Happy birthday!

I love birthdays. According to some recent survey, birthdays are the favorite holiday of this generation, and I can tell you why: they always include great food.

Well, that’s why I like birthdays.

And that’s why I love December– we have two major birthday celebrations, and by major, I mean that the births we celebrate are those of significant enough individuals (and by that I mean literally the most significant individuals that ever walked the face of this earth) that the food is always incredible.

We get to have Joseph Smith’s party on the 23rd, and Jesus’s on the 25th. That’s pretty awesome.

But they don’t even get sung to! So this is a little arrangement I cooked up for them, but asked the Mo Tab and Gladys Knight and the audience and everyone to sing it to President Hinckley, because he’s pretty awesome too. Please notice that this is probably one of the finest arrangements of this [horribly tedious, eternally flat, painfully dragging, uncomfortable] song you’ve ever heard. I don’t love the Sopranos ending on the dominant, but I really do love the orchestra part, especially the cymbals. And of course I LOVE that he waves his cane at the end.

Merry -mas!

I would like everyone to know that I become extremely offended when anyone wishes me a happy Hanukkah. Um, excuse me. I’m not Jewish, so it should be obvious that I will feel discriminated against and terribly hurt if my personal denomination isn’t properly referred to with any mention of this particular month and its various festivities.

Yeah. I hate “holiday”. (I understand and recognize the irony of that statement.) I heard that the White House used the term “Holiday tree” and I wanted to gag. Seriously?

Fall Semester Quotes

Well, this is the first quote sheet I’ve ever kept, so it’s not as comprehensive as those of more seasoned quote sheet-keepers. But Dr. Bradshaw (my theory teacher) was too funny to not record on occasion, and that would be why a large portion of my quotes are from him. I know other funny things were said, and maybe I’ll be better at this in the future.

“I’m here for feedback.” “I have to sneeze!” “I guess you’re allergic to feedback.” -Dr. Bradshaw and Aria

“Repentance is awesome. I believe in repentance.” -Dan [this was in a funny context]

“I was being blonde.” “Sorry, that’s not listed on the American Disabilities Act.” -Hilary and Dr. Bradshaw

“That’s weird.” “It’s weird that I”m not gonna marry a missionary that helped me build my house?” -Dan and Aria

“I’ve put you in a cage. You can go play on the swing over there, or play on the monkey bars, but I won’t let you go outside the cage.” “I put streamers on my cage!” -Dr. Bradshaw and Lauryn

“I got a Kam Buck. He gives out money with his face on it.”-Lauryn

“I’m a sucker for Latin.” -Jonah

“I smelled weed once. It smelled pretty bad.” “WHAT? You smoked weed???” -Lauryn and Amber

“Okay, how can we near-fatally injure Lauryn without actually killing her?” -Amber and Madison [it’s not what you think. Lauryn was totally in on it, and it was for her own good.]

“[Psych] is totally as clean as clean. It’s as clean as if it was just starched with cleaning soap. It’s that clean.” -Amber

“Lauryn, since it’s your birthday, we’ll use your credit card.” -Amber [It wasn’t even her birthday.]

“I feel pretty, oh so pretty, so pretty and witty and gay!” “Is it okay to say gay?” “Yeah, as long as you don’t say pretty and witty and homosexual.” “I prefer to say pretty and witty and wide.” “That’s okay as long as you don’t say pretty and witty and obese.” -Jonah was involved. I don’t remember other details

“I wanna cruise the castle! I mean cast the curse.” -Madison

“She shared her grapes, and I shared my pencil, and then we were best friends.” -Aria

“Ever since the Taco Bell incident, Madison’s been strangely attracted to President Wheelwright.” -Amber

“Thou shalt not covet Jenna’s unnamed boyfriend.” -Addison or Madison

“Who’s the last person you’d ever expect to have a boyfriend?” “Amber.” -Madison and Addison

“Prince Charming is a compilation of every good trait we’ve ever admired in a man.” -Amber

“I delete facebook friends and phone contacts on a daily basis.”-Madison

“Madison, if I ever need anything illegal done, you’re my girl.” -Amber

“Lind, I just want to talk to him. And whenever I’m with him I want to talk. And whenever I’m not with him, I want to be with him, talking.” -Lug [Presh!]

“If I was a celebrity I would be a stalker. I’d want to see who was following me on Twitter.” -Amber

“I’m so bored with the sacrament.” [this was highly sarcastic]

“Wait, Lindsey Lohan ran the Honolulu marathon???” -Amber [Did you hear about how she was in Laie?]

“We should watch a movie today.” “That would be dishonest of me. I would be cheating you of your education.” “I love being cheated of my education!” -Amber and Dr. Bradshaw

“iii is kind of a weirdo.” “It’s friends with the Major-Major 4/2!” -Dr. Bradshaw and Lauryn

“Yes! Secondary Dominant! Christmas!” -Lauryn

“Caroline, you went to the ball? Who did you go with?” “Myself. I mean the Holy Ghost.” -Amber and Caroline

“I can’t believe you’re ruining Jonah’s first Pocahontas experience. You’re a terrible friend.” -Madison

“You know what’s intense? Camping.” -Lauryn [Think about that one.]

“I bought my dad an Aloha shirt and he took it to DI.” “WHAT? You tell Mr. Blair that there is a whole class of disappointed theory students.” -Amber and Dr. Bradshaw

“What the garbage?!” -Lauryn

“Pearl Harbor Day. 40 years now.” -Amber [oh boy]

“If you gave us a sight-singing song in alto clef, I would probably cry.” “I’m always looking to make people cry.” -Amber and Dr. Bradshaw

“You know Bridezilla? This girl was like Missionary Girlfriend-zilla.” -Aria

“Revel in the roundness of 6/4 time.” -Dr. Bradshaw

“Do you guys need to step outside? You’re welcome to if you need to resolve differences [about where you’re going on your missions].” -Dr. Bradshaw to Amber and Lauryn

“My dad was actually killed by a clown who was conducting in 6/4 time.” -Dr. Bradshaw. [Okay. This is king of all quotes I have ever written down. Holy cow. I have literally never heard anything more absurdly random in my life. I asked Dr. Bradshaw if writing in 6/4 time ran in the family, since I thought his dad had, and we were doing 6/4 rhythms. And then he said that. We nearly died.]

“Where do you go while you’re singing?” “I like to pretend I’m in a big field. And you’re all pumpkins.” -Sis. Mooy and Amber C.

“That minor i is a hard pill to swallow in its quite pain. But swallow we must.” -Dr. Bradshaw

“Rests separate the sheep from the goats rhythmically.” -Dr. Bradshaw [this is a thinker quote]

“Arthur and the Bearenstein Bears are dumb now. They were cool when we were little and now they’re dumb.” -Lug [she was being serious]

“When I belt, I feel so good!” -Mari

“Too bad Ellis and Helen broke up.” “Yeah, but I’m over it. It was a long time ago.” -Amber and L or L (who said it?)

“You’ve never googled watch anything online free?” “I did with Arthur and The Bearenstein Bears.” -Amber and Lug

“You can’t stop the beat.” -Ice

“I believe in 6/8 time.” -Dan

“What did you play?” “Piano.” “No, on the football team.” -Hillary and Dr. Bradshaw

“Say 8! Say 8! Lauryn, do you know what I’m quoting?” “Phantom.” “No! Brian Reagan!” -Amber and Lauryn

“You are so cool Ice.” “I know.” -Amber and Ice

“We’re totally social! … Just with each other.” -Madison

“I’m so excited to be pregnant!” -Lauren

New Life Plan

Well, it’s been quite a while since I’ve had a post of any substance whatsoever. This was initially a courtesy to Lucy, who came out of the closet over the summer about her tendencies to not read my blog due to the high levels of difficulty presented by words on a computer screen. But I’m afraid that’s over, at least for a little while. Sorry Lug.

I was going to post on Thanksgiving, because I have made the most wonderful slideshow of things I’m grateful for, but I can’t figure out how to export it onto my blog. Still in progress, because I think it will be a pretty big hit.

Today’s topic is my new life plan, and this is it:

1. Mission January 2013-July 2014
2. Graduate with BFA and Elementary teaching certificate (I’m feeling pretty good about being a music major) December 2014
3. [Insert marriage where applicable. Time subject to change.]
4. Teach elementary school in Provo, preferably 4th or 5th grade.
5. [Insert family where applicable. Include at least 5 children.]
6. Get into Sped Masters program at BYU; take night classes while teaching during the day.
7. Conduct research concerning the effects of music on children with special needs, specifically and especially neurotrauma.
8. Take my findings to a third-world country to help and teach children with those same problems, who are without the incredible technology and assets we have here in the United States. [Hopefully bring my family with me. Do other work to help these people.]
9. Write a book about my research and experiences. Maybe several books.
10. Continue to do work for Exceptional children and their families; hopefully assist in better communication from the children, possibly due to musical expression as replacement for potential lack of verbal expression. [I know what it feels like to not be able to communicate or make people understand what I’m trying to say, because that’s how it is when I first come out of a seizure. It is extremely frustrating, and if someone were to be in a state of comprehension, without the ability to convey it, an alternate form of expression would be literally life-changing.]
11. Serve at least 3 missions with my husband.
12. Have lots of grandkids. [Yes, I know I have lots of control over that.]
13.Continue to travel and help children and others for the rest of my life.

So that’s the plan. I’m open to changes, but this is the rough outline of what I hope will happen.

Last year at this time…



My Best Week So Far

This is the link to what I blogged this week a year ago. The week of November 19th, 2010 was honestly my best week up to that point in my young life. If someone where to say to him- or herself, “Man! I want to have my best week so far, but I just can’t imagine what could happen to make it wonderful!” then this would be the week to examine. Seriously, read my chronicle and be inspired to create a week just like the amazing one I had.

Harry Potter vs. Twilight

That quote about Harry Potter and Twilight got me thinking, and I’ve decided one thing for sure: neither my children nor my students will ever have Twilight read to them by me, nor will it be tolerated/ allowed in my home or classroom. (The decision to read Harry Potter to my class every year, and to my children almost as often, was made a long time ago.)

I will admit that I haven’t read any of the Twilight books or watched the movies, so one could potentially argue that I’m in no position to judge. But I’m gonna go ahead and trust the observations I’ve made and the opinions and details I’ve heard, and stay well away from this apparently low-quality, low-substance, seemingly inappropriate, somewhat absurd, excessively celebrated teenage romance novel. I get the feeling I won’t be missing out on much.

The Harry Potter series, on the other hand, is one I have read several times, and will continue to read (aloud and on my own) for many many years to come. And by that, I of course mean my whole life. I never get sick of them! The rich character development, the epic and clever plot, the very fine writing, the completely new and believable world, the humor, and the excellent lessons taught are all reasons why I think every kid (and adult) should read these books.

Oh, and speaking of characters, let’s talk about that for just a moment.

To tell you the truth, I relate very little to vampires and werewolves, but maybe it’s only me. I’m kind of into a slew of awesome people of all ages and stages, who have depth and character.

“I prefer Harry Potter because the idea is magic or wizard, and it’s kind of everybody could have fun. But Twilight it kind of love story, you know, Edward, he’s so good and he’s so handsome. I heard that most guys are like “Ew Yuck! Stop it!” Harry Potter is everybody have fun. In other words, we can have a fun conversations with anybody, like parents or guy friends or younger friends. Twilight we just have fun during girl time. I think it’s kind of awkward to talk with parents, like “Did you see Twilight? Yes…” The movie, the Twilight movie is kind of like more… you know. I just think, especially Harry Potter series one, is more light. Getting darker with Voldermort later on, but everyone can have more fun. Twilight is like Harry Potter 7 or 6 because it’s really like, like Bella, Bella, Bella.” -the very beautiful and intelligent Kyoko Hasegawa

Fantastic


“Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity… Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend.”