Got to love new friends

Panda time.

Me, Lina, and Becca went Black Friday shopping. I kind of mentioned that in my last post. It's probably five times crazier in Utah than in Idaho. Or at least, it felt like that. Imagine swimming in a pool of sweaty bodies - oh, and they turned on the heater too. One lady was actually pushing Becca in the back with her shopping bags. Talk about inconsiderate haha, I hope I never have to resort to pushing children around to get somewhere. We ended up getting lunch at the food court there (also probably another bad idea, the lines were massive) and literally every single table was full. Eventually some elderly couple said they were finished and let us sit down with our food. I was pretty thankful, considering we had be wandering aimlessly for about ten minutes or so. 

My attempt at being Abstract?

Amazing, magical drinks.

The Noodles and Company in Utah had the most amazing drink machine. It was touchscreen and I felt like it pretty much had every drink imaginable. I got some Peach Dasani thing. I mean, if you're given a chance like that why go with something normal? That's just not right. Becca and Cami always get the Macaroni and Cheese there, but I feel like it's going to clog my arteries when I eat it. It's cheese sauce+more cheese, essentially. Blegh. So, I got this chicken thing. It was sorta spicy, but nothing's wrong with a little spice. 

This>Becca's Macaroni and Cheese she ordered

Photo of my Grandparents' clock

Just my new Bestie.

Last, but most certainly not least (Really I just saved this bit for last because I knew I might ramble.) I found my dad's old Canon EOS Elan II in his office. He has a 28-200m lens too. I ended up talking to him about it for awhile. It needs a new battery, because I think someone left it on - whoever did, I smite thee. All the film we have now is going to be expired, my dad bought the camera when he was in college and I think possibly before I was born. So, once I cross those hurdles I'm just going to have to get used to the Manual on it. I think I'll try shooting in b/w film rather than color at first. Black and white just has a nice feel to it, and I think it can create a better image compared to something in color in some cases. 

Finally, we can begin

BAMF lights.

Coolest stove ever. I am in Star Trek.

For Thanksgiving my family went down to the SLC area. And lemme tell you, I am so thankful to get out of my hometown. Something so tiny can get unbearably boring in mere seconds. And I've lived here for five years. I'll allow you to do the math.

The best part of Utah (besides seeing our family) is everything I've missed out on since moving. Maybe I'd actually enjoy a Barnes and Noble in the town I live in, you know? (I can literally spend my entire day in there. You think they'd notice if I just hid in the bathroom? .. They have nice bathrooms.) It might have something to do with the fact that I was born there - so maybe I have some unexplainable attachment to SLC? In theory it makes sense, but it also sounds really stupid at the same time. Big cities are just my lover. They will forever be my lover.

They opened an H&M in the mall there (which apparently originates in Sweden - thank you for that, Lina) and I was genuinely surprised at how cheap everything was. I've been used to $80 skimpy sweaters that in no way protect you from the harsh Idaho wind. (Thank you Hollister and Abercrombie.) I found a bra at the Victoria's Secret there that had about an inch and a half of padding. No wonder they say it takes you up an entire cup size... it's all fluff! No offense to you ladies, but if I was a guy I would feel seriously cheated. That, and it was like a hundred dollars. No thank you, I think I'll stick with my natural cup size and my normal bras. (Though, I will miss the sequins. I'll always miss the sequins.)

Let me just say that IKEA is one of the best places in the world. (Even if some German kid in my class was telling me about some conspiracy involving IKEA. What do the Germans know? Heh, just kidding.. I don't want any international dilemmas here.) I think my favorite part of it had to be the lights. I'm not talking your average lights that look like some sort of bulging eye with a dilated pupil. No man, these were serious lights. They had squiggles. They had dots. You wouldn't believe your sorry little eyes. For some reason, they sell stuffed animals there. And for another reason, their tags come out of their rear ends and are longer than their entire body. Swedish people, jeez. Who designed that? But they were half off, so I bought a gray mouse for 50 cents. Don't tell me it wasn't worth it. I wish I had a picture, but alas, I do not. Some random worker there also came up and gave me and Lina coupons for free ice cream. Ah, the magic of generosity. He's definitely going high on my list.

A bit too early

I find it a little ridiculous that Christmas decorations were placed in the stores before Halloween even happened. I want to enjoy my trick-or-treating candy without danger of mistletoe or being choked by holly. Is that too much to ask?

Generally my family puts up our Christmas stuff the day after Thanksgiving. Alas, Santa is coming sooner and sooner. Maybe we'll give in. I sure hope not, however.

We had to do a historical fiction assignment in Creative Writing. It was supposed to be short.. and mine somehow ended up being this huge convoluted thing. I just turned in a short version, but I don't want to stop working on the other one.

It's set in World War II Era, Battle of Britain-ish and yeah. It just goes through this dude's life. I wanted to participate in National Novel Writing Month. (November) But it's getting a little too late. I doubt I'll have anywhere near 100 pages towards the end of the month. But I guess that's what Sundays are for - busy work.

Here's the Prologue/1st Chapter. Haven't decided.

Death is sort of a funny thing. Everyone lives their whole lives dreading the moment they’ll be swept from Earth. But the thing is, in that one moment of life or death you’re not thinking that. It’s almost a sort of brilliant relief, the possibility of death. Think of it as some sort of emergency escape exit – not that those really worked on any of the buildings that were falling down. My left ear drum still rings shrilly every now and again, reminding me of what could’ve been, I guess. There are some things, that for an inexplicable reason, you’ll never forget. I don’t know if it’s God’s way of trying to remind you of something or what, but for awhile I had a hard time believing there really was a God. You’d think he’d try to prevent the total obliteration of a country. My country. Evie’s country too. Go figure.

The day started as normal as any, or as normal as they could get in 1940. The cloud was a gloomy, monochromatic gray – but it was something we Brits were used to. The sky cried sometimes, as for the reason why, my guess is as good as yours. I pulled on my blazer before heading out into the thick fog. The sleeves were too short as they always had been. Evie teased me, saying my arms had gotten even ganglier. I didn’t mind. I don’t know what I’d do without Evie’s teasing. It reminds me that some things in life are still good. She put on a shabby, pastel yellow dress – her favorite. I still told her she looked beautiful, because she could make a rubbish bin look good. We didn’t have much money, nobody did. But that was okay.

I had the same emotions course through me as I usually did. Anger, frustration. Sometimes I felt like our country was in shambles. It probably was, but they didn’t tell us. The Royal Air Force had been taking in volunteers. I probably should have volunteered, and some days I still think I will. Evie told me I shouldn’t, that I wouldn’t come back. It was probably the flash of her green eyes that persuaded me to keep going to my same old job. Monotony was monotony, but at least I would be alive. We needed money, too. Everyone needed money. Rumors of an invasion spread like wildfire the past few months. Everyone doubted it and laughed it off, but you could tell they knew it was true in the way they carried their shoulders. I thought happiness was beginning to go extinct. Evie would prove me wrong when I got home, and assure me I was just being cranky with one of her laughs. I would always end up laughing too.

I walked to work, we didn’t have the money for anything different. That was alright, it gave me time to think. I saw the long line of young men, eager to become pilots. There was a line almost every day. I didn’t have the heart to tell them what they were signing up for was suicide. Or maybe they already knew that, and I was the coward instead.

My eyes turned skyward as I found myself lost in thought. Evie always teased me when I’d randomly gaze off into space. I wondered what flying was really like. Was it worth dying for? Was a country worth dying for? Probably, I sighed. I wonder what Evie would say about it. She was definitely smarter than I was. A few planes droned overhead, dangerously close to the tops of the tallest buildings. One of these days my head would be taken off. The fighters passed over here every morning at the same time – on my way to work. I supposed they were on some sort of daily patrol. I stared at the puffy smoke trails their engines left for a long moment before turning away again. Sometimes I got distracted. Well, to be frank I just have a short attention span. Evie said they look for that in pilots.

I think life was a lot easier before you were ever considered an adult. No rules(or at least, we liked to pretend there wasn't), you could eat all the food you wanted without all the consequences, and everything just seemed funner. Sometimes I remember myself doing absolutely nothing – like throwing rocks into the pond by my house. Me and my brother would always see who could find the flattest stones, those were the best for skipping. He would always win, but I would always get more skips. Funny how it worked out like that, now that I think back on it. I guess one downside to the past was that Evie didn't even know I existed. Damn, was she a real piece of work back then. Don't get me wrong, she still is. Being a hormonal adolescent wasn't the best cup of tea either. Evie says my hormones still need to be reined in every now and then.

To tell you the truth, my real story started a long time ago. It may not be the best, and it might not be exciting. But it's just the story of me.

You're a real peach if you read all of that. So long.

Only the Beginning

I have made the extremely cliche original decision to make a blog. I'm not totally sure what I'll be primarily using it for - but I'm thinking mainly my photography and random things I get the urge to write. 

I am very, very thankful it rained today. Rainy/cloudy weather is the best weather to take photos in. Well, unless the rain is powerful enough to corrode you or ruin your equipment, I guess. Anyways, I forced Becca to come outside and take pictures with me. And forced I definitely mean: 'gently coaxed'. Another benefit to the rain is just that it makes everything looks cool, as lame as that sounds.
Me and Becca also tried to make a... rainbow cake. In retrospect, I suppose we should've known it wasn't really that good of an idea. At all. Ever. Somehow it oozed out of our round pan.. I'm not even sure how it really happened, quite frankly. Then the batter started dripping in the oven. I don't know about you, but black cripsies in the bottom of an oven is not one of my favorite things to clean up. I think we managed to salvage the cake though. No lie. It actually looks kind of normal.

Before:

(To keep from me looking like a total idiot, I'm not going to post a 'during' picture.)

After:

Alright. So it pretty much looks like a diseased blood cell. I think it did okay considering.