So today is New Year's Eve. Another year gone by.

I almost drove up to Salt Lake City for Dave's wedding this morning, but I chose not to because of long-standing plans with... my mom. Sad, but true. I'm so happy for that crazy kid. =)

Dean came down to visit for a couple days. I like to think we clicked, and he is a really really nice guy. We did the tourist thing, watched "The Office," and also visited Summerlin; there just wasn't enough time to do everything. I tried to make him an "Elizabethtown-ish" mix CD. When he left, this wave of sentimental sadness kind of flooded over me. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed someone's company this much.

"you know the guy who does nothing but bad things and then wonders why his life sucks?" - 'My Name is Earl'

So Drew's song is, like, totally my favorite song right now. Sooooo applicable. Thanks, Drew, for writing such a great song.

Dang it Bethany... and Wilson... you guys were right. Too bad it's taken nearly three years for me to figure it out.



Anyway, you can listen to Drew's song at:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=4267374

It's called "I'll only believe in true love if Micah marries Camille." The lyrics are below.

who's the girl with the bright eyes who's the boy she's sitting by are they just friends
why is she so nice to me why does she light up the room when she smiles till i can't see clearly it must be
love if you mean so much when i barely even know you but i hope that our hands might touch

fight it deny it
i'll fight it deny it i won't let myself fall in love

you see there's no point in trying i'm only fooling with myself i'm not your type
but ill appreciate and stare at those gorgeous eyes i could fall into and when im through i'll walk away but remember you

give the girl you love the time of day
but dont jump right in and give your heart away

fight it deny it
just fight it deny it don't let yourself fall in love

I love "The Office."

Thanksgiving offered a welcome break from scholastic responsibilities. YAY. Finals will be pretty much over Wednesday night. And then ONE WHOLE MONTH of relaxation.

There is so much news. Minda had her baby- a beautiful 7 lb. boy named Jaxon... BEAUTIFUL baby. W.H.S. is having a baby and we're trying to throw her a baby shower. Oh, and Nolan got into town yesterday. We had lunch at the new Omelet House (where Carrow's used to be across the street from UNLV), and then we visited Mr. Lawson at his new middle school. The hall monitor made us sign in and sit in the principal's office until school was over. We felt really ridiculous, like we had just gotten in trouble from Mr. Belding or something. It was funny.

As always, Mr. Lawson was very inspirational. One of the things I liked most about him was that he makes you feel like you can do anything you want, and achieve whatever goals you may have. As we talked with him, I remembered how it felt to be 16 years old and honestly believing that someday I would make some kind of positive contribution to the world. As I look at fellow Las Vegas Academy alumni, and see teachers, scientists, writers, publishers, designers, compositionists, musicians, graduate students, stage hands, etc... I really am proud of my friends and of myself. I honestly believe that teachers like Mr. Lawson, who have the power to spark inspiration, are largely responsible for this.

I remember junior year, in Mr. Lawson's Music Technology class, he had us design and build a recording studio in Frasier Hall.

finals week... finals week... finals week... Please be over soon...

J.S., my heart really goes out to you right now. I am so sorry you are going through this, and I know it sounds cheesy, but you will come out stronger... just stick to your guns, and yes, this too shall pass. Peace will come. Did you know that we've been friends for over ten years now? I love you so dearly and I can't wait to see you when you come home for Christmas.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am posting one of my favorite mission pictures of Sister H. and her... dinner? Eek. (This one's for you, N.- I told you this was for real!)

Another To-Do List!
1. Practicum Portfolio (Tues. 8:00am)
2. create exam for EPY 709 (Mon. ASAP)
3. copies for Literacy Portfolio (Tues. 7:00pm)
4. figure out what's due in Dr. K's class
5. Orff Exam (Thursday, 4:00pm)
*******
6. Return junk at Target

Guy Smiley You scored 56% Organization, 45% abstract, and 38% extroverted!

This test measured 3 variables. First, this test measured how organized you are. Some muppets like Cookie Monster make big messes, while others like Bert are quite anal about things being clean. Second, this test measured if you prefer a concrete or an abstract viewpoint. For the purposes of this test, concrete people are considered to gravitate more to mathematical and logical approaches, whereas abstract people are more the dreamers and artistic type. Third, this test measured if you are more of an introvert or an extrovert. By definition, an introvert concentrates more on herself and an extrovert focuses more on others. In this test an introvert was somebody that either tends to spend more time alone or thinks more about herself. You are mostly organized, both concrete and abstract, and more introverted. Here is why are you Guy Smiley. You are both mostly organized. You have a good idea where you put things and you probably keep your place reasonably clean. You aren't totally obsessed with neatness though. Guy Smiley is your average Joe. He'll dress up and look nice for his game show, but he's not a neat freak. You are both a concrete and abstract thinker. Guy Smiley uses his imagination to come up with ridiculous game shows. However he's concrete enough to stick by his rules and perform his role as host. You know when to be logical at times, but you also aren't afraid to explore your dreams and desires... within limits of course. You are both introverted. At first glance Guy Smiley may appear to be an extrovert given he hosts a popular show. But in reality he struggles to relate with other people. His prizes tend to just be Guy Smiley merchandise. For whatever reason you are a bit uncomfortable in social settings. You may have one or two people that you are close with. You'd rather do things by yourself and you dislike working in groups where things are always so inefficient. The other possible characters are Oscar the Grouch Bert Snuffleupagus Ernie Elmo Kermit the Frog Grover Cookie Monster Big Bird The Count If you enjoyed this test, I would love the feedback! Also if you want to tell me your favorite Sesame Street character, I can total them up and post them here. Perhaps your choice will win!

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 50% on Organization You scored higher than 31% on concrete-abstra You scored higher than 10% on intro-extrovert

Link: The Your SESAME STREET Persona Test written by greencowsgomoo on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

I think I may be the only person in Las Vegas who has two fully operational brake lights.

When people ruthlessly tailgate me, I wish I could stick a sign out of my window saying, "Please do not tailgate me. I was recently rear-ended by 35 yr old man with no car insurance. Then, in the following weeks, his father harrassed me by calling my home phone, threatening my family, cleverly threatening us by saying things like 'you' better not sue my son, bitch.' "

But I suppose that's a little long for a sign. Not catchy enough.

To do:
1) Compile materials for Regents' Scholar nomination.
* revise Dr. K's letter of recommendation
* email Kim my curriculum vitae
* solicit additional letters of recommendation (Jake Miskimins? Jane? Alex?)
* write personal statements
2) Work on Literacy Assessment Portfolio
3) Create Powerpoint presentation for Section Five of CPE training
* slap on key points of Section Two to the Section Three presentation
4) Make reservations for Laughlin Golden Nugget
5) Complete Literacy Field Assessment
6) Create EPY 709 Exam
7) Buy Scrubs Season Two (this one is personal)
8) Return phone call from Michael S. Moore
9) Update portfolio, resume, and curriculum vitae for BYU Alumni website
10) Decide whether or not to go to St. George this Saturday

Sounds like fun, eh?

"sometimes it seems that i don't have the skills to recollect
the twists and turns of plot that turned us from lovers to friends
i'm thinking i should take that volume back up off the shelf
and crack it's weary spine and read to help remind myself"
- DCFC

I don't know if it's the crisp fall weather or what, but lately my thoughts have turned to "KL." We haven't talked since March of 2002, and I wonder where life has taken him. We were so close, but in time, our relationship just, well, sucked. The main thing I learned from KL was that no matter how good your intentions are, you just can't change someone. One memory that sticks out in my mind is the time KL was in Las Vegas over the summer, and he had me help find an apartment for him in Provo. He moved back to Provo in the fall, but didn't bother to bring the address of the new apartment with him. So basically, he moved back to Provo, not really knowing where he was going to live. His plan was to stop by my house, assuming I would be home, so I could show him where his new house was.

It's interesting that his absent-minded artsiness was what attracted me to him in the first place, but his complete lack of decision making skills and profound irresponsibility ultimately ended our relationship. Things drew on and on for nearly a year and a half.

The UNLV newspaper posted a picture of my boss and I from the Wellness Roadshow last week. It was all fun and games, except they printed an incorrect caption under the picture.
http://www.unlvrebelyell.com/article.php?ID=708
Since they pictured the table, you can plainly see that there are NO condoms on the table... just a ton of brouchures, some candy, and my powerbook. Nope, no condoms in sight.

That's just sloppy journalism. It's like posting a picture of a dude and his kids with the caption, "Are there child molestors loose in your area?"

my coworkers and MTV Julie at the ill-fated reception


Me, Ben, & Abby at the NCAAW booth

This was National Collegiate Alcohol Week at UNLV, which I planned. I'll sum it all up with a quote from "Elizabethtown," my favorite movie of the week... "A failure is simply the non-presence of success. Any fool can acheive failure. But a fiasco is a disaster of mythic proportions. A fiasco is a folktale told to others to make them feel more alive because it didn't happen to them."

Yes. A fiasco. We planned major (and by major, I mean expensive) activities all week long, and the only one which drew a crowd of more than two people was our keynote speaker reception for MTV's Julie Stoffer. She was the BYU gal who was on the New Orleans season of Real World.

Originally, I had booked Harry Reid, thinking that the senate minority leader would be a good choice. But then I got in huge trouble because apparently public universities aren't supposed to have partisan speakers. So the next obvious choice, of course, would be to book a girl from an MTV reality show, right? Haha. So we booked her and she came to speak, drawing a crowd of mean-spirited frat boys who heckled her the instant she got up to speak. She didn't help matters much by talking about how one of her favorite high school past times was watching people get drunk. Let's just say it got really ugly really fast.

Basically, the whole week was mega-expensive with meager results. The activities I planned wasted thousands
of university dollars. Not only that, but there was a major public backlash against alcohol-free activities. I'm not saying that UNLV needs to be BYU, but it was just... sad. But the week is over, we learned from it, and life goes on. I'm staying positive.

***********

Also, Blair was in town for the SPJ conference. We had a good time on Sunday. Tuesday evening, however, involved uncharacteristic drama-rama... my car battery died in the Harrah's parking garage, while I was temporarily parked in a handicapped space. Then, a big scary drunk dude stole my CIE 658 notebook. Lovely.

Poor Blair. All he wanted to do was ride the dangerous rides at the Stratosphere and visit the Diesel store. And all I wanted to do was hang out.

I was listening to recordings of my old band today. As the drummer, I never really knew all of the lyrics, especially some of Jeff's intricate and detailed lyrics. So today I discovered that a line from Jeff's song was "me and Joni Mitchell have a date".... not "me and Joey had some better days," like I previously thought.

People I'd like to get back in touch with:

1.) Michael I. Collins. We were on the camera crew for the 2002 Winter Olympics. We were super-pals until I left for my mission.
2.) Faith Fearing. Great roommate. Lost touch while on my mission. She got married, so now I don't even know her last name.
3.) Kim Moore. same as above.
4.) Bobbie Robinson & Gabe Caruth. same as above, minus the married part.
5.) Elder Jacob Contor. Elder from my MTC district.
6.) Anna Kearl. MTC teacher.
7.) Camilla Alleman (possibly Argyle, by now). Nauvoo Mission housemate.
8.) Matt Jacklin. high school chum. fellow percussionist buddy.

There are more, I'm sure, that I'll think of later.

Well, it looks like my number #1 buddy, DaveyDaverson is getting married. Today he told me he just got engaged, and they will be getting married on December 31 in Salt Lake City. He's only been home from his mission for a few months. Way to go, Dave.



In other news, it's been a full weekend for Heather.
Friday:
* worked from 8-5. Had a successful meeting with the ADAPT committee where people actually opened their wallets and gave me cash.
* met a fellow Utah-expatriate at the ADAPT meeting who likes the same music as me, is a good musician, has his own equipment, AND is looking for a drummer to start a band.
* spoke on the phone with Brian from 5:00-6:30
* had girls' night with Kate. We visited the temple, which was good because the temple will be closed starting today until January. We also had dinner and did other stuff.

Saturday
* gym
* movie and shopping w/ Ruth
* dinner with "P"
* went to Bryce's play with Colleen.
* hung out with Colleen until after midnight
* more gym

I just saw this documentary on PBS about Albert Einstein and his first wife, Mileva. Wow. It was beautiful and heart-wrenching. Mileva was a brilliant German scientist who broke ground for women who sought to seek education in Europe in that time. Mileva and Einstein met in college, they shared a love for science and became close close friends. They eventually got married. To make a long story short, he ended up leaving her, moving to the United States, and marrying some other chick within a year after they divorced. She sacrificed her career to raise their family, and ended up taking care of their schizophrenic son until she died... alone.

This is what the PBS website had to say:
"Decades after Albert Einstein's death in 1955, love letters revealed a long-concealed secret. When Einstein came to America in 1933, his second wife, Elsa, was well-known to the public. But almost forgotten was his university sweetheart, scientific collaborator, and first wife-Mileva Maric, who helped him win the 1921 Nobel Prize. Follow the life of a brilliant mathematician, now seen as Einstein's soulmate, in this engaging documentary."

Not to be a pessimist, but sometimes I wonder if that's all there is. You love someone in that self-sacrificing way and you give everything you have... and then one day they just walk away.

She woke from a dream
Her head was on fire
Why was he so nervous?

He took her to the park
She crossed her arms
And lowered her eyebrows

Some day somebody's gonna ask you
A question that you should say yes to
Once in your life
Maybe tonight I've got a question for you

She'd had no idea
Started to cry
She said in a good way

He took her by the hand
Walked her back home
They took the long way

**"Question" by the Old 97s." This is the best song ever. Thanks Ross N. for sending it over.**

I have this raw ache; butterflies are fluttering and I feel like I'm going to vomit. I have a major, life-altering crush on this boy who I have been close friends with for a long time. What do I do? Do I tell him and risk a future of awkward interaction and divying up of mutual friends? Or do I not tell him and regret it forever and ever, condemned to the depths of hell occupied by "Rachel" and "Ross" from "Friends?"


Someone please save me before I become that pathetic.

In speaking with Kyle today, he offered some useful advice. He said I should buck up and tell dude how I feel before my crush hits the gossip fan and dude catches the news in some incorrectly translated way. Kyle is so smart about stuff.

However, I am not the kind of girl who pursues dudes... which is probably why I will be single for a long, long time.

People who think I should quit skirting around the issue and tell him how I feel: IIIII IIIII IIIII

People who think I should continue being a freaking pansy: I

So I know it was a week ago, but I'm finally going to post some pictures from my adventures in Utah. So here's how it went down...

Friday night:
Zach, Kate, Margaret and I drove to the Motherland. They dropped me off at Dave's house in Provo. Dave and I relished in nostalgia, hit some pine cones with golf clubs in cul de sac, and hung out with Pete, Liz, & Darcy. At almost midnight, Dave dropped me off at Amber's house, where I would be spending the night. Amber and I had some good reflection time. She's one quality gal. Later, Tony came over, and because of the BYU Honor Code (you're not allowed to have people of the opposite sex in your house after midnight), we almost froze to death outside. We were both wearing flip-flops. We sat on the porch and talked until nearly 4am. It was great to spend time with him again. Tony has had some crazy luck with roommates, and it looks like the 'crazy roommate fairy' dropped another load off on him.

Saturday morning:
...had a super breakfast with Amber and her roommates. Tony was going to Ogden to spend time with his family, and he dropped me off at my aunt's house in Syracuse. We meant to leave Provo at, like, 8am, but didn't end up leaving until 11:30, mostly because we stayed up until 4am the night before. On the way up, we hit up a used record store in Layton, just like old times, where we made the following purchases: Beck CD, Bjork CD, 2 Violent Femmes CDs, About a Boy, and Hollywood Ending. Can you guess who bought what? Probably not, because Tony and I both like the same stuff. I let him have the Beck CD. That's what friends are for.

Saturday afternoon/evening:
I spent some quality time with the fam. Steph and I watched conference, and then hit up the good ol' Layton Hills Mall to buy bday presents for Jill. We met the rest of the Smith women at the Layton Hills Cinema, where we saw a less-than-cinematic film starring Morgan Freeman, Robert Redford, Camryn Manheim, and (here's the kicker...) J-Lo. It also featured a bear who mauls people. Later, we met up with Julie and we all went to dinner at some new restaurant called "Roosters." I loved spending time with these great gals and I miss living so close to family. Featured above is a blurry picture taken by a busboy on his way to the restroom, outside of Roosters.

Sunday:
Stephanie and Karen dropped me off at the Taylors' in the morning for the mission reunion. It was freaking awesome to see everyone all in one place. The last time most of us were together was at Kyle's wedding, back in May. After Zach & Kate and I left the Taylors,' but not before we got on the freeway, I realized that I left my laptop there. Oops. Brian called to say he would meet us by the freeway and drop it off. Some things never change.

Pictures above include:
a) So we exchanged the snare drum stand for a laptop case...
b.) Heather R. & Heather H., former companions with the same first name.
c.) The entire Nauvoo crew (or at least some of those at the reunion). ((Top, L-R: me, Megan, Heather H, Kate & Zach. Bottom: Kyle & Melissa, Lindsay & Bracken, Bill, Brian))
d.) Brian & Heather

He drove a blue car around Bloomington
He was a thin boy, but he had substance
He said that most girls who come to Bloomington
Only come here to find husbands.

And the existence of God was confirmed
By the way he unfolded his soul alongside
And I tried to harden my heart
But he wouldn’t let me

Bloomington Bloomington
When the rest of the world is over and done
You’ll still be the only one I’ll ever love, Bloomington

In a park that doubled as a parking lot
There was music it was free
The boy in pink took a sip of my drink
And sat down next to me
The way he unfolded his soul
Was an earthquake, a hurricane, tidal wave, flood
This is love, baby, this is love.

Bloomington Bloomington
When the rest of the world is over and done
You’ll still be the only one I’ll ever love, Bloomington

Thanks**Old97's**

Gavin was born this morning at 5:16am. He weighed over 9 lbs. and was 21 inches tall! His parents are thrilled (especially his mom) and big brother Corbin was eager to welcome his new brother into the family.

As I hunted for a parking space amongst the miles and mile of parking lot this morning at UNLV, I had an epiphany. I was about to settle for a parking space in the b.f.e. region of the parking lot, closer to the Wynn Resort than to UNLV, and literally two miles from my office... and I thought to myself, "I DESERVE A GOOD PARKING SPACE." I decided then and there not to settle for a comfortable space in the back row of the Thomas and Mack. Soooo I dredged along into (gasp) the first few rows of cars. It took a little effort and some shrewd driving maneuvers, but sure enough, I was able to wrangle a sweet space in SECTION ONE of the parking lot. As I gathered my belongings and walked to work, I discovered I could easily draw a paralell to the rest of my life. Never again will I settle for less-satisfactory circumstances, no matter how comfortable they might be, whether in career moves, dating, etc... I really am a good person, I work hard, I'm nice to other people, and I feel that I really work hard for a satisfactory life.

I searched the UNLV website for an image of the packed parking lot, but I could not find one. Apparently miles and miles of congestion and road rage is not a good selling point for an urban university.

So instead I will post photos from Nauvoo. I largely thought I had moved past the time I spent serving in Nauvoo, but this weekend's reunion has renewed my gratitude for having had the opportunity to serve in such an amazing place with so many wonderful people who I love very much.

Thanks, Weezer. I used to listen this song so much that my freshmen roommate in college asked me if we could listen to something else. Portions of this song are really applicable right now.

I'm a lot like you, so please
Hello, I'm here, I'm waiting
I think I'd be good for you
and you'd be good for me

How stupid is it? I can't talk about it
I gotta sing about it and make a record of... my heart
(How stupid is it? Won't you give me a minute
Just come up to me and say hello... to my heart)

How stupid is it?
For all I know you want me too
and maybe you just don't know what to do
or maybe you're (I'm) scared to say, "I'm falling for you."

I wish I could get my head out of the sand
'cuz I think we'd make a good team
and you would keep my fingernails clean
but that's just a stupid dream that I won't realize
'cuz I can't even look in your eyes without shakin', and I ain't fakin'
I'll bring home the turkey if you bring home the bacon.

I'm a lot like you, so please
Hello, I'm here, I'm waiting
I think I'd be good for you
and you'd be good for me

I taught a writing lesson at one of the schools where I am working. The kids were in fourth grade, 11 out of 18 of them were in special ed, and nearly all of the students are English Language Learners. They are learning the alphabet. Like most things in life, it was challenging, but rewarding.

I've been listening to the Violent Femmes. They were my favorite band in eighth grade. Gordan Gano, man, you are awesome.

My mom said something noteworthy today. We were in the car, listening to Ben Folds. I forget which song was on, but she asked me who the artist was. "Ben Folds," I said.

She said, "Oh. I didn't think this sounded like BYU music."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because it's good," she said.

I'm not sure exactly what that means.

Amie and Corbin didn't get hurricaned this morning. That's always good news. But Corbin still had bedhead (pictured above). And Amie is still due to have the new baby any day.

Bethany, thank you for calling today, even if you were on a loud ferry ride... maybe especially because you were on a loud ferry ride. That's just our style. It was great to talk with you. I loved you since the first day I met you, when Hunsaker and I were sitting outside the temple and you were wearing that U2 shirt. Remember when Michael & Michael rocked Fargo? It all started with a dream... "We can be together forever someday." Hey, remember when we found all those weird CDs at Family D' in Keokuk? And when you & Wilson bought roller skates?

In other new, I got kicked out of a religion class I was taking at the LDS Institute. I missed one class, and I was also tardy once. Because there's a shortage of parking at the institute building, the instructor dropped me from the class. I understand the dire dog-eat-dog parking situation, but I was an active, participating member of the class... and I didn't even park there. I felt like using a Utah-style expletive.

Minda called and we spoke about... stuff... stuff that probably wouldn't be interesting to anyone besides us. I love Melinda! And Melinda and Colby like my T.B. song. So take that, Dave! Whose song sucks now? jk Other interesting topics included the chastity couch, Captain Amiable, and the news that the random LDS bookstore in Minda's Texas town is plastered with pictures of LDS pseudo-celebrity and former neighborhood pimp, "D." It's awesome. I also found it interesting that, all this time, Minda thought I lived in the neighborhood for a long time, when really I had just moved in that summer, because she thought I had "an established social network."

At the time, that place was such a great neighborhood. It was artsy and bohemian. People would hang out inside their open garages playing music and painting, neighbor Dave painted a piano, we used to project super8 movies on the side of the house, and people were just generally really cool. Okay, I realize this maybe sounds a little white trash. But it wasn't. The two and half years I spent living in that neighborhood, three miles away from BYU, was the only time I felt like a genuine college student. Unfortunately, when I came back from my mission, somehow my haven-from-BYU turned into a wanna-be frat neighborhood.

In other news, my brother, Dale, called today and we spoke for the first time in six years. To clarify, we didn't stop talking for any particular reason. It's just that there's a rather large age gap between us, and after our dad died, we really didn't see much of each other. Anyway, it was really great to talk with him. He's doing well and is playing music full-time. I'm glad to be following in the music career footsteps of my dad and other siblings. Dale said something interesting about music education. It was something to the effect that, of course we would be disappointed if we were training kids to be professional musicians. But music education is more about teaching students how to enjoy and appreciate music, while teaching them to express themselves.

Volume One:

Things that used to drive me nuts that I've now learned to smile at:
#1. ...when people take up more than one parking space in an already full parking lot.
#2. ...when not-so-attractive men demand physical perfection from women and insist on only dating women who look like supermodels. You know who you are. And you live in Las Vegas.
#3. ...when those same men complain about women being shallow.
#4. ...or when those same men complain about not being able to find cool women.
#5. ...when the CCSD sub services website is down for days at a time, but then they complain they cannot find substitutes.
#6. Freedom fries, etc.
#7. ...when the BYU Alumni Association calls for donations. I only graduated a year ago! That's just obnoxious.
#8. ... when people who are 19-20 years old and have been married for six weeks pat you on the arm and say things like, "it's okay, I know people even older than you who are single."

Chris named his baby Sebastian.

I had dinner tonight with some mission peeps. It was nice to enjoy their company. They also let me borrow a CD of over 800 mission pictures, which brought back all kinds of memories. Apparently our fellow Illinois Mission alumni, Elder D., who is currently serving right here in Vegas, is going home this week, and Zach (not the forementioned drunk Zack) got permission from his mission president for us to visit him. Zach invited me, but I may or may not go. I don't want to be late for my 7pm class, and I'm really not that anxious to see Elder D. Not in a mean way, but I just don't want to be weird. Keeping on a mission theme, Sister F. called all the way from London! She is so rad.

There are a number of mission-era pictures I could post featuring myself and others looking unattractive, sweaty, and frumpily dressed. However, for some reason, blogspot is not allowing me post a picture on this entry. I'm not sure why.

I swear I saw Richard Simmons at the gym today. There I was, listening to my iPod, minding my own business, when Richard (or his twin) got on the machine right next to me, in all his pink-tank-top-and-short-shorts-glory. Frizzy fro and all. But since I'm not a follower of his, I have no idea if he lives in or visits Vegas. And in the slight chance that it wasn't Mr. Simmons, I didn't want to say anything because people never react well to hearing they look like someone unattractive. Even if they take it with a chuckle, you can tell they go home and cry about it. It's kind of like telling someone they look like Napoleon Dynamite or Rosie O'Donnell. Or PeeWee Herman, for that matter.

I just got home from watching the Ohio State/Texas game with OSU alumni and fellow grad students, Colleen and Zack. I'm not really a big spectator sports person. Zack got drunk. After Ohio lost by one freaking point, we went out to eat. We traded stories about our students, and congratulated Zack for acing the Praxis.

I had to keep a blog for one of my classes over the summer. So now that's a thing of the past, and this seems to be the cool new blog site, with less pop-ups and advertisements.

This 40-something guy driving a powder blue convertible (new) VW Bug was next to me in freeway traffic this morning. He had his arm out the window, and I could see that he was wearing a wedding ring (I say this so as not to sound like an adulterer). I was going to roll down my window to tell him I liked his car, that I was thinking of getting one myself, but then decided not to do that. He probably wouldn't like a 20-something girl lusting after his chick-car. I wasn't hitting on him, just trying to share the car-love.