You're either with us or against us

Dear Friends, Neighbors, and Enemies

The anonymous fan struck again. Gone for 3 days to Baker, Oregon--the land with limited access to the outside world--and anonymous fan No. 642 decided to machine post 17 more comments to my blog. Bummer. I've had to enable word verification to stop the machines from continuing their dominance of the mechanical, cyber, and electrical word. So go ahead on comment on this or any post, but please, verify you're a human and stop the machines from retaking their world.

Cheers.
Nat

The Greatest Text Convo in the World

Me: You do know there’s no place for FHE ditchers in the Celestial Kingdom, right?

G: Well before you get translated, why don’t you bring us some cookies?

Me: I believe penitence is for the sinners.

G: What about grace and mercy?

Me: It is only after all that we can do that we’re saved.

G: That’s my fav scripture… but really the issue is the cookies you promised.

Me: Cookies!? Are you kidding me!?

G: Yeah, C--- and D---- just went running so in half hour you should bring over cookies

Me: I can’t! The Suns are playing and who else would support Nash?

G: Nash is on our TV as well.

Me: True, but I smell like campfire and won’t be leaving the house. I do appreciate the treat you’ll bring me tomorrow.

G: Just for that I hope your Suns lose.

Go Kat Go

My girl is singing for the win tonight. Guilty pleasure at its finest--I'll probably end up voting too! If you want to hear the most beautiful performance of the season, click the link below. I guarantee you won't be sorry. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" has never been this beautiful.

http://www.rickey.org/blog/2006/05/katharine_
mcphee_somewhere_ove.html

Happy for the Day

When we were younger and my parents put Alaina and I to bed, they'd always ask us what our "Happy" and "Sad" for the day were. No sads today, but a happy:

I'm wearing pants I picked up off the Nordstrom sale rack this weekend that have 37 inch inseams. I'm wearing my tallest 4 inch boots and the pants are within striking distance of the ground. And they fit like a dream. I'm a happy camper today!

And, Costa Vida pork salads are my new Kryptonite. I kind of wish I'd get sick of them and move on to a less expensive, less addictive habit. I could sure go for a bag of Skittles right now.

A la biblioteca

Last night I had a few minutes to spare before I headed to my g-parents so I checked out the new-ish library downtown. Holy heck, it's fabulously beautiful! I've been frequenting the offshoot branch two blocks from my house but hadn't been to the hub of general Utahn library activity. The building is mostly glass and has little shops and foodstands and comfy reading areas. I was only sorry I couldn't stay longer. On the other hand, it's typically a good thing I don't go to the library for more than 15 minutes--because I'd leave with the place on my back. I'm usually loaded down like a pack mule anyway. Despite the fact I have 16 books at home that need to go back to the library, I also checked out:


A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens


Where We Once Belonged - Sia Figiel


The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald


The Knight of Maison-Rouge: a novel of Marie Antoinette - Alexander Dumas


The Virgin Blue - Tracy Chevalier


Without Fail - Lee Child


Falling Angels - Tracy Chevailer

And for my own personal point of remembrance, these books are all due June 14. I've been better about returning books on time (or renewing them online), but it's not uncommon for me to have $15-20 in late fines. An expensive hobby no doubt...

Work v. Play

vs.



I guess the moral of the story is that my work and play looks are too similar to compare. Same hair, same pants, same girl. One of these days I'll throw "gym rat" Nat, "bumming around the house" Nat, and "church" Nat. We'll start it simple and work to complexity.

An anonymous fan!

Slim to rarely do people (you all) comment on my blogs. Sad day, I know. However, this post is not to lament the tragic inactivity of internet readers and the blogging community in general. I'm writing ironically to post the exciting fact that I have a fan! In the last 2 hours, my number of comments have quadrupled! Here's the snapshot of comments left by my new bff.

• Interesting site. Useful information. Bookmarked.
• Nice idea with this site its better than most of the rubbish I come across.
• Very best site. Keep working. Will return in the near future.
• Very pretty site! Keep working. thnx!
• Looks nice! Awesome content. Good job guys.
• What a great site, how do you build such a cool site, its excellent.
• Your are Excellent. And so is your site! Keep up the good work. Bookmarked.
• Hallo I absolutely adore your site. You have beautiful graphics I have ever seen.
• Super color scheme, I like it! Good job. Go on.
• Hey what a great site keep up the work its excellent.
• Very pretty site! Keep working. thnx!
• Your are Nice. And so is your site! Maybe you need some more pictures. Will return in the near future.
  Greets to the webmaster of this wonderful site. Keep working. Thank you.
• I say briefly: Best! Useful information. Good job guys.

Can you believe this!? Someone adores me! My blog has awesome content--better than most rubbish available! I am nice!

So it's pretty apparent to all involved that my so-named anonymous fan is either a computer-generated program or a lonely international attempting to woo me into a supplying them a greencard and a "get out of (insert your country here) free card." Regardless of the fact, is it embarrassing to admit I still enjoyed the compliments?

Thanks to Jakers & Clayt for being my consistent commenters. Greencard or not.

I'm in Heaven

Oh Heaven. When I get to create my own heaven, you'd better believe it will encompass good books, a cold never-ending supply of Diet Coke, and cool sheets.

What is Heaven?

Oh sad day! The owner of this video doesn't want to let me place it--so you'll have to go to the link below and actually watch it on the site.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lOuHEQCRh0

No pills!

WOrk woRk WorK

Man oh man oh man. It's been too long since my last post. Why? Because it's been INSANE at work! People should not be allowed to up and leave on a honeymoon for 2 weeks. I've been doing a job and a half all week and all of next week... it's killing me! I came back from lunch yesterday and had 28 new emails. 28! And everyone needs something... Or needs me to make other people do things for them...

I guess it's good to have job security!

The Future Miss __________

MTV has been a pretty consistent source of viewing entertainment for quite some time. One of my biggest admitable guilty pleasures. Last night MTV finally gave me a purpose in life.

While catching up on marathon-runs of "Sweet Sixteen", "The Real World--Key West" and "Punk'd", we stumbled on this little show called "Tiara Girls." A brief 30-minute episode shows one girl's preparation for a pageant; her walking, wardrobe, and talent coaches and the actual pageant itself.

MTV has never spurned me to any type of action beyond the usual watercooler gossip. But, "Tiara Girls" has given us the grandest of ideas.

Melissa, Michele and I decided that we're going to be in a pageant. We'll haul Krista, Heidi, and Nici along if we have to. This will be the biggest prank of our careers! The stereotype of a "Pageant Girl" is so well-defined; and we're on a personal mission to a) discover if that stigma is true and b) break that stereotype.

And mostly we'll embarrass the heck out of ourselves (or others in their dedication and seriousness to the cause?) and have one hell of a good time. My favorite conversation to date regarding the pageant has been regarding the talent portion.

Nat: Michele, what would you do for your talent?
Michele: I'm thinking I'll play the piano. And sing. That hit song, "If We Hold on Together" from The Land Before Time.

We're trying to convince Melissa to dust off the ballet shoes (it's been how many years Mel?). I'd like Krista to sing and guitar-play her self written song "One Million" (With hit lyrics such as "One, two. Three, four .... five.... six.....seveneightnineten. Eleven. Twelve..." etc).

My talent is still a toss up between lounge-style kareoke, a hip-hop dance routine, a "how-to" change rims on a car, a speech on Beanie Babies, or a stand-up comedy routine. Suffice it to say, my talents are numerous and up in the air.

Research for pageants yielded few results, but we're in luck! It's pageant season! If we can convince someone we live in South Salt Lake (we're only about 12 blocks off), we're hoping for a June 17th pageant date. Details and confirmations forthcoming...

What talent do you think I should do? Have I missed any obvious choices?

National Day To Prevent Teen Pregnancy

May 3rd. It really is the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

So I'm reading this interesting article on the decrease in teen pregnancy rates in the last ten years. The author is arguing the claim that the number is down due to an increase in infertility among men. The article is interesting enough, but the quote that made me laugh (about 500 words in) is this:

"There is no government-sponsored effort to track male fertility rates, even though male-factor problems account for half of all infertility. "

Wow, you think!? I had a good chuckle.

http://www.slate.com/id/2140985/

Vintage is the new Prom

Look how beautiful my little (itty-bitty!) sister Kendall is! Totally stylish in a throwback pre-1940's prom dress and hair designed (but not done) by yours truly.

United 93

I saw United 93 this weekend. Simply said, it was moving.

In fact, I've been thinking about it pretty much nonstop since I saw it Friday night. The film has sparked much debated controversy across the country. Is it too soon for a 9/11 movie? Is the country ready to relive the events of that day?

In my opinion, both before and after the movie, my personal answer is Yes. I did a lot of research about the movie in the weeks before it opened. Paul Greengrass (the writer & director) spent hours of time consulting with the victims' families prior to the writing and screening. The movie is not sensationalism or overly gory--it's also not a movie for viewing pleasure; it's simply a fascinating view of the unfolding of that historic morning.

The movie unfolded in near real-time style. Scenes flipped back and forth from the airport, several air traffic control stations, military headquarters, and the plane itself. Where much time and visual images could have been exploited (the planes hitting the WTCs, the towers collapsing, multiple planes being hijacked), the film was strict to the story it told--and it didn't get bogged down with plot or sensory overload.

I was most impressed with the portrayal of the plane's hijackers. The film opened with the four hijackers preparing for the day--showering, getting dressed, and praying in their hotel rooms. The raw emotion the four English-Iraqi actors displayed was gripping. They weren't cartoonish villains. The moment before they got on the plane the lead hijacker was briefly shown speaking on a cell phone saying, "I love you. I love you." and looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

The movie is rated R for language (one military man says the "F" word four times in about a minute) and "some intense sequences of terror and violence." The pressure and intensity steadily increased throughout the movie, but there was no unnecessary violence or blood.

Mostly, I'm speechless when it comes to describing this movie and the way it made me feel. In some ways it was cathartic. It was sad. It was powerful. But mostly, it made me think.

The decision to see United 93 is a personal choice. Some people aren't ready to see it--and I can understand that sentiment. At times, the movie wasn't easy to watch. Or stomach. I have zero regrets in seeing the film and will recommend it to anyone half-interested in seeing it.