Does anyone know where the off switch is?
You know the one that will allow me to still function properly, yet allow me to sit peacefully for a while without overanalyzing any and everything?
The switch that will allow me to just make a quick decision when needed.
The switch that will allow me to sleep peacefully at night, during the correct hours.
The switch that will allow me to just be.
The switch that will allow me to just interact with people.
Oh, where are you brain switch button thing?
I swear, I have a crazy brain.
it gets me in trouble.
in trouble with myself...but still, it's trouble.
I think a long run is needed tomorrow. Maybe that will help me find my brain button...
Or, I just need to calm down and find a way to embrace it...
This may help. How ironic that this was at the top of my pinterest feed as I was typing this. Awesome much?
this recent email from my 15 year old sister was just TOO good not to share...
"Today, I saw a commercial for the Snuggie. I thought it was stupid idea, but I couldn’t change the channel because I was under a blanket and I didn’t want my arms to get cold…"
no one can make me laugh quite like this girl can...even if sometimes i am definitely laughing AT her. but thats what sisters are for right?
also,
the above mentioned is PRECISELY why i own a snuggie.
...and though it may just seem
like just one extra day shoved into the year, every 4 years...
well, its so much more… actually
not, it really it is just that.
But yet,
i don't know why, 4th graders
find this day FASCINATING
apparently.
we researched the history of leap
year, did leap year math, learned about myths, legends, and traditions of other
cultures and even pretended that we were reporters back when julius caesar made
this business official.
it was quite an entertaining
afternoon. observe:
*julius caesar organizes leap
year in rome, 45 BC
of course BC brought up
the whole 'before christ' series of questions, oh bother...
“miss ward, was julius a
little dude? you know like... LITTLE caesar? Haha
*In Pirates of
Penzance, the hero, Frederic, is bound by contract to serve as an
apprentice until his 21st birthday. Because Frederic was born on Leap Day,
he won't reach his 21stbirthday until he is in his eighties!
“miss ward
that’s so depressing! how would you like to only be in your twenties but have the
body of a wrinkly old person!”
*Women in Ireland
have a special privilege on Leap Day: they can propose marriage to a man
“ooh! Miss
ward its like the movie! Don’t you just love her dress in that movie, oh and
her ring, oh yes!?” wow
*Over the
centuries, rules were created for Leap Day proposals. A man who refused a
woman's offer of marriage had to give her a small present. A woman was supposed
to wear red if she intended to propose on Leap Day—fair warning to her
intended.
“MISS WARD
IS WEARING RED!!! She is going to get MARRIED!” (dead serious…this girl got
wayyyy too excited)
“so you mean
a girl could just propose on leap day to tons of boys just to get presents? stupid.”
“miss ward
you should do that!! Ooo can I come with?”
"i dont think this is fair. i do NOT want some girl proposing to me"
*In Greece, it is considered bad luck to get married in a
leap year. In India, it is bad luck for a happy occasion to occur in a leap
year or month. In China, superstitious people believe that more accidents and
mishaps occur during leap month, and that children born then tend to be
"difficult."
“oh my
goodness. Is anyones birthday in february? …oh phew! That would have been SO
AWKWARD!”
“speaking of
awkward, its spelled awk-WARD. Haha GET IT miss WARD?”'
"ahhh that must be why i forgot to eat breakfast this morning. bad luck..."
*We know that a year is 365
days, but it actually takes 365.242 days to revolve around the sun. That's 365
days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds. We can’t really add that extra
quarter day to each year without messing up school schedules, alarm clocks,
flight times, and just about everything else. Instead, we lump those extra
quarter-days together into one extra day every four years to make Leap Year
with 366 days.
“how do even they
know that? What, did someone sit and stare at the sun for 365.242 days? then all dramatically starts yelling, Oww my
eyes are burning!”
clearly, it just may be the fact that all 10 year olds are
CRAZY, but it definitely made for an entertaining day. Clearly i have the...Best.job.ever.
i just love this day.
its fun and pink and sugar filled, and just full of love.
love is good. love is great. love is grand.
no matter what kind.
i wrote this post last year, and i still stand by it.
this is a happy happy day, filled with love and joy.
and although i think spending the day with 4th graders gives me a reason to just love this day,
i think everyone should love this day. because its just awesome.
also, this secret video from mr mraz made my whole life...yes, i am that easily pleased :)
happy valentines!
and mark your calendars for april 17th :) EEK!
also, im posting this again...just because i can. and because i love it. and because i cant listen to it with out getting emotional. why? because when i do, i relive this moment...and that was one happy moment. ya, im a dork.
Story behind the song: The Lyceum Philharmonic (Youth Orchestra) and its director, Kayson Brown, approached us with this idea. We loved it. It combined two of the things we are working to accomplish -- inviting people to classical music and inspiring young musicians. Steven Sharp Nelson had soloed with the orchestra the previous year and loved the spirit and the talent that the orchestra showed at such young ages (ages 13-18!) Together we developed the concept of "Beethoven's 5 Secrets," combining OneRepublic's tune "Secrets" with melodies and moments from all four movements of Beethoven's 5th Symphony.
We used 5 different melodies from the 4 movements of Beethoven's 5th Symphony (not including the "bridge" the orchestra plays in the middle). Try to guess where they are and where they come from!
What are Beethoven's secrets? He had many. His most prominent secret that he desperately tried to keep from the public and that caused him to be considered extremely eccentric, irritable, and hermit-like was his "weakness." He was deaf during most of his life. Imagine that...one of the greatest composers that ever lived could hardly hear. And yet, he wrote his life's greatest works after becoming deaf. He believed that art itself had "secrets" that had to be "forced into" in order to obtain art's highest level. There is no doubt Beethoven discovered many of the "secrets" of art -- people all over the world enjoy them every day. He was a true master of music, blessed by God. This piece and video are dedicated to him.
Perform "Beethoven's 5 Secrets" and the entire Beethoven Symphony No. 5 with Steven Sharp Nelson at Lyceum Music Festival this year! Work up-close and personal with Steven and other amazing professional musicians like the concertmaster of the London Symphony and Rotterdam Orchestra. Advanced players ages 13-21 are invited to audition. Visit http://www.LyceumMusicFestival.com for details
that very title is a blog label that i use quite often, but i have come to the conclusion that adulthood is a strange feeling that comes and goes and at the oddest of times. for example:
did i feel like an adult when i moved out of my parents house?
no, i just felt weird
did i feel like an adult when i went to my first college class
no, i just felt overwhelmed
did i feel like an adult when i moved to salt lake
no, i just felt further away from home
did i feel like an adult when i graduated from college
no, i just felt confused
did i feel like an adult when i bought a new car
no, i just felt poor
did i feel like an adult when i got a real life job
no, i just felt excited
did i feel like an adult when i got a costco membership
yes.
did i feel like an adult when i bought a couch last week
yes.
what is this thing called adulthood? i find it odd and confusing. so i am going to go watch some boy meets world now...yes i own the first 4 seasons. judge me if you must.
Today I have come to the most interesting of discoveries.
Flirting gets you places.
Now don't get me wrong, I have realized this for many years, but have never taken into consideration that I have this power.
Until today.
It was a simple January afternoon in Park City, Utah. Katie Jane and I were on a Sundance adventure. And two security guards were telling me I needed to be 'someone special' to enter this old building on Main Street. This old building on Main Street happened to be the 'Bing Bar.'
It was then I realized that flirting was the only thing standing in the way between myself and Mr. Jason Mraz himself.
Yes. Thats right. Mr. A-Z was within reach and I wasn't going to let anything get in my way.
So I pulled out all the stops. I flirted with the security guard, even telling him I loved him... and landed myself in about the 3rd row, at a private, closed name-on-the-special-list, Jason Mraz concert where probably only 75 people at most were present.
Talk about a dream come true!
It was the most magical 70 minutes of my life... so far. Some of you won't understand or appreciate this, but this was a big deal for me. If you know me AT ALL, you understand this for 2 reasons
A. I LOVE Jason Mraz with my whole entire heart
and
B. I don't flirt. I don't know how, and have been told so by a few people...nice, right?
But I did it today.
We were led by a security man in all black into a dark a sketchy back alley type stair well, where I could hear Jason's sultry voice in the not so far off distance. Seconds later I stood in awe with my darling friend Katie Jane and we sang along and laughed, and I was just as happy as could be.
Observe:
and this new song from his new album, which he announced the name and date of AT this performance, is sure to be my favorite. it was probably my favorite one he did at the concert.
I know right?
Thats how CLOSE I was
I even saw Blythe Danner in her coke bottle glasses walk by later, Melanie Lynskey, and a couple other celebrities that I have already forgotten.
And if that wasn't enough, Liz and I drove back up a couple hours later and flirted our way into a free covered and heated parking spot!
Cute boys in the parking booth. One had very sparkly blue eyes. Hum.... We also saw Joshua Jackson. That was nice.
What a fascinating and downright happy day! Love!
Whit and Liz...and a famous person...not really, but thats okay.
and if you are still confused as to why I love Mr Raz so much, this explains it all:
"Music is the medium I use to recover from life’s often deafening blow. I constantly reawaken thru music. The act of making music is how I tune in and/or tune out to solve life’s puzzles, trying to make the most sense of that which I can’t seem to stop questioning. In life there are problems. In music, if not a direct answer, comes a divine perspective."
