Up to Speed: Graduation

Hello there :) I missed you.

I have not blogged in awhile and I’m ready to keep you up on my little adventures again. Before I get back into the game I thought I’d catch you up on some of the highlights that I have pictures of. Back in April...

I graduated and it felt a little like this:

My family got to cheer me on as I received a sample diploma from an important educator who I do not know:

Afterward, the Russells, Lorraine, and I made sure to pose with the blossoms (a classic BYU graduation shot).

My ceremony was super entertaining, we had a risqué salsa dance performance and live music performed by the Venezuela Cantando. The Kennedy Center definitely knows how to throw a party. Here’s a shot of the musical group performing at the gathering after the ceremony:


Afterward we went out for breakfast at the Roll Up Cafe (the crepe place in Orem with the big owl out front). Ashley also published a post about their trip out and my graduation.

No better way to say goodbye to BYU!

Feb 29th

Maybe it's just a Provo thing, or maybe I wasn't paying attention when I was a freshman, but apparently "Leap Day!" is a thing?? One person definitely told me "Happy Leap Day!!" in passing, and they had a jumping (leaping) contest thing in the student center during lunch. I'm just curious if this happens everywhere and if it has always been this way? Or did I forget that I live in Provo.

p.s. my sister Emily was born on 29th. so cool.

Unicorn City

On Saturday I saw Unicorn City with Shawn. It's a movie about these Dungeon and Dragons type gamers who play out their gaming adventures in a utopian society in the mountains. The main character organizes the whole thing in order to get a job, and it leads to online gaming adventures being played in the real world with fight scenes, love drama, and "experience points" all mixed in together.


The director of Unicorn City worked on Napoleon Dynamite. It hasn't been released nationally (yet) but I wanted to post the trailer for it so you guys can check it out. Watch out for "Uncle Rico" from Napoleon Dynamite in the trailer:
http://youtu.be/_V7BZy-dCyc

And here's a review if you're interested in learning more: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865550728/Film-reviewUnicorn-City-is-not-just-for-gamers.html

My favorite people bring it to school

I love the people who wear costumes to campus on Halloween. Last year a group of students dressed like the knights from Monty Python trotted around clapping coconuts. Here are a few of yesterday's encounters:

A Michael Jackson in my world religions class answered some discussion questions. Problem is, he looked pretty legit in his wig, hat, and shades so it was strange when he took class seriously and responded out of character.

One of my favorites was a guy in a suit swinging some pink weights in his hands with a pink headband. Click here to watch the commercial.

A guy dressed as the Scarecrow from Batman was realistic enough that I was actually kind of uncomfortable. When I first spotted him I shuddered, and when he walked by me I couldn't resist pointing at him and saying, "That's really creepy..." It was an accusation but he was wholly pleased with my reaction and responded with an enthusiastic "THANK YOU!"

One guy had a not so Halloweeny but still an interesting costume. I could tell there was something authentic and "American" about his dress, but he still kind of looked like a guy who just wanted an excuse to wear peacock feathers on his head. (sorry these pics are from my dying phone)

I asked him about it. Turns out he was dressed as a Conchero dancer, which is an Aztec/ Mexican folk dance. Coincidentally, conchero was briefly mentioned in my Spanish class that afternoon. Isn't that they way life works?

Jiu-Jitsu gi victory!

I had a great last week of summer:

Jennifer threw a fantastic dinner party with some super delicious fu fu fu PHO. She's Hmong  and her pho was better than what you'd get at a fancy restaurant. Also, I kind of fell in love with hoisin sauce that night.

Rebecca, Hannah, and I saw the  The Weepies. They're one of Hannah's favorite bands but she hasn't been able to go to their show until this year. They're fantastic, and such a cute couple to see perform. Their banters are funny, and they seem to just "get it." They sang one song called "Strange" and they explained that they wrote it after they fell in love, got married, had kids and then were like "woahoa... this is strange" haha. BYU's animation dept made a cool video with a Weepies song.

On Saturday I saw Carbon Leaf. I'm not super familiar with their songs but the concert was a blast. They've been around for awhile so they were great, one quality song after the next. Worth checking out if they're coming to your town.

And now for the new News:

Fall semester began today! I'm going for a super duper awesome super-senior year. I'm taking 4 academic classes and 4 fun classes. One of them is a martial arts class. Ha, I wouldn't have looked twice at a martial arts class but when I heard it's predominately based off of Jiu-Jitsu I thought "saweet" and signed up. I don't expect to learn anything spectacular in a .5 credit class, but learning some basics of grappling & leverage will be fun. All we learned today besides the course syllabus was "tapping" so that we don't hurt each other. Can't wait!

Anyway, we have to buy a Jiu-Jitsu gi because we'll be grabbing and throwing each other to the ground... Well a gi is kind of pricey, so I checked out DI and totally found one in the women's section for $8!! What a steal! I got a real dopamine rush from feeling oh so lucky :)

Belgian Waffles

On Thursday I met up with a friend in Salt Lake to see Bright Eyes. One of his friends who joined us works at this cute little Belgian restaurant called Bruges Waffles & Frites. Logically, we had her take us there after the concert so that we could enjoy some delicious waffles!!

I had a waffle with chocolate cooked inside the middle, affectionately called 'The Torpedo'. It was so yummy that I had almost devoured all of it before I even considered making others jealous:

Next time you're in Salt Lake City you should grab a treat at this place. It's right across the street from Pioneer Park :) To do them justice, here is a picture from when they were featured on Man v. Food:

Summer Reading

I've been indulging in a little summer reading lately, and it just so happens to be a book written by Tina Fey. Since Bossypants has been one of the most popular books for a month now, I'm probably a little behind on giving my commentary, but I'll share anyway.

Side note: I'm doing this without the aid of a sticker calendar and prizes from my local public library!

Yesterday I was reading a chapter where Fey talks about her time at the improv group The Second City. (If you haven't seen the Sassy Gay Friend videos, check those out). She describes the fundamentals of improvisation and how they've changed her life. It boils down to four things:

1. Agree-- start from an open-minded place and see where it takes you

2. Yes, and-- don't be afraid to contribute. It's your responsibility to contribute. Always make sure you're adding something to the discussion. Your initiations are worthwhile.

3. Make statements-- Whatever the problem, be a part of the solution. Don't just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles. Speak in statements instead of apologetic questions.

4. There are no mistakes-- There are only opportunities. There are no mistakes, only beautiful happy accidents.

Click here to read Fey's chapter The Windy City, Full of Meat if you want to read more about these four rules. For hard copy owners, it's pages 84-85 in her book.

Gronlandic Edit

Back by popular demand from at least 25% of my followers! I'll start with baby-steps since my semester is winding up right now and I'm not currently available for more embellished humorous characterizations of my life. Instead, I'll tell you about something I realized while walking to the library with little headphones stuck in my ears:

Listening to Of Montreal on an overcast day makes me feel cool.