New Adventures!

I meant to write last Friday since stuff was still fresh, but I guess I got lazy and didn't feel like it. So I'm doing it now!

So, last week was Halloween. I went as Finn the Human. I say "I went" but that makes no sense. Let me better explain...

I fell in like with the show "Adventure Time" earlier this year, and I decided to be the main character for Halloween. My new friend Tawny was Princess Bubblegum from the same show and by total coincidence we met up and got our picture taken at a Halloween party.

Coincidentally, my momsie helped us both make parts of our costumes.

She was the best PB there! I made my own hat with my mom's help and my Golden Sword of Battle with my brother's help. I painted the sword and it looked pruddy gud, if I say so myself. I made it out of a 78 cent yard stake I found at the hardware store. My brother used a machine in my parent's garage to make the square angles more tapered and stuff. He did it because I would have cut off my fingers and then Halloween would suck and my sword would be useless.
Speaking of issues with fingers, a young guy came into my work place today and seemed to be missing a thumb. Not a big deal, I wouldn't even mention it here except for my co-worker noticed it and loudly asked with a chuckle if he was left or right handed. I felt embarrassed for the guy. That coworker says the most tactless stuff to people. I should create a secret blog called "Offensive Shiz my Coworker Says." (Lightning Edit: I just found that there are plenty of other websites dedicated to such a thing...I might just have to contribute.)

Moving on...

So, my Halloween was sorta weird. I was asked to represent my church ward in the Trunk-or-Treat think that the YSA wards were doing. I found out rather last minute, and so I didn't decorate my trunk at all. I still went with a fake smile and soon the smile became genuine. The guy who parked next to me was in the very same situation except he put the candy on his trunk and then talked on his phone the entire time. I mean, I didn't really want to do it at first either, but this guy did the BARE minimum.
After I ran out of candy I went indoors to the dance, but I'm super awkward at dances. I'm super awkward because I don't dance. It seemed that for the most part, other people don't either. There was lots of mild jumping and stuff during the fast songs, and lots of rocking back and forth during the slow songs. There was that one couple who were swing dancing like a destructive tornado that everyone steered clear of for their own safety, but that couple was the minority. I got tired of that scene and REALLY needed to go grocery shopping, so off to the store I went. In costume. I hate myself. Then I went to a Mexican place for food.
Later, on actual Halloween, I went to my parent's house and basically had candy duty. The night was pretty easy-going. My cousins were there and visited, and my brother and his baby came over too. The dogs never stopped barking. I wonder what they think they'll accomplish by barking. Nothing has come of it yet in the 7 or so years we've had them, except for us yelling at them to shut up.
Anyway, Halloween was fun and mellow.

On Friday the first, I had my very first day of substitute teaching! It was a success and I only punched one kid (he deserved it)! I taught Sign Language and Music to middle school kids. I definitely think that my teaching year in Korea prepared me for it. I was pretty calm and confident and I think that the kids didn't hate me. I don't think I was as energetic in my middle school classes, but then again, it WAS the day after Halloween, and every kid had a bag of candy with them.

Short story shorter: I officially started my second job as a substitute teacher and didn't suck at it. Yay me!

Friday night, after teaching, I met up with my friend Marty (hi Marty!) and his GF and we drove to Zion to see the movie Gravity in 3D in the IMAX theater. It was super cool. I really enjoyed my time. The best part (relatively speaking) was that the admission price was less that it would have been at the scuzzy theaters in my poor provincial town. The price for a movie is $8.50, plus $2.00 for 3D, on a regular sized silver screen. The Zion theater, which I had a dollar-off coupon for, came to a total of $9.00 for 3D on a screen bigger than you could shake a stick at.
It was an hour's drive to get there though... Oh well, it was a treat-yo-self kind of thing that I don't regret at all.

I swear there was something else I wanted to write about....

Um....Oh! My roommate told me about this other blog called hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com and though I'd vaguely heard of it before, I finally started reading it. Holy jackalope, that girl is SO funny! If you want to read about her unnaturally crazy life and don't mind glossing over the occasional cuss words, you'll have a snorty good time.

I'll write another post when I think of something amazing to tell all you non-existent readers out there. Until then, happy Novemember!

It snowed and was really cold today. :(

Farewell Piano Recital

Today was a day that I dreaded for the last month: I was the closing performance in a piano recital.
Like any day that we dread, the day came right on schedule and the recital went as planned.
I've been freaking out with stress and nerves about it. Every time I tried playing it through I made some huge mistake and worried that I'd never be ready in time for the recital.
Well, I'm back from the recital and I played last, and lo! I did...okay. I don't even feel bad about the mistakes I made (of which there were several), because everyone there was only there to have fun. I don't think anybody played perfectly, but it didn't bother me at all, and I'm sure that my mistakes won't bother them either. My dad recorded my performance, so I can relive those shaky, sweaty, knee jiggling 2.5 minutes for years to come if I choose.
No matter how I feel I did, I got compliments for my performance, and that meant a lot. My teacher told me I did great, and someone I didn't know said I gave a "rousing finale". Some people even recognized my costume! I was Finn the Human from Adventure Time; I had the Golden Sword of Battle and everything.
Next week will be my last piano lesson because I have a second job now...(drum roll)... I'm a substitute teacher! The extra money will be nice and I will eventually treat myself with the new Pokemon X/Y game. Haters back off!

Dracula!

My past week has been full of Dracula-related stuff. I finished the book by Stoker, had book club on Drac, went to a play, and drank blood to see what all the fuss was about.

First of all, I finished the book and thought it was pretty good. It was a little slow at times, but the plot was cool and the final scene was dramatic and exciting. It was also pretty long. If it were written today I bet an editor would have cut it down 75 pages or so. 

Anyway, I read it because I had to lead the discussion for book club at the library. I was totally unsure on how many people would be there, so I made lots of cake pops in case there were lots of people. I'm glad I made a practice batch a month ago because these were much easier this time. 

I went the extra-extra mile and added frosting flames and handles so they looked more like cauldrons. They turned out so great!

In addition to the treats, I made a poster and bookmarks to advertise the event. They also were awesome!

The bookmarks were little coffins! Cutting them out was a pain, but they looked way good. For the poster, I embossed with gold the black paper, and had letters from the story around the edge. I even sealed them with wax. I used a picture by Edward Gorey from his own 'Dracula' that I thought was perfect. 

Then last night I went to a production of Dracula at the Parowan theater with my friend. The play was fun, even if a LOT was changed from the original story. The guy who played Dracula himself was effectively creepy, and his accent was on the mark. The guy who played Renfield is a friend of mine, and he was good too. 

(I made this advert too, hoping it would help out the book club. I don't think it did...)

I'm in the October mood now and watching scary movies and reading ghost stories. Today I worked on my sword for my costume, and it's looking good so far! I still have to sand and paint it, but my Halloween costume is turning out nicely... I'll post a picture when I'm all done!

Sept. 30th, I Did It!

Well, this is it, the last post in my 30 day pointless challenge.
What have I learned? Nothing, except that I can commit to do something for a full month if it's not too hard.

I just checked back on my posts from London to see if I told the following story or not, and it turns out I didn't, so here's a little story from when I went to Phantom of the Opera:

I paid the cheapest amount possible for seats in the nose-bleeds(which were still expensive), but I was happy enough. The theater was a full house and the Asian girl who sat next to me was the worst. She was playing on her phone and recording the show, and actually screamed when she was startled. She also unwrapped her candy or whatever during the play - was she even trying to be quiet? Unwrapping candy is like ripping apart Velcro - there's no quite way to do it, no matter how slow you go. SUPER annoying! An usher finally made her put her phone away, but that didn't stop her from talking to her friend on the other side of her. Ugh, I was so annoyed.
Then, at intermission, when the lights came back up, she asks me as well as she could, "Is the show over?"
I told her yes and she left and I enjoyed the peace and extra elbow room for the rest of the play.
Just kidding, I wish. I was honest and told her that there was more. It was a half second battle of epic proportions in my mind: be kind and deal with her annoying and terrible manners, or lie and enjoy the show....
She must have been better behaved for the second half, because I don't remember an incident after intermission, but holy cow she should have known better. I mean, we had equally bad seats, but we still paid lots for them....
That reminds me of a movie I went to about a month ago: World War Z. I went to the cheap theater to see it because I guess I had nothing better to do, and I arrived early enough to get a decent seat. Well, in comes an adult couple with their toddler. WTH? They actually brought a 3 (maybe 4) year old to a 9 pm showing of a zombie movie?
Anyway, they sat directly behind me and my friend, and when the kid spilled all their candy we just lifted up our feet and listened to it roll to the front of the theater. It got even better when the kid was not happy, so the mom says maybe they should leave. Uh, are you sure, lady? So the dad says that they'd give the movie another 10 minutes to see if it got "better" (I guess he meant "less scary FOR A CHILD?!?) and that he'd heard that it was a really good movie and wanted to stay. They gave the movie more time to calm down and be less scary, but it didn't because it's a blinkin' ZOMBIE MOVIE.

Yes, little one, I hate your parents too.

The mom left with the kid, I guess, and the dad stayed behind. After the movie ended (like an hour and a half later) the mom and kid were in the lobby waiting for the dad. I don't know if they waited the WHOLE movie in the lobby, but I didn't feel sympathy because I'm a jerk.
Here are my thoughts on this experience. People go to the cheap theater - which shows movies after they've already been out for a few months - because they like the "theater experience." They could literally watch the movie a few weeks later in their own home with refreshments that don't cost more than the movie's budget. That's why I go, because I like the huge screen and good sound and [generally] the "do not disturb" aspect of movie theaters.
And that's why I felt no sympathy for this couples' ruined movie date. If the same thing had happened in Monsters University I would not have cared at all, but if you bring a child into an adult movie after bedtime and cause a scene, I hope you trip on the crappy carpet on the way out and that the kid pukes in the car on the way home from eating too much popcorn.
Seriously, I don't care if the cinema charges 13 dollars or 3 for admission, DON'T bring your kids to movies for grown ups.
Rant over.

Even though I have finished this monthly blog-daily thing, I'll write again soon, I'm sure, what with new job experiences coming soon (I hope)......
Anyway, until then....

Sept. 29th, Penultimate Post (for September)

I don't know if anyone has been following my posts (I don't think there have been any, actually) but I've been blogging everyday this month just for shiz and gigs. I had no motive or goal, I just decided to do it. I did it before, and that time I was living abroad and having adventures all the time. This month, though, I have stayed at home in my hometown and worked almost everyday and I don't think I even left my town. If I did it must not have been too eventful since I can't remember it....
So, because I've had no purpose with this blog-everyday thing, I think it's obvious that my content has been suffering in quality and stuff. Even I don't think that what I'm writing is very interesting. I think that if this were an anonymous blog that none of my friends or family knew about, then I could probably make it more interesting and use personal stories about crazy people that wouldn't get me in trouble (since I work for the city and all).
So, as you know if you read this blog in the last week, I broke down and bought a 3DS moments after posting about how I would not buy one. Anyway, it's super fun! I have Animal Crossing and it's a delight. I need my friends who convinced me to get a 3DS to get the game now so THEY can be cool. And so that I can visit other towns.
I'm writing about wanting to visiting other places in a video game for fun. What have I become...

Sept. 28th, Moving Day!

Today was really busy because I spent most of the day helping my aunt and her family move. It was actually mostly fun though, even though my fingers are sore and I'm sure my muscles will decide to die in the next day or so. It was fun because I got to spend time with so much of my family. Really, there was only one uncle from my moms side that wasn't able to be there. Had he come, we could have busted out a turkey and called it Thanksgiving.
My aunt moved to a place about 15 minutes away from the middle of town, and into a house that has a very pretty view of the mountains and a lake. All year long the view will be nice. The house itself is pretty new (as far as I could tell) and will suit their awesome and heavy furniture very nicely.
That was all I did today. From 9 this morning to 9 at night. They had a lot of stuff, but we got it all in the house/garage with the help of probably 20 people who came to help. We also had a lot of pizza for dinner.
I was also able to spend time with my grandma and just chat during lifting-boxes breaks, and it was nice to catch up and talk about all sorts of stuff before being called back to move a dresser down some stairs.
One thing that was a huge pain was moving their upright piano. I knew they were heavy, but I've not actually had to lift and transport one before. It took four of us to get it out of the truck and onto the ground. I wonder how the wooden case of the whole piano can support the weight that's inside. (Okay, so I just googled how much an upright piano weighs....it's not as much as I thought, being estimated around 400-500 lbs....but still, way hard to move!)

I'm going to help them unpack and stuff tomorrow after church, and after that I'm going to help my brother and his family move across town. They live in a small apartment and have a couch and bed and stuff. No pianos or enormous bookshelves in sight, thank goodness.

Well, that's all for today, come by tomorrow for the penultimate post for the month of September!

Sept. 27th, Weekend!

What day is it, even? This week so far has felt both soooo slow, and yet I still feel like the weekend sure got here fast...
So today at work I processed an inter-library loan that isn't due until November. Which is like 5 weeks away. It dawned on me how fast this whole last year has gone. It seems like I only got back from Korea a few months ago, not 14 months ago. All of this also mean that the holidays are just around the river bend. I'm all set for Halloween, and I'm going to be visiting my parents for Thanksgiving, I'm sure, and after that is Christmas. I usually like planning gifts and stuff for Christmas, but this year money is a little less abundant, so I'm probably going to stay thoughtful but spend [far] less.
Today I found a picture of my great-grandpa online in some digitized photo archives. It was kind of fun to see what he looked like many years ago, and I printed it out so I could show my grandma when I see her later tonight (or tomorrow, I'm not sure which it will be). I think it's pretty awesome the way technology can bridge generations, whether through genealogy or photos. Future people will have more photos of us than they'll know what to do with, as well as pictures of everyone's food, thanks to Instagram.
So anyway, I'm glad it's the weekend. I'm helping family move in tomorrow, and I think I might have to go to a REALLY early morning meeting on Sunday, but I'll live. I hope. I'm not a morning person. Wish me luck.

Okay, come back tomorrow if you want to read more!