lucky to have...

+nieces that aren't too shy to play barbies in front of me. I was always too shy to play pretend in front of anyone but my little brother or cousins that were my age. (I do have a nephew. But he doesn't play with barbies. yet.)

+a dog that, after grabbing hold of the table cloth, didn't succeed in pulling the turkey, mashed potatoes, green beens, cranberry sauce, and candied yams off of the table.

+friends to go ice skating with...10 years after I last laced 'em up. Can totally still do a scratch spin. Look at me and my basic abilities.

+family to play Settlers of Catan with.

+a best friend that is with his family in another state. This means that for the first time ever, I might actually win Settlers tonight (I'm beginning to believe that he cheats).

Happy Thanksgiving.

viva la vida video II

this video makes me giggle. a lot. I wonder what would happen if I wandered around in a royal cape and a cheap crown with a framed Delacroix tucked underneath my arm.

caption please.

quite possibly one of my favorite photos of all time?

Eliza Dushku at the CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute event.

Oh.

And her legs were there, too.

"I wanna be in your world!"

So here's the thing. You all know that I was fine with Twilight. The books that followed were freaking ridiculous, but I enjoyed the first one enough. And the movie, while pretty bad in some ways, was enjoyable. In fact, I'd probably go see it again to see the man Jennie Garth is having babies with. And for all the crap I give it, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I give thanks for Twilight and for the serious LULZ it brings (oh internet speak).

Exhibit A: Drew and I stayed up till 3 in the morning laughing about how bad it is. We were teasing our friend Jon for leaving halfway through the game to go watch Twilight, and well, it kind of morphed into something else...


Jonathan is proud to say that his younger sister is much more important than BYU football. 12:45am - 24 Comments

Jen Gulbrandsen at 12:03pm November 23
LIES. Nothing is more important than BYU football, Jon. NOTHING.

Kayliann Lowe at 12:10pm November 23
Way to follow Pres.Monson's advice...make time for the things that really matter. (Even if everyone in Utah sooooo disagrees with you! Ha)

Drew Troutner at 8:35pm November 23
In the middle of the BYU game. She should be watching it too. Two complete extremes. BYU/Utah game. Twilight. I could almost understand if it was actually a good movie.

Jen Gulbrandsen at 12:41am November 24
Actually, I've got to give this one to Drew. Twilight was a hot mess. Well, so was the BYU game. Hmmmm, this is a hard one.

Drew Troutner at 12:42am November 24
but you didn't know that it was a hot mess when you left. In retrospect, it might not look like a bad choice. But what if Max Hall hadn't thrown 5 picks and fumbled it?

Jen Gulbrandsen at 12:45am November 24
That's true. At halftime it was a game. And Twilight was a crappy movie with too much Max Factor Pancake No. 1 complete with *BLINKIES*.

I don't know though. That RPattz is pretty hot right now.

Drew Troutner at 12:55am November 24
so all of my sisters have seen Twilight now, and they all agreed on one thing. It was about as awesome as a hernia.

Jen Gulbrandsen at 12:58am November 24
I don't know about that. This epicness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H35k6mLub3k

vs this epicness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvfGT2aepus

AHHH HOW DO I CHOOSE?!?!?!

Drew Troutner at 1:09am November 24
haha. Is it even really a choice? How could you turn down "catching yourself a bass"? maybe it is even a delicious bass.

Jen Gulbrandsen at 1:20am November 24
It's more than a delicious bass. It's Chuck Bass. Oh WAIT. He's from Gossip Girl.

Guess we're stuck with this hobo. http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn113/robertpattinsonismyhero/robert_pattinson_1897602.jpg

Drew Troutner at 1:22am November 24
wow. who would go out in public with hair like that? i know slightly crazy, exotic type hair is know chic, but that is a wee bit extreme.

Jen Gulbrandsen at 1:25am November 24
Cedric Diggory is NOT amused http://images.quizfarm.com/1135876711cedric.jpg

Drew Troutner at 1:27am November 24
He might not be, but this guy sure is
http://k41.pbase.com/o2/74/450574/1/97006726.D8ZlcOE6.vietnam004.jpg

Jen Gulbrandsen at 1:34am November 24
http://alicia-logic.com/capsimages01/hp4gf_058RobertPattinson.jpg

Do I dazzle you?

Drew Troutner at 1:38am November 24
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_J28MU9ydPKs/R8faHPVyznI/AAAAAAAAFxI/HJ6uuxDBGs8/s1600-h/image003.jpg

Do I dazzle you back?

Jen Gulbrandsen at 1:39am November 24
can't...stop...looking...
http://robertpattinson.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/robert-pattinson-les-deux.jpg

Drew Troutner at 1:45am November 24
I love how we have completely stopped talking about BYU and have now fallen in love with the beautiful pictures of Robert Pattinson. We need more of this: http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v71/124/2/17819014/n17819014_32619589_4499.jpg

Jen Gulbrandsen at 1:53am November 24
Cedric just died.
http://www.hotflick.net/flicks/2005_Harry_Potter_and_the_Goblet_of_Fire/Thumb/005HPG_Robert_Pattinson_019.jpg

Wait...wait...wait... OMG he's ALIVE! And still 17!
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn113/robertpattinsonismyhero/edward.jpg

The Utes have to give up. After all RPattz/Ced/Eddie is an English Major Coug. There's nothing they can do but play dead http://deseretnews.com/photos/midres/4851153.jpg

Jen Gulbrandsen at 2:18am November 24
Oh. I know what did it. I found the answer. How could anyone pick ANYTHING over Twilight after seeing how "OMG AMAZING!!!!" it's going to be?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFG9lXc2upQ

Jen Gulbrandsen at 2:29am November 24
Sorry Jon, we were bored. But we still like you!

Drew Troutner at 2:30am November 24
Wow. There is absolutely nothing I can do to top that last video. You win Jen.

Jen Gulbrandsen at 2:33am November 24
I always save the best for last. Like Edward. I could have given you the video at the start, in the way Edward could have bitten Bella from the start. We wouldn't have had to go through the agony of the annoying, crappy photos (or in this story, the obnoxious whiny entity that is Bella). But oh the APPRECIATION and the ultimate JOY we feel when he finally bites her and we don't have to read ANYMORE!

Drew Troutner at 2:35am November 24
Ha. Guess I don't need to read the books now.

Jen Gulbrandsen at 2:47am November 24
Glad I saved you.

This is the movie I ended it with. THIS IS A MUST SEE. Some random girl has a million videos of her reactions to Twilight trailers and Twilight actor TV appearances. Pure gold. *warning* some explicit language towards the end. Seriously, this is hilarious.

give me real, don't give me fake.

BYU lost. But I got to see Coldplay live and they played a few songs that made up for the loss (and the enormous sea of red in the crowd).

I still remember the first time I ever heard a Coldplay song. It was in early 2003 and I was in the car with Becky and this kid Jordan that I had this odd crush on (one of these days I should tell of my crazy antics in high school. Oh the immaturity), and he had the CD A Rush of Blood to the Head playing. I heard the song Politik and was intrigued, and then heard Clocks--I was completely mesmerized (which is funny, considering I can hardly stand it these days). It's no secret that I had absolutely horrid taste in music. I had grown up listening mostly to Classical and Broadway music, with a little Pink Floyd and Rush thrown in there, but Coldplay was the first band that I really got into. By no means is Coldplay the best band out there, but considering my abysmal taste and lack of musical education (Michelle Branch, anyone?), they helped ease me into the world of Alternative.

When I was a cheerleader my junior year in high school, I would pass the time on the long bus rides by listening to music. Away games during basketball season were so long, we'd be there for 5-6 hours, and it was during those hours that I pulled out my little blue Sony CD player (oh the days!), popped in Parachutes or A Rush of Blood to the Head, and tuned the rest of the world out as Chris Martin spoke to my 16 year old soul. My life was kind of complicated and in a lot of ways, I was pretty lost. A parent's divorce, a move to the other side of the country, and losing all of the things that I had loved had a much stronger emotional impact than I wanted to admit. But listening to Amsterdam, or Warning Sign, or Everything's Not Lost brought me a lot of peace and comfort needed during a time where I had shut out everyone and everything else. To this day those 3 songs are something special.

It's too bad that this is the only time I've seen Coldplay in concert, I wish I had seen them on one of their previous tours, I'll bet there was a wonderful quality in the band that wasn't the international success that they are now. But last night was still magical. The most exciting thing was the energy. I had expected them to be pretentious, after all, it is Chris Martin, but instead he was a gangly, awkward creature running, leaping, and rolling around on stage, excited to just be performing. It seemed so poetic to be there with one of my oldest and closest friends, celebrating the wonderful things (and sometimes heart-breaking things) we've experienced together.

They opened with my favorite song from their latest album and it brought back some bitter-sweet memories that I have connected with that particular song. About 45 seconds into it I realized that I should probably video tape it, to try and capture the moment. Unfortunately it just doesn't transfer well to my little camera.



Almost 6 years later, my soul has healed and evolved, those days of silent despair have finally left. Instead I am living a life full of pure joy, the sweetness hard to describe. But the contentment I feel resides within these chords and within the raw nature of the beat.

It really is beautiful.

ready to fight.

My little brother Scott gave an amazing farewell address last Sunday (and entered the MTC Wednesday, more to come on that [and dancesport] later), and in true fashion, he managed to teach us all while still maintaining his personality and sense of humor.

This is an excerpt from the beginning of his talk when he was describing the indescribable feeling of receiving a call to serve the Lord:

"Then suddenly as I read my report date of November 19th, reality returned. As my heart started to race again, I worriedly asked, "Am I going to miss the BYU-Utah game?" The answer was "yes." Although I don't know how BYU will be able to pull off a win without me screaming at the TV, I do have faith that the Cougars will be blessed for my dedication and will be led to victory."

K boys. Let's get it done.

overruled, but certainly not defeated.

So Twilight is having the 2nd best November opening ever. Are we really surprised? No. Wait...I saw the movie last night?! Now that IS surprising. And here's the more surprising thing: it wasn't as full of FAIL as I had thought it would be (but I think a lot of that is attributed to the fact that Emmett never says his oh-so-angsty-"She's not one of us!!!!" line), and the man that plays Carlisle is sufficiently attractive (wait...he's married to JENNIE GARTH? NO WAY).

I was even enjoying myself. True, the first scene in Biology was so unintentionally funny, it hurt, and his line, "I feel very possessive protective of you" had me rolling from the irony, but it was quite entertaining really. It had the fun elements of the story that I had enjoyed when reading the book without Bella's constant whining about how hard it is when everyone is paying attention to you, AND it told the story in only 2 hours, a huge plus.

And then this phrase popped out of the mouth of Carlisle, "Edward...Remember who you are".

Return with Honor.

Choose the Right.

Wait...WHAT?!

Yes, he really said it. And I snick-orted (a huge laugh that comes out of your mouth and nose, usually accompanied by a convulsed body action). Loudly. Some of the audience laughed nervously in the way people do when LDS terms are mentioned in pop culture by the non-LDS. And the movie lost almost all of the credibility it had achieved in my mind (the blatant, and lame, cameo by SMeyer had almost done the same thing, but then Carlisle popped on screen again).

So I guess this is my review. It's not awful. No, it is NOT Oscar worthy SMeyer, but RPattz isn't horrid to look at and Nikki Reed is stunning, even when they put an awful blonde wig on her.

Enjoy the movie, don't be angry at my honest opinion, and just remember, this is what he really looks like without all that Max Factor Pancake No. 1.

dear rpattz, please go take a shower.  kthnxbye.

I love The Soup.

ALSO. CLICKY CLICKY FOR ROGER EBERT'S REVIEW OF TWILIGHT.

"Come on now, what is "Twilight" really about? It's about a teenage boy trying to practice abstinence, and how, in the heat of the moment, it's really, really hard."

gossip girls.

Nope, not this. The pageant kind.

[warning: this entry is full of parentheses. and I'm too lazy to edit it into a more enjoyable literary format. too bad. just call me smeyer.]

When I was 16 I had the most amazing experience of interning for Sean Hannity (side note: I should write about that one of these days) and on my last full day of work, he allowed me to be in charge of the Man on the Street segment (PS does anyone still have this clip? I'd love to have it), and then later had me come into the room with him and chat with people on air (my head still spins thinking about being the youngest intern out of 3 working at the time, and yet being one of the only interns to ever receive such a privilege). Essentially you have to go out into the streets of NY with with Sean on your cell phone and find people who will unknowingly make fools of themselves. One woman had such an experience and then proceeded to call me all sorts of names, and being the fragile, sometimes self-conscious teenager I was, I kept telling Sean how badly I felt for having to call her out on what she was saying. And then I received some of the best advice someone has ever given. He said (well, something to this effect), "Do you really think I care if everybody loves me? Why are you so worried about being liked by everyone? There are going to come times when people, for whatever reason, won't like you and you have to learn to be okay with that".

The reason I bring this up is because I made some close friends at Miss Utah this last year and every once in a while [read: it's happened twice] when we're hanging out or talking on the phone, I'll be informed of this rumor or that rumor, or of the gossip being spread. Essentially, I found out that someone I assumed had good feelings toward me in fact doesn't like me and is spreading innuendo.

All I can do is laugh. It's happened before. A girl that really didn't even know me told my then friend and now boyfriend of 2 years to stay away from me (thank goodness he straightened that out....and now she and I are friends). So here it is again (and how ironic that the thoughts are so similar, which leads me to wonder if someone else they have in common is saying such things, too), and the discovery that someone is defaming your character certainly hurts. And then I wonder what leads them to speak that way. And to say this to a friend of mine. Did I ever say anything mean about them in a public forum, or even privately to someone?

Truthfully, I have a very difficult time being fake and I have a difficult time being around those that are. If your attitude bothers me and if I sense a facade, I'm probably just going to quietly stay away, not to be rude, but to protect myself from negativity (especially since pageants can indeed be vicious environments if you surround yourself with one of the few bad apples). But it's still hard to not be *loved* by everybody (how vain of me). When you put in a concerted effort to make everyone feel good about themselves, it is difficult to hear the back biting gossip. But if my work in being genuine to everyone still rests in vain with 3 or 4 girls, I have to remember what Sean said. Not everyone will like me. I have to get over it. And take it with grace.

Yet another good lesson that is being learned.

so keep on calling me names, keep on, keep on.


[this might be the most controversial post I've ever posted that hasn't been shielded by the protection of my friends only blog restrictions. It's a very exposing feeling, taking chances with a public audience.]

protective.

Have you ever had the experience of hearing a song and immediately feeling a strong connection to it? Whether it's the lyrics, or the chord progressions, or the rhythm...something within the song resonates and sucks emotion right out of you. You know that thousands of people are listening to this same song, but in your heart you can't help but believe that those thousands cannot hear or interpret the song the way you do, that it speaks to you on a higher level and therefore you have claim. I have several songs that touch me this way and I'm proud to say that they generally end up being the lesser popular pieces from artists (and I choose to believe that it's because my musical tastes transcend those of the popular masses :P ).

I just recently found another one to add to my collection. It stirs up so many strong emotions within, it's melody is so pure that it makes my heart truly ache. For some time I've been wanting to have a solo choreographed, just to have on hand if I ever need to perform at something or another (you all know that I like to switch things up and utilize all of the things that I love) and this song has just become a front runner.

But what happens when you open up about a song that feels so deeply connected to your emotional being? What happens when someone turns it into a series of pirouettes and extensions and what happens when an audience only chooses to view it as technical elements, rather than an emotional whole?

Often I leave my favorite piano pieces or songs to myself because I'm frightened of the criticism that threatens pieces of my soul.

Perhaps I will save this particular song for an audience that cares about more than just the tricks performed for the 35% of your score.

Because if I can't trust the music that drives my heart then I will lose so much of what makes me who I am.

nope.

not ready for this week.

need need need need

Having a really hard time not listening to Christmas music....

I just want to break out the Rooney and Harry Connick Jr., and I'm dying to bring out my favorite Christmas episodes and movies. Love Actually is calling my name and Sarah McLachlan's Christmas album is a keeper.

Just 18 more days. I can make it.

I think.

here we go.

Tomorrow begins my entrance into ballroom dancing. It's scary because I am NOT a ballroom dancer and it's hard because I want so badly to be one. Will we do well? Eh, who knows. This is my first time competing open and I don't know if I'll even begin to feel ready for some time, but I stuck on some fake nails and while I hate them (and they even LOOK like stick-ons, oh well), I'm excited for all of the bells and whistles that come along with this crazy world.

If I'm not here over the next week or so, it's due to competitions and 4 midterms.


[also, pray for my shoes. They're still a dark dark brown, not the black the dye promised they would be]

a new era.

Some of you are sad tonight, the man you voted for did not win, but I would hope that those who were in support of John McCain can still be grateful for the opportunity we possess as an American people, that we are able to have this remarkable change of power that happens not as a result of bloody revolution, but peaceful popular vote (which of course leads to the lovely electorate, another entry...). This election was special to me for two reasons. Firstly, because it was my first presidential election, secondly, I've been completely apathetic and turned off towards politics. It has not been something I've become too involved in. Many are reporting that this campaign has gone on for 21 months. 21 months! It's ridiculous how long this has taken and I've become so sick of it.

Tonight, however, I had just gotten home from practice, turned my TV on, and saw the electoral vote soar past the 270 mark and watched the celebration begin. My heart filled with emotion for the steps our country has taken and my cynicism was replaced with an overwhelming swell of pride.

President Elect Obama may not be my preference with regard to health care or the economy, but the phrase "an historic moment" has been said this evening more often than any other and I have to say it as well. I feel a little silly (and in fact was mocked by my SO when I mentioned it), but tears came to my eyes when the announcement was made. I am proud to be an American. I am proud to have taken part in this amazing event. More than anything else, I am proud to have voted for someone who represents the incredible journey our country has taken in providing equality for all and I hope that, as the votes are counted in other states, the ideals of equality will be maintained.

Whew, what a night.

some funny memories.

Good to be in DC! | Funny Jokes at JibJab

This Land! | Funny Jokes at JibJab

note: these aren't exactly child-friendly. And don't get mad at me if there are a couple of inappropriate jokes.

Unfortunately the new stuff just isn't as good.

indecision 2008

so I'm here at the middle school I'm voting at and I am still undecided as to the presidential election. The idiot vs the economic disaster.

Stephen Colbert it is!

truth.

There's no question that I believe firmly in the power of music. Often I'll turn to John Mayer, or Radiohead, or Muse, or Norah Jones, or Chris Martin when I need answers or perspective.

However, I find myself turning to others over and over again when the questions are more complex and the answers more difficult to find. In those moments when I desperately need peace, I move a different direction. Instead I look to this when my head is spinning, this movement when my heart hurts, the Allegretto from this brilliant work accompanies my sorrow, the third movement from this suite heals my soul, and this Adagio brings me home as a reminder of how wonderful life can be.

I know them so well. I know the men that created them so well. I only wish the answers came as easily.