Easily one of my favorite songs in the whole world.

And the lovely video reminds me of the things I miss about Europe:
1. narrow cobblestone streets
2. outdoor cafes
3. adorably tiny cars
4. rivers that run through cities, with their associated riverwalks and bridges
5. expansive fields to walk/jog near

Dear Wendeleeza and the BSC,

Does this look familiar?

Sometimes I love Saturday Night Live. I tried, oh how I tried, to find the entire sketch on youtube, but I was unlucky.

Love,
H.

So I broke down today and went back to my old flame. Oh Franklin, how did I make it through the days without you? I tried using a Palm Pilot, I tried using my fancy-schmancy cell phone, but it just wasn't the same. I missed planning out every hour of my life. I missed your weekly compass bookmarks. I missed making lofty goals and writing cheesy personal mission statements.

Franklin and I first became "involved" when I was a freshmen at BYU. Like many new cougars, I went to some kind of training seminar and, thanks to Dr. Brough (a fellow Franklin-devotee), I used Franklin to plan every hour of my college existence. I was promised that my posterity would cherish these very detailed records. As far as I know, none of the people at my table kept our silly goals for the semester. I never trained for a marathon. To the best of my knowledge, Brandon didn't practice the piano daily. And group members and I never did start that evening jogging group/book club we planned...

Franklin was my faithful (although sometimes absent) sidekick until I finally got sick of carrying around a gigantic zip-up leather binder... those suckers are heavy! Plus, I got irritated with the over-planning. I felt so cheesy. Would anyone really care who I went to lunch with on October 13, 1999? Probably not.

But my life is falling apart. Or at least is very poorly planned. I'm forgetting passwords and assignments left and right, and I totally forgot that I had a field trip scheduled for this Tuesday with my 1st and 2nd graders. Oops.

So after much thought, I stopped by the Franklin Covey store today and rekindled that old flame. I went with the smaller and more convenient "compact" size, and with weekly rather than daily planning system. They had some new darling contemporary designs and I even bought an adorably saucy blue binder that matches my favorite Coach wallet.

Since I subscribed to Netflix, my DVD purchasing has substantially decreased. This was part of my secret plan to stop buying garbage. So it's been quite awhile since I've actually wanted to purchase a DVD... but lately I've been pining away for these beauties:
1) Juno

Every other line in this movie was hilariously quotable. Plus, the soundtrack was lovely.

2) Dan in Real Life

"You are a murderer of love!" This movie provided much fodder for inside jokes. The Dane Cook/Juliet Binoche pairing was odd, but I guess it was supposed to be unnatural and not mean-to-be. This was the first time I saw Steve Carrell in a feature-length film and I was surprised that he wasn't annoying and Jim-Carrey-ish.

3) BBC's Planet Earth

I just really really want to see this, and I get irritated with multi-disc rentals on Netflix because I get totally into something and then have to wait days and days to get the next disc. Plus, I think that installments of it might be nice to show in my classroom.

A few days out of town provided a lot of perspective...Interestingly enough, the song that used to be my "Provo Anthem" is now my "Vegas Anthem." I think it's about time to think about leaving Vegas.

If Winter Ends, by Bright Eyes

I dreamt of a fever,
one that would cure me of this cold winter-set heart,
with heat to melt these frozen tears, and burned with reasons
as to carry on.
Into these twisted months I plunge without a light to follow
but I swear that I would follow anything,
just get me out of here.

But I fell for the promise of a life with a purpose,
but I know that that's impossible now.
And so I drink to stay warm,
and to kill selected memories,
cause I just can’t think anymore about that or about her tonight.

and I give myself three days to feel better,
or else I swear I'll drive right off a cliff,
cause if I can’t learn to make myself feel better,
how can I expect anyone else to give a sh**?

and I scream for the sunlight or a car to take me anywhere,
just get me past this dead and eternal snow,
cause I swear that I'm dying, slowly but its happening,
and if the perfect spring is waiting somewhere,
just take me there,
and lie to me and say,
it’s gonna be alright,
Yeah, you worry too much kid,
it's gonna be alright.