Dear Muscles...Why?

Dear Muscles,
   Hi there, it's me your partner, Lindsey? The person who you help to move around all day?

First of all, let me thank you for your nearly 20 years of faithful service. You are truly amazing. Today, however, actually make that lately, you've been really tense and tired.

I'm not sure what I've done to tense you up and tire you out, but whatever it is I am very sorry. I know I haven't been to faithful about working you out lately, but as soon as we get back to school and I get free gym access again, I promise to take you to the pool and on that elliptical we both love--we can even try out the new gym in the Smith Field House, wouldn't you like that?

I've been trying to sleep well, I try to eat enough protein for you, and I do try not to stress. I promise to take you to either a massage chair or a hot tub tomorrow.

In return, I need you to go back to being the dependable, strong muscles you usually are. We are doing some pretty hardcore moving this coming week, and I need you at your peak! I will try to take better care of you from now on, and I'll even give you Tylenol if it will help.

Now let's go to bed--we've both been tired since we got home from Brittney Porter Wallentine's lovely reception.

XOXO,
Lindsey

I Love You, Sherlock Holmes

Guess what everyone?

I SAW "SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS"!

Can y'all say "midnight premiere"? Because I was there. I dragged Hailey and Cherie, two of the greatest sports in the world, along with me, and Cherie dragged her friends Mark and Joe. All in all, it was a fantastic finale to one of the most stressful semesters conceivable.

I had a countdown clock going since last year

{Sorry Folks, the cropping I just did was apparently for naught}

 I've been practicing Rachel McAdams' Irene Adler  Makeup, which I wore to premiere 

Only to find, of course, that Irene is now sporting a slightly more minimalist look.

And I was, thank goodness, given the reward of this touching scene:

{And may I say that I "shipped" them before the movie, RIGHT after I read "A Scandal in Bohemia" for the first time, thank you very much! It was painfully obvious that here was someone he could respect enough to be attracted to and I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS SO but that's another story for another day.}

I confess, I was a trifle apprehensive when I heard that Jared Harris had been cast as Moriarty. Professor James Moriarty is so sinister, so greedy, arrogant, and evil, but he is also so easy to overplay. And, come on--the son of the original Albus Dumbeldore portraying the most arrogant, sinister, greedy, downright EVIL criminal mastermind in the literary world? I had my doubts.

He quelled them. Let's just say that I will never be able to listen to Schubert's "Fischerweise" the same way ever again. Ever. If I can listen to it at all.

{If you would like to listen to it before you see the film and so have pleasant memories of this melody, here you go. Please know that I went through a hideous case of the willies to put it here for your potential listening pleasure.If you have seen the film, I don't blame you if you can't take it.}

Of course, I was JUST as excited two years ago when the first movie came out. I knew it was coming for a long time; I was watching Regis & Kelly {as I do most summer mornings over breakfast} when Robert Downey Jr. was there promoting Iron Man 2 and announced the new Sherlock Holmes movie. 

After this I was a woman possessed, or rather possessed anew.

My fascination with the greatest detective of all time came on when I was about nine years old. I was already a voracious reader, and if library cards were like credit cards my parents could be in debt by now. But when the 5 & 10 near my grandmother's house offered the cheap abridged illustrated classics, my mother was only too happy to oblige. Among the small volumes purchased that day was a small collection of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

{How cover art has evolved since then!}

It only contained three of the most famous cases--that of The Red-Headed League, The Speckled Band, and The Copper Beeches--but I re-read that tiny book again and again, wishing against wish that a new adventure would somehow pop up.

A few years later, I was walking around Barnes & Noble--an activity my parents soon realized could be hazardous for them and their wallets with a girl of my tastes--and spied two enormous hard-backed volumes with the same title as my own little grey book with its cheap paper. Here they were! More of these wonderful adventures, precisely as I had asked!!

But how to get them? My father has a philosophy about books: He doesn't understand why I read them more than once, being able to extract little pleasure from literature himself. And as I looked at the price tag on these exquisite volumes, I already knew his answer: Linds, you don't need those, you can read those at the library!

So when he gave that answer, that's precisely what I did. 

It was in the days before I learned to drive, and by then he was accustomed to my request that he drive me to the Ogden Library, which had much more to offer than our own. He was accustomed to seeing me appear on the floor, looking up from CD's containing songs from the 1950's to see my arms straining with a stack of books. The only question was whether he would ask if I were over the limit or if he would prophecy darkly of my mother's reaction when she saw me coming home with so many books.

And one week, one of those "so many books" was a copy of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I ate up "A Scandal in Bohemia" and then realized that these were too good, I must save them for the end.

The end came and I had not finished the collection. I was very sad but my mother would not allow me to renew them, as it was near the end of the year and she wanted me to concentrate on school.

I meant to go back for the collection, but I have a condition I like to call literary ADD, which explains both the length of my "books to read" list and why all my writing projects sit unfinished.

Less than a year passed, and something arrived in the mail for me from my Father's winter home in Las Vegas. In a fit of generosity, he had given me both a Barnes & Noble membership and $150 dollars to inaugurate it!

I now knew my path. My path could not have been any clearer if Grandmother Willow from Pocahontas was speaking to me.

My mother said yes, once my math homework was done we could go buy something. Once it was, we got in the car, and decided we might stop at our favorite Mexican restaurant for takeout after.

Mom: Do you know what you want?

Me: Well, yeah Mom I do.

Mom: What?

Me: I've had my eye on this nice boxed set of every Sherlock Holmes story ever written for two years.

Mom:  {Looks surprised at my patience} Why didn't you just ask for it for Christmas?

Me: It was fifty dollars. Dad said no.

My mother then nodded knowingly, having before {and since} witnessed my father and I arguing over discussing the worth of books over dinner. {Quite candidly, I think she is sick to death of it}

So we went to Barnes & Noble and I headed straight for the Arthur Conan-Doyle section. The fancy edition was sold out BUT I was able to purchase these:

{I couldn't actually find a picture of volume two, but I have it}

I started reading as soon as dinner was over {My Dad instituted a strict no-reading-during-dinner-rule halfway through Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire} and never looked back.

So I was SO happy, when on December 27, 2009, I looked up Guy Ritchie on imdb.com and saw, under his list of projects "UNTITLED SHERLOCK HOLMES SEQUEL (pre-production)"

{The Man Himself}

{The Perfect Partner}

{She's not Irene, but cool in her own right}

{I will besmirch neither my tongue nor my blog with what I think of you, you evil...}

Suffice it to say that I already know what I expect for my birthday this year.

PS: If anyone close to Guy Ritchie is reading this PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE one more? With Irene PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE????

Summer Reading

I never had any assigned reading for the summer, but I always liked to read a lot in the summers anyway. The school would always send home a challenge to read 1,000 pages over the summers, and you got a prize if you did. I remember once I read a bunch of books, including two runs through Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire almost right after the other, and still worried I wouldn't have 1,000 pages. As Eames said in Inception, "Math was never my strong suit."

I have two library cards, if you don't count my student ID at the BYU library, and I will have three by this time next year. I remember summers full of mornings when I begged my Dad to take me to the Ogden library. I checked out stacks of books, and while Mary Higgins Clark and Agatha Christie eventually replaced Nancy Drew, mystery remained a favorite.

In my room there is a large bookshelf. Five shelves, each slightly more than a foot across. My Mom picked it out for me in Shopko because it was the biggest one there. And even this monster cannot hold all my books. I have several that I haven't even read yet.

There was so much that I meant to read this summer. So many high-minded works of history, philosophy, political science, regular science, the classics.

And then my dear, sweet friend Rosie lent me her collection of Meg Cabot Chick-lit. Can you say new favorite guilty pleasure? The Heather Wells series caters oh-too-well to my mystery addiction!

I was going to write this about all the wonderful things I meant to read this summer, but no. This is about all the unexpected, wonderful things I DID read.

• Victor Hugo's unabridged Les Miserables: I've been working on this for awhile, it's SO good! I started it last fall, but school and my other reading got in the way. So I really wanted to just take a day or two and finish it...still working. But it is SO worth it. {Side note: Anyone else conflicted over Nick Jonas as the new Marius? Because I am. So much}

• Shakespeare's Hamlet: Or at least I will have by Sunday morning. When I found out that you could watch David Tennant play Hamlet on PBS online, I was hooked. So, I am going to watch it from the beginning and follow along. {Sorry Scottish Play; You'll get your chance when I find a good version online/see it live. Can't get through it yet otherwise} Want to join me as I follow along/make goo-goo eyes at David Tennant as the Dane?

{Gosh I am obsessed. But David Tennant is freaking amazing}

• The Head Trip and Insomnia (50 Essential things to do): Two very different books, but they both deal with the subconscious and sleep patterns, so I am grouping them together. Head Trip is more entertaining and up-to-date, and I am also still working on it. It's freaking huge, but it was both interesting and on the dollar table {Score for the book addict!}

• The last half of  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Wish I'd had the time to re-read the entire series. Maybe next summer I'll have a nostalgia high? 
• Meg Cabot's Heather Wells and Shadowland series: It's the literary equivalent of eating chocolate-covered-strawberry ice cream as you watch 13 Going on 30. I needed a simple, gloriously feminine pleasure like that.
• What Da Vinci Didn't Know: My mother bought me this when The Da Vinci Code first came out and she thought I'd get confused and apostatize from the Church. Her fears were needless, but I read it two days ago anyway. It brings up some good points, but the author's tone is arrogant and defensive. Calm down man. Dan Brown is not at the head of a conspiracy to make Christians not believe in the Divinity of Christ. He is, like many authors, at the head of a conspiracy to entertain people for money. Still, this book does bring up some interesting points and facts, as well as give a very interesting history of all the crap/restoration done to The Last Supper.

• Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage: People in my New Testament class last semester were quoting this right and left, and I felt like I wasn't part of the cool, spiritually-smart people club. So I begged my mother for a copy and am working my way through it. Amazing book; it is a spiritually academic, thoughtful look at the Savior. Beautiful, beautiful book. {PS: If anyone knows of a BYU or institute class that focuses on this book, please let me know!}

So, now that we've got through that list...I want to know what YOU all read this summer! Comment it up down there!!

I Need Input...

Ok...I REALLY need you all to comment on this one if you have an opinion. Realize that if you don't have an opinion, or if you do but don't tell me, I'll just go ahead and do what I wanted anyway. Anyone close to me can attest to the truth of this statement.

Would you all be terribly offended if I told you about my Fascinations of the Week once a week? I got the idea from the lovely and talented Miss Brooklyn Burton (What do you mean you've never heard of her, do you live under a rock? Here...read her amazing blog), but mine would be on Fridays, because Friday is always an exciting day, so I think it would be the perfect time to talk about the little things that make me happy.

You know...like a new recipe, a new recipe, an intriguing hobby, how much I'm in love with tinted lip balm and why, little things like that which may or may not interest you.

So what do you think? {If you are a bit too bashful to post a comment on the blog, feel free to e-mail me}

Can't wait to see the thoughts!

What The Doctor taught Me

I meant to write a lot of things this summer, including half of today's subject. I meant to do many things that I haven't yet: I still have so many profound books I wanted to read, I still have three shirts to tuck and dart, and I need to finish my custom shorts.

However, much of my time has been pleasantly eaten up by a relatively new obsession: Dr. Who.

{Yes, I am aware perfectly aware of how sexy these men are, thanks!}

Basically, Dr. Who is a series about the adventures of a time-(and space-)traveling humanoid alien called a Time Lord. His name is the Doctor (just The Doctor), he is the last of the Time Lords; everyone else died in the Time War, which destroyed the Time Lord planet of Gallifrey, as well as their adversaries, the Daleks and their home planet, Scaro. (WOW I sound like a nerd right now!) He can regenerate to avoid dying, which is why there have been 11 different Doctors since the show's creation in the 60's--same man, same soul, new body. He travels with humans now, saving worlds and stopping wars with his sonic screwdriver and the TARDIS. 

{David Tenannt, the tenth Doctor, outside the TARDIS}

TARDIS: Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. It's the Doctor's ship, and it's bigger on the inside. The TARDIS runs on the Time Vortex, Is technically a living organism, and has a lot of fun powers that you actually have to watch the show to know all of.

{Inside the TARDIS}

I've been watching this show all summer in preparation for the return of season six (August 27th, ladies and gents, mark those calendars!)

In a way, however, it's also been a way to escape. My summer has been fun, don't get me wrong. It's been a time for me to be still and be creative. I thought it would be a nice little sabbatical from school, relaxing--just the thing to perk up my creativity.

But I forgot, I think--nothing perks up my creativity like a little adventure. So I watched Dr. Who and let my heart thrill at all the exotic, unreal places created in the show. I watched as the Doctor showed compassion, never killing unless it was, literally, the only option, even with the most evil of villains he encountered. The Doctor's worst nemesis died in his arms--and The Doctor cried. 

I had to believe that the world, the universe, could be as complex as they create it; I had to believe that there was a man out there who was mortal and, yet, that compassionate. My own world had begun to seem slightly dull and flat. 

I've seen the world, mind you--traveled more than many people my age in my situation, at any rate. I know how big it is...I forgot how rich it is.

Then today I was looking around facebook, and I found this on my friend Mary's wall. 

Have you read it all yet? Just the slideshow will do. Oh, no, go on, I've got time. you really need to see this.

Done? Ok then. Keep it open, you'll need it again pretty soon.

I read the stories, the little details in those children's lives, the little important, ordinary things that make them who they are. And then I realized: It's all real. Life here and now is just as rich as my new favorite TV show. Our planet is as rich as one hundred galaxies they could make up--maybe even richer. We have schisms and factions and poverty all over the world, but we have such promise! Those kids are so strong--so many of them face such challenges, they have such rich and beautiful strength!

Look at Kaya's creativity--look at the scope of the little world she's created for herself at such a young age!

Look at the care in the way Bilal holds that goat. Look at the innocence and love in his eyes, and he lives in a one-room shack in a harsh part of the world.

Look at the strength and resolve--that slow, low-burning fire--look at the patience in the eyes of Indira, the seven-year-old quarry worker.

Look at the fear in Alyssa's eyes, yes; then look at what she has done to make her room beautiful--look at the  flowers and the angel.

Look at the cunning in Ahkohxet's face--see how shrewd and wise she is, and yet she has probably never learned anything Google has to offer.

Look at the determination and sense of responsibility in Dong's face.

Look at the trust, the innocence, in the face of the orphan refugee from Liberia's war.

Look at the acceptance and will to survive in the face of Alex, the beggar from Rio.

Look into the piercing, professional eyes of Jaime.

Look at the warmth Delanie creates.

Look at the courage shown by Bikram, the orphan of parents killed in a civil war.

Look at Tzvika--He lives in a war-torn part of the world, yet his face shows a patient "what will be, will be" attitude.

Look at Douha--her brother is a suicide bomber, She and Tzvika are on opposite sides of a war fraught with malice, but there is no malice in her face.

Look at Ryuta's passion for life--his bio and his room show very varied interests.

Look at Li's commitment to excellence.

Look at Joey's passion for a hobby he enjoys with his father.

Look at Lamine's work ethic.

Look at Prena's love of learning.

Look at Rhiannon--she is so creative, and her whole community is the punk subculture! I think that's amazing!

Look at Nantio--her house is small, yet you can see she walks tall from her photo.

Look at Kana--she is following her dreams

Look at Risa--she has little space and privacy, but she makes what she has beautiful as she pursues her goals.

I never realized how rich and wonderful our world is...I always heard the Doctor talk (on the show, of course) about how wonderful ordinary people are, the difference they can make. Now I see it. It is the ordinary people, with all of their different dreams and passions, their experiences, their stories, their resilience, that is what really makes this world so vibrant, so beautiful.

The Basement Dancer & MJ

I like to dance in my basement. I've always enjoyed dancing around in my room as I *ahem* clean it. I don't know if anyone here has heard heard Beyonce's "Run the World (Girls)" but it is SO much fun to dance to, and is my current room dancing favorite. If you have, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, go right ahead and have a listen.

Seriously. I do all sorts of crazy moves to this song, but you won't see it happen because I only do this stuff when I know that nobody can see me. I'm much more creative this way because I fear no repercussions. Some of it is actually pretty ok.

{This is what I imagine I look like mid-move}

Yeah, I wish it looked like this. But, usually I am in PJ's or sweats with my hair all crazy and often I'm rocking out and lip-synching along.

{This is closer to what I actually look like}

So, none of you will ever see my true dance moves.

However, I actually found a form of basement dance I am willing to do in public. I worked as a Nanny for the kids across the street while their mom went on trek, and on one of my first days there, we played this game:

The girls, Aubrey and Shelby, love to dance, and their brother sometimes joins in too. The girls eventually asked me if I wanted to join in. They'd danced to a couple songs, and it looked kinda fun.

Have I mentioned that dancing is always the one part of a theater audition that I both LOATHE and DREAD? Granted, I had tough competition, as all the Royalaires (our dance/drill team in High School) tried out, but dance has never been my strongest suit.

So it was with some trepidation that I agreed to try it out. They selected Thriller at my request. I've liked it ever since my friends and I watched 13 going on 30 the night we planned our M.O. the night before registration day, in order to get our lockers together. We all loved the Thriller dance, but I fell.

{The scene from the Poise party in 13 going on 30}

{And here's Michael in a still from the actual video}

It's one of my greatest regrets that we never learned the Thriller dance to do at the registration day stomp. I will gladly participate in any group performance of this--just throwing it out there.

But I figured, it's my favorite MJ song, one of the most iconic music videos out there, I may as well take the plunge into dance games with a song I know and enjoy.

IT WAS AWESOME. 

You hold the Wii remote in your hand, and match it to the movements of Michael's famous white glove. You can earn up to five stars, depending on how well you do.

I kick butt at this dance for a girl who barely makes it past the dance auditions for callbacks.

{Can you say four stars my first time?}

I begged my Mom to get it for our Wii. After a week of fruitless searching for a reasonably priced copy, patient waiting prevailed (thank you, Target!!) and I got one. I count it as exercising. I can't run on a treadmill after using an elliptical machine, and I refuse to pay for a gym membership when BYU has its own gym for student use (I realize that our economy wants stimulation, but even I must say NO to that one)! Some days I'm too busy or tired to do it, but I love it when I do. You have to make very sharp, crisp movements for it to register with the remote, but that just means you get more out of it and have more fun.

I'm up to five stars on Thriller, four on Ghosts (apparently supernatural dances are my thing) and three on Bad, for which I worked REALLY hard.

{PS: Does anyone know how he did this move from Smooth Criminal? I can't figure it out!!}

Some people run, I dance with myself. However, I am perfectly willing to do the Michael Jackson game in a group--basement dance party anyone?

Wasn't going to ask this, but please leave a comment and tell me what you like to dance to when no one is watching! I'm always looking for new dance music!