This week shoe fans everywhere have been buzzing as the following clip was released (directed by Robert Zemekis himself and starring Christopher Lloyd and Kevin Durant!). The rumors have been circulating about the futuristic Nike shoes once worn by Marty McFly in Back to the Future II, known til now as "The Greatest Shoes Never Made," and they have all proven to be true! The shoes are real! The future is now! Named the Nike MAGs, only 1500 have been created, and they are going up for auction over the next ten days, 150 pairs per day, to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
Here's the auction, live from eBay. If I were $3,000 richer... I'd own those babies. Best of luck and thank you to everyone of those blessed shoeholics who bids for them.
My mom was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease in 2005. It's hard to believe it's been six years. Six years of holding mom's hand and teasing her when her "momometer" goes off. She's doing great, in case you're all wondering. She even picked up a design commission this week (she's a painter)! I love you, mom. I'm proud of everything you do, for yourself, for your students, and for your family.
It's Septemeber 11th, I'm well aware of that. I don't feel like recounting where I was when I heard or what my day was like ten years ago. That seems too self-oriented. It was a national event, an international tragedy. Yes, it changed my life too. But today, I chose to render my moment of silence next to the Pentagon, and to listen to words of remembrance, mourning, and fortitude from the mouths of our leaders and our plain and simple countrymen at Ground Zero early this morning. I choose to remember those whose lives were monumentally, tragically changed by the 9/11 attacks, and then I chose in the next moment, this moment, to celebrate the loved ones in my great life, and by so doing, express my thanks for the freedom, love, and blessings I have been given. I love my country, and I love the people in it. Here's praying for a renewed outpouring of unity, courage, faith, and love amongst my countrymen on this historic day.
And happy birthday, beautiful Maggie Leak! If you know Maggie or if you appreciate inspiring, intelligent, empathetic and funny people, hop on over to her blog and wish her a happy birthday, too!!!!!!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Sports proposals: yea or nay? YAY!
I don't care how much Richard Gere derides them in Runaway Bride (Julia Roberts had to propose to HIM at the end of that movie!)- proposals at sports venues have always made me smile. This one's EPIC. I love how much he makes her laugh. Best of luck to them both!
Proposal: Matt and Jennie (part 2--full version) from Emma Patti on Vimeo.
PS If I were him I'd want to beat the crap out of Teddy first, too. I always cheer for Lincoln when I'm at Nats Park. Teddy's so smug.
Proposal: Matt and Jennie (part 2--full version) from Emma Patti on Vimeo.
PS If I were him I'd want to beat the crap out of Teddy first, too. I always cheer for Lincoln when I'm at Nats Park. Teddy's so smug.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Lake Days... the most wonderful time of the year!
Three day weekends mean one thing to us East Coasters: LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!
And this Labor Day weekend was no exception. This year's festivities took place at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland, where they filmed What Lies Beneath. In my younger, scared-ier days, this random piece of trivia would have defeated me. I would have stayed in rainy DC with my homework and my netflix rather than risk showering in a haunted bathtub.
But that was old me. New me is braver. And new me knew Deep Creek Lake comes with access to a ski boat. Again, let the good times roll!!!!!!
And this Labor Day weekend was no exception. This year's festivities took place at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland, where they filmed What Lies Beneath. In my younger, scared-ier days, this random piece of trivia would have defeated me. I would have stayed in rainy DC with my homework and my netflix rather than risk showering in a haunted bathtub.
But that was old me. New me is braver. And new me knew Deep Creek Lake comes with access to a ski boat. Again, let the good times roll!!!!!!
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| The View From Rivendell. Bottom Left corner is our dock and friends taking it all in. |
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| 10:30 am Saturday: Mist gone, people anxiously wait as Ryan and I fetch the rented ski boat. Ps all my pics have been stolen from Spencer's camera. Many thanks for documenting the trip, boo! |
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| Turns out, only Ryan, our house "dad," and myself know how to drive boats. This is the start of my very long but very rewarding stint channeling Uncle Gene, Lake Mead Ski Captain extraordinaire! :) |
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| I think I might be whistling in this pic. |
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| At one point it was me and 7 first-time wakeboarders aboard. Everybody got up, though- I'm so proud of my crew!!! |
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| Steph was a trooper- popped up smiling even after a faceplant! |
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| Eric got up on his first try. It's cuz it was his birthday. |
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| Cheesy lake grin. I wub boating sooooooo much! And it was SUCH a beautiful day to be out there! |
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| And after a sweet sweet 8 hours on the sunny, perfect lake, we retired to Rivendell for an epic massage train and watched BYU clinch its season opener v. Ole Miss!!! |
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| Eric and his ladies |
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| Birthday boy eats REALLY slow. |
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| Hoover and I ride the bear. <3 |
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| Awwwwww yea. How every singles weekend should end. There may have also been a midnight skinny dip off the dock... |
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Visual "-ism" Reader and a Challenge
LOVE this- how many of these "-ism" illustrations can you explain to yourself?
No worries. I'm a lil rusty, too. :) Solipsism??
Good thing grad school started back up again this week!!!! My last year! The end is in sight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! T-minus twelve months and counting! MORE exclamations!!!!!!!!!!!
If there were a "mormonism." illustration included up there, what do you think it'd be? How about this:
No worries. I'm a lil rusty, too. :) Solipsism??
Good thing grad school started back up again this week!!!! My last year! The end is in sight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! T-minus twelve months and counting! MORE exclamations!!!!!!!!!!!
If there were a "mormonism." illustration included up there, what do you think it'd be? How about this:
I will send 8 fresh fluffernutter cookie bars to whoever can tell me where this emblem is located! :) Hint: there are literally thousands of them just north of me.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Weekend Thoughts on Romance (written backwards)
In the spirit of 500 Days of Summer, I'm going to relate my developing thoughts about romance to you, backwards, starting with my much-older-and-wiser thoughts of today.
----------------------------------------------------------
(Monday) Yesterday was a day of reckoning... not really, but it felt like it. We had a combined meeting about dating (quel suprise.) and for once this subtle monster of a topic pricked, not amused, me. I'm feeling the strange need to change the way I think about love and romance. Does anyone feel like they've successfully done this before? During the talk they advised us to throw away the "high school and college rules" about dating. Yikes. To me, that means setting aside dreams of falling in love like all my friends fell in love. They got married at age 21 and 22 and 23. I know I won't have a 21 year old's love story, I'll have at least a 26 year old's love story. I just don't think I know what that looks like, or how to prepare for it. I got the message yesterday in church that such preparation should include not getting excited about dates 1, 2, and 3 and to start dating your friends? Mmm ok. Overall the talk made me kinda sad, which means I'm probably immature. So sue me, I like my little romantic dreams of man sees girl, man chases girl, woman and man fall in love, have a few mishaps on the way but ultimately become beaming man and wife and endure to the end (very important last step).
(Sunday) The question burning in my soul as I go to sleep is, what romantic dreams do you retire over time, and which do you retain?
(Saturday) It was probably on a Saturday just like this one, three or four years ago, that I was sitting on Jessica's bed, strolling through facebook, when I suddenly came across a new, darling picture of our friend Genna and her then-boyfriend-now-husband Andrew. She has ahold of his suspenders, looking flashy and sly in high heels, while Andrew displays his characteristic sarcastic smirk that clearly says "I'm whooped and I'm happy... but if you ask me I'll deny everything." I cheered out loud for their cuteness, and Jessica looked at me with the strangest smile and remarked, "You get crushes on couples. You love couples!!!!" And I guess I do.
(Friday) In the car on the way to the outlets, I discover that my friend Summer also gets crushes on couples. I'm glad I'm not alone. I shouldn't be alone. True love gives off more love, and it's good to bask in it. It's called empathy. It's enjoyable! It's hopeful! It's energizing! Etc. (Fast-forward to Monday: I think I need new, older couples, or a new, older boyfriend, to show me what to be excited for anymore?)
(Saturday night) As a 26-year-old Mormon, I have seen good friends make great matches hundreds of times over! I still love their stories, I don't think I'll ever get tired of them. I know some of you might be rolling your eyes at me, thinking, "Linds, it's not all fun and games, this marriage. Get over it." Got it. Heard the spiel. Yes, marriage is hard, all of life is hard. But that's not what I'm blogging about today. I'm talking about that adorable energy, that synchronization that real love turns on between two people. I REVEL in that stuff! I REJOICE in it! I even get SQUEALY for it! It gives me hope. I have the audacity to hope for real love, even as the statistics of failure come crashing down over my head.
----------------------------------------------------------
(Monday) Yesterday was a day of reckoning... not really, but it felt like it. We had a combined meeting about dating (quel suprise.) and for once this subtle monster of a topic pricked, not amused, me. I'm feeling the strange need to change the way I think about love and romance. Does anyone feel like they've successfully done this before? During the talk they advised us to throw away the "high school and college rules" about dating. Yikes. To me, that means setting aside dreams of falling in love like all my friends fell in love. They got married at age 21 and 22 and 23. I know I won't have a 21 year old's love story, I'll have at least a 26 year old's love story. I just don't think I know what that looks like, or how to prepare for it. I got the message yesterday in church that such preparation should include not getting excited about dates 1, 2, and 3 and to start dating your friends? Mmm ok. Overall the talk made me kinda sad, which means I'm probably immature. So sue me, I like my little romantic dreams of man sees girl, man chases girl, woman and man fall in love, have a few mishaps on the way but ultimately become beaming man and wife and endure to the end (very important last step).
(Sunday) The question burning in my soul as I go to sleep is, what romantic dreams do you retire over time, and which do you retain?
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| (Blurred for her privacy, trust me, it's darling!) |
(Friday) In the car on the way to the outlets, I discover that my friend Summer also gets crushes on couples. I'm glad I'm not alone. I shouldn't be alone. True love gives off more love, and it's good to bask in it. It's called empathy. It's enjoyable! It's hopeful! It's energizing! Etc. (Fast-forward to Monday: I think I need new, older couples, or a new, older boyfriend, to show me what to be excited for anymore?)
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| Adorable card I found on some blog somewhere... Yep that's as rigorous as my attempts to establish copyright go. Oops. |
(Saturday morning) The fabulous blog A Cup of Jo featured two adorable engagement videos sent to her by readers- of course I eat them up. I used to not be a fan of people taping their engagements (I liked the idea that such a moment is meant to exist in the couples' memory alone), but these two tapes have me singing a different tune. These videos get me started thinking about how I always get crushes on couples...
(Monday night) I return to my new question: how do I change my ideas about love for the better?
[Enter an earnest, outgoing, Mormon Joseph Gordon-Leavitt look-alike. Problem solved.]
(Monday night) I return to my new question: how do I change my ideas about love for the better?
[Enter an earnest, outgoing, Mormon Joseph Gordon-Leavitt look-alike. Problem solved.]
Friday, July 22, 2011
Blatant steal, the heat made me do it.
Re-posting from my friend Lauren's blog:
Yep that's us DC-ites, the hottest spot in the United States. Hey, THAT must be why the debt ceiling debate continues- NOBODY on the Hill can write a coherent compromise with sweat pouring into their eyes!
When I saw this, my eyes went straight to Vegas, because whenever the weather sucks here, I like to comfort myself by remembering that at least I'm not stuck in that perma-oven... oh wait. 75 DEGREES IN VEGAS!?!?!
BLAAAAAAAAAHHH!
TGIF.
TGIHAVEAC.
Pool this afternoon, mais oui.
You should follow my friend Lauren and her other blog, thingsiwouldsendlisa.blogspot.com. I'm kind of obsessed with it. She has impeccable taste in everything I care most about: baked goods, romantic/funny videos, girly accessories, traveling to GOOD places, etc.
In other news, my obsession with Twitch from So You Think You Can Dance made me do something last night I swore I would never do: sign up for Twitter. His "LiveTweet" session with Lauren Froderman was indeed worth it! After, I realized that since I crossed over the dark side into the Twittersphere, I might as well follow all the writers and museums whose Twitter feeds I've been Googling for the last 6 months anyways. Chuck Klosterman! The Whale at the Natural History Museum! Niall Ferguson! (His take-down of Mika from Morning Joe on MSNBC is the one video I turn to for solace when the Obama administration and Congress make me want to bang my head against the Washington Monument) If you are a Tweeter, follow me @SerendipLC. I can't guarantee I will tweet about anything other than the idiosyncrasies of my little life, but isn't that the whole point?
Yep that's us DC-ites, the hottest spot in the United States. Hey, THAT must be why the debt ceiling debate continues- NOBODY on the Hill can write a coherent compromise with sweat pouring into their eyes!
When I saw this, my eyes went straight to Vegas, because whenever the weather sucks here, I like to comfort myself by remembering that at least I'm not stuck in that perma-oven... oh wait. 75 DEGREES IN VEGAS!?!?!
BLAAAAAAAAAHHH!
TGIF.
TGIHAVEAC.
Pool this afternoon, mais oui.
You should follow my friend Lauren and her other blog, thingsiwouldsendlisa.blogspot.com. I'm kind of obsessed with it. She has impeccable taste in everything I care most about: baked goods, romantic/funny videos, girly accessories, traveling to GOOD places, etc.
In other news, my obsession with Twitch from So You Think You Can Dance made me do something last night I swore I would never do: sign up for Twitter. His "LiveTweet" session with Lauren Froderman was indeed worth it! After, I realized that since I crossed over the dark side into the Twittersphere, I might as well follow all the writers and museums whose Twitter feeds I've been Googling for the last 6 months anyways. Chuck Klosterman! The Whale at the Natural History Museum! Niall Ferguson! (His take-down of Mika from Morning Joe on MSNBC is the one video I turn to for solace when the Obama administration and Congress make me want to bang my head against the Washington Monument) If you are a Tweeter, follow me @SerendipLC. I can't guarantee I will tweet about anything other than the idiosyncrasies of my little life, but isn't that the whole point?
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Choices
| Almost blew my month's utilities on these bad boys. Luckily I had a dinner to run away to. |
Have you ever been in a similar state of mind? It might be a singles thing. Friends move in and out of my city and my life at record pace, literally: in my 320 member ward, there is usually a hundred person turnover each year. 100 out, 100 in. Lots of goodbye-I'll-never-forget-you's, followed by plenty of Nice-to-meet-you-what's-your-story's. I navigate never-ending rounds of engagements, grad school acceptances, sicknesses, birthdays, break-ups, promotions, and a million other occasions jostling the journeys of my friends at all times. Right about now is when I usually change jobs myself, or start a new semester, or move or do something crazy (kissing a guy in front of his whole football team last year, anybody??). I got absolutely NOTHING this July. I think that's the biggest thing that's got me on edge. At least it's summer and I can jet off to New York or the watering hole or a national festival and blow off some steam when necessary.
This mood has caused me to revamp my habits, to create a better here and now. I have taken a hard look at my emotional and physical health the last month, with some interesting findings. You may have noticed some additions to my blogroll: I've started following a few health and fitness blogs for motivation and I have been working on building a better me. I know I feel better and have better organization and motivation when I go to sleep early--like WAY early, before 10-- and wake up early. I know I've got a massive sweet tooth and I am learning, SLOWLY, to keep it under control (Thank heavens for summer produce! Blueberries, sweet corn, and bell peppers, you are the loves of my life!) I find I am still, as always, rather reserved in large social settings, but I love finding people with big stories to listen to, and such people, and my besties out here, enrich my life and I am so thankful for them.
I was telling a good friend tonight that one of the greatest things DC has taught me is how to identify and maintain my own personal work-life balance. I know how much stress I can take without turning into a sad/cranky zombie. I know that if I am feeling a little depressed, it takes me around 4 days to get out of it, and that's ok, I WILL get out of it. I just have to cut back on a few extracurriculars (except service!) and watch the sugar intake. I don't feel the need to rush myself out of lulls anymore, and that in and of itself creates LESS lulls. I know I am a natural planner, and as I take a leading role in organizing my weekends with friends, I have a funner time (who wouldn't, with the gems I associate with out here, really?)
Is anyone still listening to my ramblings? The point is, I'm doing it. Living life, and living it as large as such a barely-anybody-mid-20s-girl can. I'm not good at everything, and sometimes it drives me NUTS that I'm in such a gypsy state of mind, but I'm working it out. Merci, mon pere celeste.
Monday, July 11, 2011
[No Title]
Into Haiku now.
This blog's too narcissistic.
Post-Impressionists!
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| Georges Seurat, father of pointillism, Le Cirque 1891 |
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| Paul Cezanne, father of modern art depending on who you ask, Le golfe de Marseille vu de L'Estaque, 1878-9 |
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| Henri Matisse, father of fauvism, Luxe, Calme et Volupté, 1904 |
Monday, July 4, 2011
A fine DC evening
Tonight is the Third of July. The city's excitement for tomorrow's celebration is palpable, has been since Friday. Oh, wait, that's the coma-inducing humidity. Or maybe it's both.
Today I spent the whole morning in bed enjoying the AC and pounding down 200 pages of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol (that's right, I broke the snobbish Washingtonian code of not acknowledging that book's existence. I make up for it by noting with distaste its manifold mistakes. I tell ya, I laughed right out loud when they started talking about the CIA "descending" into the King Street Metro... which is in fact above ground. And how about when the characters gasp in awe at Robert Langdon's revelation that the painting on the Capitol Rotunda is called "The Apotheosis of Washington"? Every intern and tourist in the WORLD could tell you that!)
I went to church today, listened to a lot of America-monies, came home, bolted down a wee bit of food, then looked outside my window with my impatient roommate as the thunder BOOMED and the rain came down in a sudden, swift sheet. It lasted about 25 minutes... right into 6:30, when we were supposed to be leaving. I donned my rainboots and rainjacket, enlisted the aid of a big umbrella and blankie, and together Kelly and I set off into the ocean that was 21st Street to meet up with our ward friends. Together we had all planned to drive into the city and find a good spot on the West Lawn of the Capitol in order to watch the dress rehearsal of tomorrow's grand Fourth of July concert. The dress rehersal is a Washington secret event that you must attend at least once to be a native. You go sit amidst a haughty upperclass picnicking crowd, watch Josh Groban or Natasha Bedingfield squint out at some unknown director behind the stagelights who asks them to "Stand here, look there, now sing it again." You have a great time and realize how awesome (and awesomely entertaining) your nation is.
Unfortunately, the rainstorms that preceeded our drive today also wreaked havoc on the Hill. We drove by crowds streaming AWAY from the Mall (bad sign), then we drove by a massive tree branch half on top of a misfigured red Yaris, half in the right lane of Independence Ave. (Another bad sign).
Undeterred, perhaps emboldened by the discovery of an impossibly good parking spot right next to the Library of Congress, we unloaded our gear and marched down towards the Hill on the offchance that something would change. Shepharded down to the lawn by cool and detatched Capitol police, we arrived alongside the stage to see the reason so many people had been leaving: part of the outdoor stage had collapsed in the storm and the show had indeed been cancelled. Other parts of the lawn also showed recent scars. We decided to make merry in the cool evening air on the lawn next to the Botanical Garden, a ways off from the stage. We sat across from a crumpled metal detector station (the winds had tipped over some HUGE concrete pylons! What a storm!) Police stood, bored, everywhere.
We played games we learned from EFY, nibbled snickerdoodles, and amused the tourists (I think there were 20 of us?). We listened as they fired canons (at least the military is undeterred by storms), we watched a glorious sunset, and we packed up as low clouds rolled in with accompanying thunder, forty-five minutes after we had settled down. As we departed, Josh Groban (or perhaps a recording of Josh Groban) began to sing, filling the entire top half of the mall with his glorious, mellifluous sound.
I came home to even MORE friends who were sitting around an open ice cream carton. We discussed timely events such as the last SYTYCD episode and the act of hugging. Tomorrow I'm renting a bike, going to breakfast and a parade and probably much more. It'll be great. But tonight... tonight was grand. What a good day to be here, in this beautiful spot of land. Today I remembered I live in the heart of my nation.
Today I spent the whole morning in bed enjoying the AC and pounding down 200 pages of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol (that's right, I broke the snobbish Washingtonian code of not acknowledging that book's existence. I make up for it by noting with distaste its manifold mistakes. I tell ya, I laughed right out loud when they started talking about the CIA "descending" into the King Street Metro... which is in fact above ground. And how about when the characters gasp in awe at Robert Langdon's revelation that the painting on the Capitol Rotunda is called "The Apotheosis of Washington"? Every intern and tourist in the WORLD could tell you that!)
I went to church today, listened to a lot of America-monies, came home, bolted down a wee bit of food, then looked outside my window with my impatient roommate as the thunder BOOMED and the rain came down in a sudden, swift sheet. It lasted about 25 minutes... right into 6:30, when we were supposed to be leaving. I donned my rainboots and rainjacket, enlisted the aid of a big umbrella and blankie, and together Kelly and I set off into the ocean that was 21st Street to meet up with our ward friends. Together we had all planned to drive into the city and find a good spot on the West Lawn of the Capitol in order to watch the dress rehearsal of tomorrow's grand Fourth of July concert. The dress rehersal is a Washington secret event that you must attend at least once to be a native. You go sit amidst a haughty upperclass picnicking crowd, watch Josh Groban or Natasha Bedingfield squint out at some unknown director behind the stagelights who asks them to "Stand here, look there, now sing it again." You have a great time and realize how awesome (and awesomely entertaining) your nation is.
Unfortunately, the rainstorms that preceeded our drive today also wreaked havoc on the Hill. We drove by crowds streaming AWAY from the Mall (bad sign), then we drove by a massive tree branch half on top of a misfigured red Yaris, half in the right lane of Independence Ave. (Another bad sign).
Undeterred, perhaps emboldened by the discovery of an impossibly good parking spot right next to the Library of Congress, we unloaded our gear and marched down towards the Hill on the offchance that something would change. Shepharded down to the lawn by cool and detatched Capitol police, we arrived alongside the stage to see the reason so many people had been leaving: part of the outdoor stage had collapsed in the storm and the show had indeed been cancelled. Other parts of the lawn also showed recent scars. We decided to make merry in the cool evening air on the lawn next to the Botanical Garden, a ways off from the stage. We sat across from a crumpled metal detector station (the winds had tipped over some HUGE concrete pylons! What a storm!) Police stood, bored, everywhere.
We played games we learned from EFY, nibbled snickerdoodles, and amused the tourists (I think there were 20 of us?). We listened as they fired canons (at least the military is undeterred by storms), we watched a glorious sunset, and we packed up as low clouds rolled in with accompanying thunder, forty-five minutes after we had settled down. As we departed, Josh Groban (or perhaps a recording of Josh Groban) began to sing, filling the entire top half of the mall with his glorious, mellifluous sound.
I came home to even MORE friends who were sitting around an open ice cream carton. We discussed timely events such as the last SYTYCD episode and the act of hugging. Tomorrow I'm renting a bike, going to breakfast and a parade and probably much more. It'll be great. But tonight... tonight was grand. What a good day to be here, in this beautiful spot of land. Today I remembered I live in the heart of my nation.
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