Classical Music Kick

Ever since seeing The Magic Flute a little less than a month ago, I've been falling in love with classical music again. BYU's production was wonderful, quite professional for being a college production. It made me remember how much I love opera, and how much I miss singing it as well. I started YouTubing classical pieces (particularly the arias and duets) from The Magic Flute, and found this wonderful singer, Edda Moser.



And this singer, Diana Damrau.



I started a classical music station on my Pandora account. I listen to it all of the time now, especially when I'm doing homework. Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Rachmaninoff...I love them! Fantastico!

I pulled my music off the shelf, and dusted it off. My roommate is going to bring home a small keyboard, and I couldn't be happier! I feel like I'll truly get to bring out a part of me that has been stifled for a long time. It will make a much happier me, seeing as I will now have an outlet for a lot of my frustration.

Oh music, I love and miss you. Please come back to stay. :)

For Jane

Elizabeth, with your fine eyes and wit,

have not only captivated the proud Mr. Darcy,

but millions around the world.

Your striking and independent thoughts are not your own.

They belonged to one whose life was led by her wit,

Able to laugh at those who didn't understand the world

like she.

Mr. Darcy, would you be so proud if knew

the circumstances from which you came?

You may not be able to look on without abhorrence.

Your wealth, station, and impressive lineage

Are all part of an intricate world conceived by

a mere rector's daughter.

Tell me, Mr. Collins, whose patronage should you serve above all,

Who you should thrust your bumbling compliments on

The one whom you should acquiesce your very speech,

and at every turn revere?

Nay, not Lady Catherine,

but your creator:

Miss Austen, the woman with the clever, biting quill.

Ick

Dear Everyone,

Can I just say something?

I hate seeing couples on campus.

They're everywhere.

Love,

A Slightly Bitter Me

Old Post, New Post

The following is a post I started about a month and a half ago, but never posted. I expanded it, so it's a little bit of an amalgamation of my thoughts then and now. Sorry if it's a little weird.

Forget Fast Food Nation! We're becoming a Vending Machine Food World!!! I have mixed feelings about this story I found on MSN: http://www.delish.com/food-fun/unusual-vending-machine-foods?gt1=47001. I get a few items of vending machine food a week myself, so I think that having a variety is nice, especially because the vending machine food can get old real quick. I am also impressed with the ability of the machines to make it fresh and personalized right in front of you. I think the coolest ones might be: the pizza and the ice maker, where you can be a part of the process from the beginning.

Beyond the coolness of the technology, this trend is making me worried. The quality of vending machine food seems to be going up, where you don't have to worry about the massive amount of preservatives in the food, but still. How hard is it to go up and order these foods from a REAL person? Or to drive it home, how hard is it to make these things at HOME? I think that cooking is becoming a lost art among the people of the world. So many people have such low expectations of what food is or should be, when I feel like food has so many diverse flavors and textures that need to be realized and experienced! Food is a little like language in the fact that there are endless possibilities in what you can do with it, granted some things aren't right to put together, but, that's what experimenting is for, right? Try to make some food so you're not limited in your choices.

Okay. I'll get off my soap box now.

Killer Queen

My cat, Bella, is a killer. No really, I know you're laughing at me right now, but she really is. As I drive up my driveway, I'm always apprehensive that I'll find her on the grass with her latest kill, half-eaten. She is no respecter of prey. Squirrels, potguts, snakes, mice, etc. It's made me worried enough that I'm afraid to bring friends up.

Setting: Lutz Home, Hobble Creek Canyon

Sarah enters driveway in a car with a group of friends. They make their way to the house.

Friend #1: It was so nice for you to invite us, Sarah!

Friend #2: Yes, it's so beautiful up....Oh my gosh! (shrieks)

Friend #1: What is it! I don't see anyth.....What in the world? Is that blood? I don't do well with blood...sometimes it makes me sick (faints)

Sarah: (cheerily) Oh, come on guys. It's just a half-eaten squirrel. It's real life nature, and shows the food chain in action!

Now back to reality.
NO! That is just gross. I don't want anyone to see that. She looks so unsuspecting.

(Note: This isn't her, {she isn't as fat as this cat} but she looks like this)

I'll do my best to protect you, my friends, but if you come up to my house, she might be doing her thing.

Just a warning.

"She's a Killer Queen
Gunpowder, Gelatine
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime"

Thank you Queen, for making a song just for my blog title.

One-Date Wendy and The Year of the Set-Up

If my life were a book, this would have to be the title for the last two months of my summer (May-June). Now honestly, I know that everyone is in the spirit of relationships in the spring and summer, but I feel little like the spirit of relationships doomed. Or probably more accurately, the spirit of set-ups/blind dates doomed.

As soon as Spring semester started, it felt like I was a on a pedestal with a ringmaster shouting, "Friends, coworkers, and bosses of all ages! Step right up and try your chances at setting up this girl with a guy you know!" I was being approached by several people who were all excited to give their all. One of them didn't pan out, because the guy in question became engaged before he would ever go out with me, but c'est la vie. Right? Here is a synopsis of the two dates I have been on.

Date #1

My very good friend from my singles ward wants to set me up with a guy she works with. I agreed, but I was a little apprehensive about the whole thing, owing to the fact that the last blind date I went on was definitely a no go. So even though I had known about this shindig going down since early April, being mentally prepared for a while, I decided, "Hey, what the heck...let's do this."

I pick up my date, and am pleasantly surprised at his attractiveness. The night is pretty fun, and I have a good time. The only downfall I might have found, is that he's younger than me, but only by a year. Not really a big deal. He and I have similarities and had fun creating a Buddha sculpture out of a half gallon of melty Tin Roof Sundae ice cream. I take him home, but I don't know exactly what to do, so I give him a car hug, which is totally LAME.

He adds me as a friend on Facebook, and a couple back and forth messages later, we never talk to each other again. Still see him post stuff on Facebook, would like to comment, but feel stupid because I haven't talked to him in months.

Date #2

A lady I work with cornered me in the work room with a question, "Are you dating anyone?" I answered negatively. She goes on to tell me of her younger brother that she thinks has a lot in common with me, and how she just would really like to set us up on a date. "Sure," I said, with a nonchalance that totally contradicted the pathetically worry-wart scenarios bouncing around in my head.

Well, he calls me while I'm up the canyon, and so I have to call him back (which I am NOT a phone person, and I hate calling people I don't know, and sometimes even people I do know), and of course, I get his voice mail...So finally, he calls me at home, and we set up the date. He wants to pick me up, and I really tried to discourage him to just to meet me somewhere. Now, he lives in Holladay (Salt Lake area), and I live a half hour from Provo, so all in all it's about an hour and a half drive. I make sure to give him directions up to my house, after asking him if he knew the area. He said he did, so I just sweat it out until the day of.

The meeting time comes and goes, and I get a phone call from him. He's gone up Spanish Fork Canyon, not Hobble Creek Canyon! He's almost made his way back to Springville, and I tell him that it's another 20 minutes to get to my house. I could tell he was a little shocked, but he came up anyway (it took him 30 minutes, which for people who don't live there, is about right). He's now an hour late. I didn't really care, he was the one with the tighter schedule for the day, but I was sorry that he got lost, even if it was his fault.

We talk in the car, and it was really good, even better than the last date, I think. He drives all of the way to north Orem, where we go out to eat. We're maybe there for 45 minutes (tops!), and then he drives me home. We are animated talking some more on the way home, but I ran a 5k that morning, so maybe I was more tired and unresponsive than I remember. I really don't know. He told me he had "a delightful time" and I gave him a hug and then I went inside.

In the aftermath, everyone was asking me if I texted him and thanked him or whatnot, and I am so out of the dating loop, I couldn't tell you what the right way to let a guy know I had a good time, or wanted to go out again (which I did).

I end up sending him a text asking for his Key Lime Pie recipe (he likes cooking), and he sends it to me via email. In response, I thank and ask him to come make it with me. No answer. No dice. Nada.

Okay......

I want you to know that I have not minded these dates. I was attracted to both of the guys, and I thought they were great. I wouldn't mind going on more dates with either one of them.

Sometimes I wonder if I have too positive of outlooks after dates, when I should be more analytical of what happened. I think, "That date was great! We had a lot in common, we talked a lot, laughed, had a good time...", but then in the end, it's a dead end.

I don't understand. If I feel a connection, doesn't that mean that there's gotta be another side to the connection (particularly coming from him)? Or does it mean that I'm kind of a charismatic leech oblivious to the guys furiously trying to shake me off?

There is another possible date in the works, set up by my boss. But it's very, very tentative. She doesn't know how to get a hold of him. Yeah, slight problem there. Oh well. If it never comes to fruition, then I just have to deal with it.

So now, instead of being the girl that everyone wants to set up, I feel like I deserve the title of "One-Date Wendy" instead.

Even so. If you feel like setting me up, I only have 2 words for you.

Bring it.

Times and Seasons

Biting into the fruit,
Deep red juices staining our lips,
We eat one after another.
"Don't you think that strawberries just taste like sunshine?"
My mother asks me.
Smiling, not quite understanding,
I nod, grin ready on my face.

Another time and another season.

A long summer's day is coming to its close.
We sit out on our covered porch.
The sky is filled with dusty orange, rose, and plum,
A lovely yet unearthly mixture.
"Isn't nature amazing?" she asks.
I feel a sense of rightness to the moment,
A small stirring enters my soul.
I answer yes.

Another time and another season.

Leaves of red and orange flame are starkly set
Against the periwinkle sky.
The crisp air gives us a small taste
Of the impending frost.
"Being outside is invigorating to the soul, wouldn't you say?"
She asks me out in the yard.
I take in the contrasting intense beauty,
My being is touched, moved.
I bask in the moment.

Another time and another season.

The snow is falling, huge flakes
The size of a fist.
They float like feathers
Falling in communal silence,
Each with their own pattern and sparkling delight.
"Do you feel God in nature?"
My mother asks me.
The beauty of winter is captivating,
Delight reaches from my head to my toes.
I understand.

Strawberries as sunshine,
Warm blends of sunset color,
Brilliant contrasts of leaves and sky,
Quiet snowflakes falling.

She doesn't feel God in nature.
She knows God in nature.
And now, so do I.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 -- To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven