year and a half or so. Tying the game keeps their winning home streak!

These photos were taken on my cell phone so they are not the best.

Serious Gaming

My family has always been serious about gaming. It probably stems from the fact that we all have a talent for playing games. This means that when I play with non-family members I usually win a lot (although sometimes I will have a run of bad luck).

Tonight I went to a Rook gaming night and met a lot of gamers. Most of them were there for the social aspect, but there were a few serious gamers. I was at a disadvantage because it's been years since I've played Rook and I've never played it the way they did. I of course like to win, but I'm not one of those people that has to win all the time. I just need to win some of the time. Fortunately I didn't have any of those serious gamers in any of my groups so I was able to do ok. I need to work on my strategy, though.

I'm better at word games. Just ask my sister about Word Warp.

It Began with a Missing Stapler

I've been thinking about cleaning my desk for a couple of months now. It usually gets really messy during summer reading. This year it was particularly bad because I never really cleaned after last year's summer reading program. I've just been too busy to properly clean it. So the other day when I couldn't find my stapler, I decided something had to be done. There are a couple of problems with any major organization project. First, all those things you don't know what to do with that you end up piling somewhere, and second, it always gets worse before it gets better. Unfortunately I had to stop before I could get it much past this point.

I'm not a very organized person by nature (hence the messy desk) but I do know how to get things organized well once I actually do it. Now, hopefully I will have enough time to finish it up.

And I still haven't found my stapler.

We Grow Our Neon Trees Locally

Tonight I went with KK to see a Neon Trees concert at SLCC. I read recently in Entertainment Weekly that they are predicting Neon Trees will be the next big Indie band. What's cool about that is they hail from a little town you may have heard of before known as Provo, Utah.

I quite enjoyed the concert. We had great seats. I did, however, feel very old. The vast majority of the concert goers were SLCC students with a few screaming teeny-bopper girls added in to the mix.

It was quite a performance. Neon Trees lead singer performed like he was in front of a much larger audience, but I quite liked that about him. I liked that he put in all the effort to get the crowd excited. I was a little worried for a while as he (over the course of a few songs) removed almost every article of clothing except his pants and shirt. He even took off his shoes and socks. KK reminded me of a similar experience at an Erasure concert where the lead singer ended up in gold-lame hot pants. Apparently I had blocked that horrific image from my memory.

It's also really cool that Neon Trees has a female drummer. Unless, it's an all girl band, you almost never see one.

What I didn't like (and this goes for all shows) is how they always shine those lights right in your eyes. Whoever came up with the idea to set rotating lights directly on the stage so they can shine out into the audience, needs to be tortured (perhaps making using of bright flashing lights).

Teens + Authors x Lots of Planning = Success!

Our first ever teen book extravaganza was a hit! When it comes to events at the library, I have learned there is no happy medium. There is only one extreme (no one shows up or even worse 1 person does) or the other extreme (so many people you are breaking fire codes and turning angry people away). So to have an event where the perfect amount of people show up is a rare and precious thing. To add in an event that goes off without a hitch which is enjoyed by young and old; and particpants and authors alike is shear perfection. Now if only we can replicate it next year. Because that is the other law of library programs: just because it was successful once does not mean it will be again.