something must break

so long.

2010-12-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

i don't use blogspot anymore. not because i'm over it. because i'm not good at it. i do have a tumblr though:

ornegri.tumblr.com

<3

puerto rico: my heart's devotion.

2010-07-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

remember that time i saw rita moreno (aka anita from west side story) perform in concert on saturday night? and then i got to briefly meet her afterwards?
the 8 year old "shark" in me is still confused and amazed.

let's be real... the 29 year old "shark" in me is thrilled too!
puerto rico!!!

can you feel the knife?

2010-05-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

i dreamt last night that i was being attacked by two young children with knives. the little boy was maybe 6 and he was incredibly wild and hungry for my blood. his older sister, maybe 10 years old, was initially on my side but then she quickly turned on me and was trying to get me with 3 knives at a time. i tried pushing them off of me but i quickly resorting to hitting them in the face with frying pans but nothing worked! they kept revitalizing their strength in order to kill me. needless to say, i woke up in a cold sweat and i currently have a bad headache.

if this is a result of working at an elementary school office, i can't imagine what teachers dream of.

shivers.

:)

2010-05-23T10:10:00.001-07:00

2010-05-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

before i forget:

i was at a maverick gas station in slc around 3:00 a.m. sunday morning and apparently there had been a massive brawl outside while i was buying my gummies and pretzels (i love my snacks) and i missed the whole thing.

as i was driving away, a cop car came up behind me and flashed their lights. i was nervous but more confused because i hadn't been speeding. as i put my turn signal on to pull over, the traffic light turned yellow, i yielded and another cop car came up behind me. as i waited for the light to change, i saw in my side view mirror two cops running up to my car and kimball saying 'what the fuck!' i hit him so he wouldn't aggravate the situation more and i heard one cop yell 'hands out of the car, hands out of the car!!!' i put my hands out of the car and i was greeted by one anxious cop and his GUN TO MY FACE. he asked what we were up to and i said we were just getting snacks at the maverick. as soon as i finished talking about my gummies, he opened the back seat to see who was inside. another cop,with his gun out as well, yelled out 'it's not them, let's go!' as soon as they left and i began to pull away, it hit me that i had just had a gun pointed at me and got a little lightheaded from the fright.

is that even legal? can i cop be that quick to pull out his firearm and open my car doors? that's ridiculous.

i'm moving in to the footloose house for the summer.

2010-05-11T10:37:00.001-07:00

but what i REALLY need is to hear back from at least one of the five jobs i applied to in slc and move up there. what's the hold up, people?

2010-05-07T09:31:00.001-07:00

i should be making a list of students that plan on returning to the school, being the registrar and all, but moments of calmness like this are few and far between. i've been catching up with friends' blogs and am listening to the pixies on last.fm.

this past wednesday night was our school's pride night and i came in to help out with setting the event up. kimball was nice enough to come along and got to work in pulling out weeds and filling up jugs with water.

it's been a difficult adjustment to work in this office. yes, it was hard getting along with co-workers in the beginning but ultimately, it was hard to not work with what i studied in college. i studied psychology with an emphasis on clinical work and counseling.

i interact with parents and students all day, everyday but it's not how i'd like it to be. there are boundaries. questions i am not allowed to ask. restrictions on the amount of assistance i am more naturally inclined to offer. i have noticed that i envy the dcfs workers that come in to speak to the same children i am wanting to investigate and help.

after not getting in to the one program i applied to this year, i have become frantic in trying to figure out what to do next with my life. i refuse to turn 30 in this office. i miss studying and i miss academia. i won't be very busy this summer here in the office and i am hoping to study for the gre and apply to msw programs and hopefully be back in school by january. i know i shouldn't be affected by others' opinions of me but i can't help but hear michael's voice saying 'davey, you need to figure out a career for yourself already. you're getting old.'

i don't think he was intentionally being harsh but how can i not feel self-conscious with what i'm doing with my life when i hear something like that? i've spoken with my parents about my concerns and they've been extremely supportive but they are beginning to be aggressively adamant in telling me that i need to go back to florida so that i can live at home and go to school in tampa. i think i would die. things have changed so much for me that i think they would probably die as well. however, i do think there is a part of me that feels incomplete by not having my family nearby. i'm not so melodramatic and i haven't faced complete devastation yet in life but sometimes i find myself feeling like marisa paredes' character in 'the flower of my secret' when she faces disappointment after disappointment. in the end, she returns to her mother to regain her strength before returning to the lone and dreary world. i think i need that right now. i need to see my family and have them love me in ways only they can love me.

i do, however, realize that life isn't as hard for me as it is for most people. and i am grateful to be surrounded by goodness. that 'goodness' is specifically comprised of people and the relationships that i have established here in utah.

i really need to reread martin seligman's 'authentic happiness' and get a better grasp on what is happiness to me. it's good to be reminded every now and again of what makes one a more satisfied person.

happy

2010-04-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

a camera phone.

2010-04-22T08:08:00.000-07:00

me

2010-04-18T13:56:00.000-07:00

contrary to popular belief (or meg wiemer) this is not me and i am NOT in an iranian rock band.

Io sono l'amore

2010-04-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

there were several tilda swinton citings at sundance this year. she was there promoting 'i am love' and i can not wait to see it.

i'm still not sure about why and how i am so fascinated by her but if you ever watch 'orlando', that film might have something to do with it. it is remarkable.

when mama cat is away, the boys will play

2010-03-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

i've been catsitting reuben while his mom is away in france. he and i have been buddies for the most part but this little dude makes sure to wake me up early every morning by going on top of my book shelf and swatting things off as a means of getting my attention. the other day i was busy on my computer and he went on top of my bookshelf and began swatting picture frames on the wall and looking at me the entire time.

he's allergic to corn so he's fed a combination of turkey hearts from a turkey plant in mt. pleasant and eggs. disgusting.

when he arrived, there were 17 tupperware canisters of this concoction. as these canisters have begun to dwindle, i've had to come to the sad realization that he'll soon be picked up and taken home.

kind of the wild frontier

2010-03-18T15:47:00.001-07:00

the 'other' davey, fess parker, died today at the age of 85. this man is responsible for endless amounts of davey crockett jokes aimed my way since childhood. especially at RAH. rest in peace (see you in another life), brothah.

everything's gone green

2010-03-12T18:08:00.001-08:00

she gives such good sassy leg at the 0:58 mark

2010-02-23T21:40:00.000-08:00

remember kathleen hanna, bikini kill and/or riot grrrl?

2010-02-18T19:39:00.001-08:00

2010-02-14T15:01:00.000-08:00

that time i went to heaven for valentines, got new glasses and my scottish roommate, jean, gave me english treats!

update:

nostalgia

2010-01-14T16:04:00.000-08:00

i just found this photograph in my old photobucket account from january 2006.

this was my first night in utah after driving cross country with my mom to start at byu. i'm pretty sure i hadn't seen josh and mike in years.

i love these boys.

a broken computer and a merry christmas!

2009-12-28T13:31:00.000-08:00

unfortunately, my neighbour totoro (my first macbook i bought back in 2007) bit the dust recently. i was able to get it fixed thankfully but figured i should probably sell it now that it has snow leopard installed on it and got a cosmetic touch up all for free from those angels at the mac store in slc. but i still purchased a new 13" macbook and i'm as happy as can be. my only complaint is that it's white as well and doesn't FEEL new, ya know? regardless, it'll be so nice to have a computer that will now allow me to have more than 40GB of music on itunes. do i really need more than that for music? apparently...

i want to apologize to my friends that requested a cd i promised in my last post of christmas songs. i did't churn them out while my computer was working but to make up for it, i compiled my favorite songs that came out this year that i'd like to offer up instead. i'm still fine tuning the playlist because a cd can only hold 80 minutes of music and how can i NOT include serge gainsbourg and jane birkin singing bonnie and clyde (an old favorite but still soo good)??

christmas was great fun. i went to zina's house in mt. pleasant and spent two and a half days hanging with the bennions. i loved it and zina is always such a wonderful and thoughtful host. love her. i'll post some fotos later today or tomorrow. for christmas eve, we went to an annual service at the presbyterian church in mt. pleasant and it was so wonderful. they had a bell choir, a number of singers and scriptures read by members of the community (including papa joe bennion). at the end, the light of christ was lit and everyone lit their candles from it one by one and there was a mini procession row by row while we sang silent night together. i was sad that i didn't get to go home for the holidays but i'm very thankful to the bennions for their invitation to spend the holiday with them as if i was one of their own.

Update: fotos from christmas weekend

PS. Zina MADE that cake. it was damn good.

angels we have heard on high

2009-12-05T18:34:00.000-08:00

some of my co-workers today at rah were complaining about how the clients always want to listen to christmas music on the radio this time of year and how terrible and wearing 106.5 can be. so i got to thinking... i'm sure there are some pretty good christmas songs out there! i'm currently compiling some songs for a christmas mix cd for them.
if you would like one, please comment/leave a note of who and where you are!
i understand this blog is close to self-combustion due to a lack of interest on my end (and yours. admit it!) so this might be a really bad idea?

i want this cat for christmas.

2009-11-30T11:15:00.001-08:00

friendsgiving 2009

2009-11-29T09:34:00.001-08:00

t'es plus dans le coup papa

2009-10-11T13:12:00.000-07:00

ashleigh, lindsey and i watched the french film 8 women last night. i LOVE catherine deneuve. you could imagine our surprise when the film turned out to be somewhat of a play/musical (the trailer doesn't elude to this fact) but none of us minded, of course. the first song had the youngest daughter singing about her papa but i couldn't help but think she looked like an adorable and tomboyish version of our girl samsam... yes?

micachu

2009-10-04T12:28:00.000-07:00

all i've wanted to listen to this week

an ode to chris nielsen

2009-09-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

my good friend chris getting arrested at the G20 protest in pittsburgh

my good friend chris in a mormon ad

is it bad if i'm more impressed by his activism?

homogenic

2009-09-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

ok. so i mustered the strength this past week to finally fork up $40 to buy the limited edition vinyl of bjork's homogenic (i got #458!). since i'm currently unemployed and living off the money i made over the summer, i'm trying to be careful of what i buy and as many of you know, this past week i went to bellingham, washington to see if i could see myself moving there (which i'll blog about in a few days when i find the cord to transfer fotos) and i was really really good about not spending money.

on the protective plastic covering of the record, there's an enormous sticker explaining "using the most advanced technology in vinyl manufacturing - direct metal mastering. the groove is cut directly in copper metal, transient response is greatly improved. DMM yields better detail resolution and a lower noise ratio. remastered direct from the original master tapes and pressed on heavy 200g vinyl audiophile discs. limited edition and numbered in the most lavish vinyl format available."

Back when it was released, Rolling Stone gave the album four stars out of five, calling it "one of the boldest – and most exciting – albums of the year". The NME gave the album a nine out of ten rating, noting the record as "probably her most weird, it is also her best....It is here...that Bjork has delivered her most emotional and highly-charged record, as well as a stinging triumph for the spirit of adventure." Ryan Schrieber of Pitchfork Media gave Homogenic a 9.9 out of 10 rating, claiming the album was "absolutely brilliant". In 2007, Slant Magazine gave the highest possible rating of five out of five stars, describing the album as "gorgeous and evocative" and praising it as one of the best albums of the 1990s.

you can imagine my excitement to listen to one of my most favoritest albums EVER on vinyl and in such high quality... yes it's expensive but dammit, it's beautiful.
Bjork - Joga

crazy teeth

2009-09-17T10:56:00.001-07:00

last week ashleigh, sara and i ventured up provo canyon to visit kirk and eva at their print shop in midway as i wanted to buy one of their picture frame mats for ashley mae and carl's wedding. it was fun hanging out at the shop reminiscing about the good ole days and catching up with what we've all been up to more recently. one of the highlights came from ashleigh picking up a toy accordion and singing "jesus walks" by kanye west. what followed is a freakish turn of events as i picked up a kazoo, sara grabbed a tambourine, eva used a roll of tape and kirk begrudgingly pulled out a snare drum to create a cover band we appropriately named CRAZY TEETH and recorded a horrid version of "poker face" with forced diva vocals from ashleigh. if the recording ever leaks its way on to the cyber world, we may just have to take it on the road.

ADAM!

2009-09-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

it's adam's 26th birthday today! we spent the summer together as roommates and pretty much became best friends. he was always there for me (whether he liked it or not since we shared a room) and i'm glad i was able to get to know him more than i ever did in provo.

labor day

2009-09-10T09:53:00.001-07:00

this is what happens when you get a group of not very athletic friends to play a game of soccer.

we never ended up playing a proper game.

this always crosses my mind.

2009-09-10T07:56:00.001-07:00

ktn (short for ketchikan)

2009-05-11T17:12:00.000-07:00

i haven't updated in a while. a lot has been going on since i last wrote and it'd take a while to get up to speed with where i'm at now but i'll spare myself and the few friends i have that actually read my blog!

i'm in alaska from now until august. i thought that i could make good money here working as a tour guide but the transition from recreation leader/student to bus driver has not been an easy one. the buses we're driving here are from the 70's and have no power steering. when i first arrived, i was excited because the buses are pretty damn cool looking but i haven't been able to control them. my driving is shaky and inconsistent (as my driving tester stated) and i've been asked to undergo additional training to build my confidence driving in not only these older machines but also the narrow roads of ketchikan. it's a bit embarrassing to not be done yet since most of the other drivers have been able to pick up right where they left off in the buses we trained on in utah. aside from the issues with driving, there's a lot of off time now in the beginning before the season starts yet with no car, i've felt trapped in company housing with no way to get to the more scenic destinations our island has to offer. i've gone on a lot of walks on my own but those end up feeling lonely. kimball lives pretty far, unfortunately, and we only get to hang out every other day or so. adam and i are sharing a room but i feel too needy at times. ha

regardless, i'm happy to be in alaska. it's beautiful here and i haven't been this astounded by nature since 2007 while in peru.

easter sunday

2009-04-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

sooo much fun. it started with lunch at sammy's house with her roommates and then jonah. afterwards we went on a long bike ride with a handful of people and ended up at kiwanis park and played in the playground for over an hour. later we went to two birthday celebrations for allan!
i wasn't expecting such a great day but it turned out to be a memorable occasion.

this last picture was taken immediately after samsam chucked a hard boiled egg at my face. my glasses flew off and i proceeded to dramatically fall back and hit the ground. i'm not sure if it was funny or embarrassing.

1901

2009-04-14T07:55:00.001-07:00

my dearest friend katie sent me the song 1901 a few weeks ago and i coudn't stop listening to it.
and then i found this video mash-up using another song from their new album and am looking forward to it's release (the video is cheesy. but fun?)!

phoenix's been around for a while but i only had one song of theirs from the 'lost in translation' soundtrack and knew that the lead singer was sofia coppola's baby daddy. cute.

unknown ship

2009-04-02T10:57:00.001-07:00

jordan (jp) is getting married soon. plus two other former roommates of mine (adam barlow and david lassetter) this summer.
all such great people.
i recently heard that he's releasing an extended version of the mexico tape which is good news for all of us. it's, hands down, my favorite release of his:

i wish i saw him more. there was a while in the beginning of summer 2008 that him, allan and me hung out regularly. i miss it.
i spoke to my parents on sunday night and it didn't go very well. they believe that my trip to alaska is some kind of adventure that will distract me from more worthwhile pursuits. i think they're upset because they really pushed for me to come home and live with them in order to save money and prepare for grad school (in florida/USF as well). i feel terrible because i am so supported by them but at the same time pressured to do what they think is best for me. i just know that going to tampa would be emotionally destructive. i have no friends there and it's far enough from miami that i would rarely make it down. i also think that if they really understood things about me that are not in tact with what they believe to be good, they'd be horribly disappointed. i know i may be too old for this struggle but i swear i always revert back to this identity crisis whenever i go home.
stupid... i know.

a woman a man walked by

2009-03-31T10:01:00.000-07:00

pj harvey and john parrish have released an album (out today) after more than 10 years. it's their second time collaborating with one another. all the music is written and played by parrish and the lyrics and vocals are all by harvey! because of the collaboration, it is a departure from harvey's sound that has been described as "...mischievous, deadly serious, elegant and poetic, and possessed of a brutal power – it is doubtful that you will hear a record as brimming with creative brio and musical invention this year..." by music journalist john harris and it got 4 out of 5 stars in mojo magazine but pitchfork gave it a rating of 6.2 (not good). regardless, i'm looking forward to heading over to buy the cd (which i NEVER do anymore). hopefully it's not a letdown!
i've loved her since i was a kid and it's remarkable that she's been able to consistently make such great music after almost 20 years.

holi spike

2009-03-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

so everyone's been posting the trailer for "where the wild things are" and it's pretty exciting. i loved the book as a kid, i loved spike jonze's music videos as a teenager in the nineties and now his feature films as an adult. so there's a lot of excitement on my end for the release. i remember my professor for advanced writing in the social sciences using the book as an example for something i can't remember (whoops?) a few years back when the project had begun filming so it's crazy that it's finally coming out! my only hesitation is all the hype the film is getting. almost too much hype... which can be a bit annoying? i know... i know... it's now uncool to hate on things that are played out because then you're guilty of being an elitist (i.e. people swearing they're not hip and hating on hipsters/ that overused adbusters article on the topic.). regardless of my immature reaction to things that of this nature, i really am looking forward to this movie! SO MUCH!

i'm not going to colorado this weekend, unfortunately. i just don't have enough money to travel. the one plus of this cancellation is that i'll get to go to holi fest. the last two years have been so much fun! ashley mae is sadly not attending but i'm hoping this year's group will be as good as last year's. the only drawbacks are almost suffocating on dust and me almost freaking out and throwing punches because of my claustrophobia. ouchy!

i remember two years ago immediately going to see ratatat in slc after holi fest and bardhi and i being filthy dirty and dusty from the powder and then sweaty/grimey/chunky pieces at the show. so sick. i look deranged in this foto!
last year was eventful because a big group went down to the springs in meadow and encountered some kind of frat-type brothel. me being blind without my glasses, i had no idea that i was sitting right next to 3 people going at it. everyone was repulsed and i was just having a nice bathe in the hot spring. uh oh!
pretty horrid.

i can only hope that holi fest 2009 will be as entertaining!

central do brasil

2009-03-21T06:59:00.000-07:00

i watched "central station" last night for the first time in 3 years while it was playing at international cinema. i've always regarded it as one of my favourite brazilian films and i was reminded of how remarkable it is when i saw it last night with kimball. i used to live in the northeast of brazil so watching this film was a painful reminder of how much i miss it there. the location, people and accents still seemed so familiar to me and yes this is cheesy but i swore, while watching it, that i could recognize how things smelled. fernanda montenegro is brilliant and incredibly moving in it. i really should own this movie but the dvd packaging for it is horrible. i'm hoping that it will be rereleased some time.
i want to go back so badly.
i think this is one of the first films i saw that made me realize that every single sony pictures classics release wins me over. i love that studio.

in other news, my cousin nacho from peru is in colorado doing a tourism internship which is really exciting because it's soo hard getting a visa to come to the states.

i'm sad i'm leaving to alaska so soon because a trip out to see him is so far fetched but zina and i are still trying to fly out this coming weekend to try and spend a few days with him. i really hope it works out. i haven't seen him since 2007 when i went to peru to visit.

that time bardhi came to utah for a visit

2009-03-17T08:07:00.000-07:00

this time, two years ago

2009-02-12T22:31:00.000-08:00

march 2007

thanks, bardhi.

holland america tours

2009-02-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

i think i'm going to go ahead and work in alaska this summer. the promise of making enough money to pull me out of debt is an enticing one and i feel like driving buses is much better than the dishonesty that comes along with summer sales of unneeded security systems or pest control.

however, i feel terrible having to leave my current job at R.A.H.. if i were able to have a full-time position there, i would for sure. it's the most satisfying and worthwhile job i've ever had and it kills me that in order to survive economically, i have to find another job that i know i won't love as much.

adam griggs got the job as well so i'm happy that i'll at least have one friend there with me. my parents think i'm crazy for going and want me to move back to florida to live with them to work and save money until grad school. but i think if i were to go back to my parent's house, i'd die (seriously); of course not from them but from everything else tampa has that brings me down.

anyway, here's a picture at R.A.H. (i'm in the background) during the puppet activity i organized. some friends from my puppetry class came and helped put on a great show for the clients and then went on to make sock puppets with everyone. it was really hectic but it turned out great.

merriweather post pavilion

2009-01-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

i got my hands on animal collective's new album this weekend on vinyl and i couldn't be happier.
it is, in my opinion, one of their best releases.

back in the summer of 2007 before i left for peru and bardhi left for kosovo, we went to see them with some friends and got to meet avey tare after the show. he was so ordinary and nice and i think he was even shorter than me? bardhi was so excited it may have been one of the cutest things i've ever witnessed! it was this same encounter that samsam MEOWED at avey tare (a reference to the song 'leaf house') and i said "the show was FANTASTIC". haha oh man...

spencer

2009-01-15T09:57:00.000-08:00

abby dean

2009-01-11T09:07:00.001-08:00

I was terribly lonely over break. most of my friends are gone from miami and tampa so when my sister was not yet in town, i mostly kept to myself in my room or drove around going to old thrift stores and record shops i frequented when i was younger. THANKFULLY, my old friend, abby, was in town for a few days from law school and we were able to hang out for just

two nights and reminisce about the glory days before our lives got complicated and busy with school and relationships. we went to an old hang out spot, the castle, to dance on monday night's new wave/goth night. we were mostly bombarded by heavy industrial tracks that we were never in to but the night was peppered by some of our old favorites like the smiths, the cure, etc. the following night we went over to the levi's store to buy jeans with our friend charles and later had dessert where we all caught up with what had been going on in our lives these past 3 years we hadn't seen one another.

hanging out with abby again was like finding something from your past you discover you still really need and miss. we've made talks of meeting somewhere nearby like colorado because our two nights were not enough to rekindle such an important friendship.

here we are (babies) in 2000:

and now this past christmas

break (2008):

power out

2008-12-19T21:40:00.000-08:00

i stumbled across this video today while organizing my fotos. it's zina catching me "getting in to it" at the arcade fire concert at thanksgiving pointe over a year ago.

funny and embarrassing?

BUT the best part of it is how lead singer, win butler, forgets the words to the song.

the sad part of the night was that it was one of the last times we hung out with sara vranes befor her mission. after the concert, zina tried to get backstage since she went to college with win back at sarah lawrence but she got embarrassed about asking so we left content about ou great night.

confused

2008-12-10T00:10:00.000-08:00

in the course of 4 days, a portrait of me and 7 other guys were put up in the hfac, censored/taken down and then put back up again...?
i was saddened by the notion that portraits of gay members of the church and those whom support them would be deemed "offensive" in the eyes of administrators. if we are to love all of God's children, why do we leave no room, even on our walls, to recognize the faces of those that live a different kind of experience most members of the church will never understand?

byu released an official statement earlier today:

"A miscommunication among administrators of BYU's College of Fine Arts and Communications led to a student's photography project being removed late Friday afternoon. When that action became apparent after the weekend, college administrators reviewed the decision. Because the project does not violate BYU's Honor Code, the photographs were re-hung with the student's permission Tuesday afternoon."

i'm graduating in a few weeks and am happy to have finished college making a statement for something i believe in. it was nothing obnoxious... just portraits taken for passersby to form their own opinions with the hope that charity and compassion would override any kind of annoyance or prejudiced ideas towards homosexuals.

i admittedly got nervous after the photographer spoke with me earlier today saying that the story had become a national one and that our pictures were all over the internet. he even printed out a release form his lawyer drew up for the participants. i had no idea it would have gotten such attention. i had no intention to ruffle feathers or be defamatory towards the school or the church. after all, the project had been approved prior to being displayed.

if you would like to see the portraits, they're back on display in the hfac on the 4th floor until the end of the semester.

thanksgiving break

2008-11-30T14:10:00.000-08:00

it was a nice and overdue break for me this past weekend. i was bummed out about not getting in to teach for america the last few weeks but if i got anything from this drawn out experience it was realizing that my friends and family were rooting for me the whole time. it is a beautiful thing to recognize the love people have for you and you for them.
mush mush mush
the weekend was great and i was able to spend some time with amy scott (who was visiting from iowa). we went to kneaders the day before thanksgiving at it was mayhem with no where to sit and people sitting on the ground. we were eventually all able to sit and enjoy our bottomless waffles and play with some of my puppets i worked on this semester.

Later in the evening, i FINALLY watched 2 Days in Paris which hasn't been a huge priority for me to watch but i've had it now for over a month from netflix and haven't been able to watch it because of school and work. i liked it. it was very woody allen/annie hall but not in an obvious way and had some uncomfortable and pervy antics i could appreciate.

For thanksgiving, i went over to erin flynn's and had an early lunch with some friends. it was such a good time. everyone sat on the floor and ate and told a number of pretty hilarious stories. Brummy brought a milk tart pie (a danish/south african pie) that blew my mind how great it was.
Afterwards, those at lunch headed off to see Australia, while i headed over to elaine and lindsey's for dinner. We prepared most of the meal together and it was quite fun to prepare food with friends. Instead of a turkey, we had salmon which i thought was nice since so many turkeys die every year so that us humans can "give thanks"? after our meal, we decided that it'd be nice to go out to slc to the broadway theatre and watch Happy Go Lucky, which got mixed reviews from all of us. i'll admit that i liked it a lot but ryan swan said it "SUCKED". apparently the main character annoyed him but i thought she was irresistibly charming and fun?

Saturday was great because kimball and i went down to spring city to visit zina and to look for christmas presents at horseshoe mountain pottery for some beautiful items only available at joe's shop. horseshoe mountain pottery by joe bennion (zina's dad) is located in spring city, utah. please trust me, it is worth the drive. go down for beautiful pottery and it's at 1/2 price for the holidays!
some other friends were there by chance and we had a great time hanging out at the shop and then had some dinner at the ranch. zina is such a great hostess and friend.

on our way back home to provo, kimball and i decided to go up to slc to meet up with abby, ashleigh, erin and lindsey to watch Let the Right One In which freaked me out.
There were some parts that were a bit silly (mostly that one scene involving computerized CATS??) but there were things about it that really bothered me.
Once again, it was a great weekend that involved lots of friends, movies, and laughs. it was everything i was needing this time of year.

the alphabet

2008-11-28T08:57:00.000-08:00

i saw this on my friend mike's blog and i couldn't resist

teach for america, pt. 3

2008-11-17T15:08:00.000-08:00

i just received my email from teach for america. here is an excerpt:
"Thank you very much for your interest in Teach For America and for the time and effort you invested in interviewing with us. I am very sorry to inform you that, after careful consideration of your candidacy, we will not be extending you an offer to join the 2009 corps."

:(

work it out, pt. 2

2008-11-12T10:24:00.000-08:00

this kid is 10 years old. he created this song and video as part of an after school project in Montreal that teaches children how to make electronic music.

teach for america, pt. 2

2008-11-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

i find out if i made the 2009 teach for america corps one week from today. as some of you know, it's been a stressful 2 months with me hoping to make it to each round of qualifying interviews. the first stage was to submit a questionnaire online, write a letter of intent, an essay, and my resume. I qualified for the next round of telephone interviews and was given 4 articles to read in preparation. I made it past that round and qualified for the all-day group interview where i had to teach a mock lesson, engage in a group problem-solving activity, take a problem solving test and finish off with a one-on-one interview.
now i anxiously await their results of whether or not i'll be teaching next year.

so basically, next monday i'll either receive an email saying i didn't get in or an email congratulating me for qualifying and giving me my location and grade level i'd be teaching. i took a spanish written exam last week to see if i qualified to teach in bilingual classrooms and thankfully passed. i put that i was open to teaching in ESL classrooms and working with students with disabilities to open myself up to whatever they have to offer. my top 5 choices for work were 1) new york city, 2) miami, 3) chicago, 4) the bay area, 5) philadelphia. if i'm accepted, i'm hoping to get in to nyc. it's where i have a network of friends and i think everyone should live in nyc at some point in their life, right? miami would be nice since i grew up there and it'd give me a chance to go back and try and make a difference. apparently the elementary school i went to is rumored to be a grade "F" school. pretty wild. i haven't kept in touch with my friends i grew up with and the ones that are still around are married. boo.
if i don't make it as a corps member, i'm planning on working for a year to try and get out of debt and take the GRE to then apply to grad school for clinical psychology. however, i'm really hoping to make it in to teach for america. i'd be able to not only have a job with benefits, but i'd be able to get my master's degree in teaching and do meaningful work. i don't plan on teaching as a career but would love the chance to go to inner city schools and show students that they are capable of doing much more than they think they can. throughout this whole application process, i couldn't help but feel so affected by the statistics of minorities. being hispanic, it's become a personal issue. apparently only 33 out of 100 hispanic youngsters will graduate from high school and 8 out of 100 will graduate college with a bachelor's degree. hearing those insane numbers has made this so much more personal of a mission.
in my final interview, i told the interviewer that i understood that they are looking for more than just desire and that i not only had a desire to teach but i also had experience with the work i do here in provo to help me be qualified for the job. the problem though is that i don't necessarily know what they are looking for. i have a handful of friends that didn't make it to the end of the interviewing process that i believed to be excellent candidates so i hope that whatever they are looking for, they see in me.

besides that, graduating in december is not too far away. i can finally see the light? :)
lately i've been feeling really anxious and almost sad because I have ideas of what i want to be doing and how to prepare for it but i have to just wait around and it's driving me crazy.

mysteries

2008-11-03T20:04:00.000-08:00

why does this song still, 5 years later, make me feel good and melancholic all at once?
it reminds me of that one really good scene from the sequel to the really great "the spanish apartment", "russian dolls" where wendy knows that xavier is leaving to cheat on her but she gives him one more chance to choose her and stay but he still leaves in order to be with some model in russia and as wendy walks away they play that song:

is this lame post an obvious indication that i've been feeling down lately?

calvin and friends

2008-10-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

i went to milk and eleanore's last sunday and finally got to meet calvin! what a cute cute cute kid. the dinner and company were great. i miss these guys so much.
(all fotos were tactlessly stolen from eleanore's blog. whoops.)

you gotta have friends

2008-10-23T21:25:00.001-07:00

a link to my second performance/project for my puppetry class. pretty ridiculous.
we had to find a stuffed animal, gut it, give it new eyes, cut open it's jaw to give it a mouth and personalize it (which i tried doing by making him a pair of cuffed jeans, a vest, and a scarf... basically an outfit i wear regularly).
the other little dude is a sock puppet i made in the beginning of the semester. he's poorly made but i was just starting out at the time.
all voices are embarassingly done by me.
http://www.kitmir.com/UPT/puppet_movies/David/David.mov

this is a before photograph:

psychocandy

2008-10-19T01:45:00.000-07:00

i got the jesus and mary chain's brilliant 1985 debut record today. it's a reissue but still exciting to hear on vinyl. i saw them at last year's coachella music festival and it was almost too good to be true.

330 n. 300 e.

2008-10-13T08:02:00.000-07:00

my house and room. these are from when i first moved in a few months ago. things have changed since but my sister and parents wanted to see where i live.

gobbledigook

2008-10-11T08:50:00.000-07:00

that time i broke sabbath to see sigur ros.

the greatest show on earth

2008-10-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

that time i went to wringling bros. and barnum and bailey circus for work.

jose y audeliz

2008-10-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

i picked up my parents yesterday from the airport. they came to visit me before i leave utah after graduating(which may not be for a while?) and to go to general conference. it's been a disastrous week with work, school and a really annoying cold. I haven't seen them since dec. of last year so it's been nice. i asked my mom on our way to lunch if she had decided who she was going to vote for and she SURPRISINGLY said mccain. i was obviously astonished and asked "are you serious?" and she replied "yes!". apparently she wants someone with experience and believes that obama doesn't have that (i'm not entirely sold on him either but i'm by no means even close to voting for mccain). i asked her "well, than what about sarah palin????" and she responded with "she's a dynamic person!". wow... that's all it takes to be the president and vice-president for her?
i remembered my parents being very progressive as far as mainstream politics went but maybe the southern conservative right wing traditionally mormon influence has gotten to her? my dad stayed silent which leads me to believe that he's not entirely convinced. i didn't put up much of an argument because we had just gotten out of the car from the airport and wanted to enjoy our afternoon in slc together. which we did... we took a guided tour of the conference center after lunch and went to the visitor's center. i had a research poster presentation at the AMCAP conference at the joseph smith memorial building presenting research me and a team from byu are working on (we're measuring the effectiveness of group therapy as seen by participants and measuring if they're experiences with treatment match up to how group leaders perceive them to be) while they went to the temple.
we got back in to provo and i introduced them to my roommates and they seemed to really like them. but seriously... what parent would not love dlass or chase?

my dad wasted no time in sharing his conversion story and how i got my name during the conference center tour, to a set of sister missionaries at temple square and to my roommates. it should be a fun and stressful weekend.
ps
aside from my parents visiting, i am looking forward and excited to see ashley mae's exhibit at mode boutique and allan's exhibit at the sego art center beginning tonight as part of the provo gallery stroll!

work it out, pt. 1

2008-10-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

Teach for America

2008-09-18T07:30:00.000-07:00

This is my rough draft of my letter of intent for my Teach for America application. Let me know what you think and if it needs work (it's due on friday):

I want to be a part of the Teach For America Corps because I believe in the academic potential of inner city youth that are underprivileged not because of any fault or choice of their own but because of a lack of resources. Statistical analyses demonstrate alarming numbers for children that come from high-poverty, low performing schools that will undoubtedly prevent or delay them from accomplishing academic and professional goals to become whatever they hope to be when they reach adulthood. When compared to more privileged students that have the necessary resources to prepare them for more rigorous high school curriculums and a subsequent postsecondary education in college, it is apparent and obvious to me how unjust the situation is.

I have felt strongly about this disenfranchised group of people from an early age because of my own personal experiences of growing up Hispanic in a low socio-economic community in Miami, Florida. My father is from Lima, Peru and my mother from San Juan, Puerto Rico. When they first came to the States, they were under the impression that life would be more accommodating to help them achieve the goals they set for themselves upon arriving. Although they have learned from their failures and are happy with their triumphs, they still struggle with not only speaking a language that is not their native tongue but also facing the harsh realities of not being able to provide their children with a life that included the amount of support needed at a critical point in childhood that prepares them for a demanding life. My parents have always understood the importance of an education and emphasized their expectations for my sisters and I. However, there was not much instruction or direction on how to successfully accomplish academic pursuits with instructive follow-ups. I do not believe that I am negatively critical of my upbringing but I understand that my plans for academia were more delayed than when compared to others that received the instruction necessary to go on to other things outside of my immediate community.

I am an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and have had much training in the social and cognitive development that takes place throughout the lifespan of an individual. I understand the incredible amount of influence nature has on an individual’s social and intellectual development and why a lack of resources is not a good enough excuse to deny any one of these children of a healthy education that will prepare them for life.

My main reason for wanting to join Teach For America is based on a responsibility I feel I owe to others that are in similar or worse situations that I experienced as a child growing up in Miami. I believe that if I had had a mentor or role model that was similar to me, I would have been more optimistic of an academic future and not have waited as long as I did. I believe in Teach For America’s ideals and know that I would be a valuable asset to the organization and the potential youth that I would hopefully work with.

ode to the 305

2008-09-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

these kinds of lists are so silly. but so relevant (in my case)?

You know you're from Miami when...

- you call flipflops chancletas
- you wear chancletas EVERYWHERE
- you can recognize a santero
- you live 15 minutes from the beach, but you never go
- the car behind you honks their horn because you stopped at a red light
- you reminisce about booty music and can still dance to it
- you buy your party food at Blue Sky
- you know what a caja china is
- you at least know the chorus to "Take it to da House"
- you refer to your hometown as 305 or MIA
- you know you can't get a job without speaking Spanish
- you know you can't really get anywhere without speaking Spanish
- you only go to a Marlins, Heat, or Dolphins game if they're on a winning streak
- you instinctively buy gallons of water during hurricane season, just in case
- you hope for a hurricane to come so you don't have to go to work/school
- you know only tourists go clubbing on South Beach
- you spend your summer days inside cuz it's hot as hell outside...literally
- you're so used to craziness that very few things surprise you anymore
- you want to move out of Miami some day, but you say you'll come back
- you know never to buy mangoes or avocados at a grocery store cuz u grow them in your backyard
- you go to a store/business and the manager tells you "hablas espanol?" cuz they barely can speak english
- you know how to drink a colada
- you know your pastelitos
- you realize that most of Miami is a ghetto
- you know that Argentineans make the best steak for the best prices
- you bump into Trick Daddy everywhere
- your ride is pimped out but your house is a shit hole
- you know to be out of Downtown by 6 pm
- you have to wait 4 hours for a bus to come that's supposed to come by every 30 minutes
- it's 60 degrees outside and you wear a sweater, a jacket, gloves, a scarf,a hat, and boots
- you call Farm Stores La Vaquita
- you know the only time there's no traffic on the Palmetto is from 3-4am
- flooding is a valid excuse to miss work or school
- you know at least one person who has more than six people living in their houses
- you have a statue of Santa Barbara, San Lazaro, or La Caridad del Cobre in front of your house
- your neighbor keeps chickens and goats in their back yard, and you're always worried you'll find one of them dead on your doorstep
- you know the only hills are trash hills
- the only rivers you've seen are the Miami River and canals
- you see three generations of women wearing tube tops!
- you know that New Times has better news than the Miami Herald, even though it's free is half of it is strip club and escort ads
- you know any woman walking around after dark on Flagler or Biscayne is turning tricks
- you own a guayabera or know what one is
- you take your car to go one block down the street
- you buy mamoncillos while waiting in traffic
- a light lunch consists of chicharrones and malta Hatuey
- you see a sushi bar on every corner
- you get your chicken from Pollo Tropical
- your shrimp, lobster, and designer purses all come from one place: some guy's trunk in Hialeah
- you see girls wearing club clothes to go to 7-11
- you add an 'eh' to everything starting with 's'. ("eh-Sprite'',''eh-stop",etc.)
- there's a navarro on every corner
- you have to put on the invitations starts at 2:30pm when the event really

fire walk with me

2008-08-22T07:19:00.000-07:00

i've been watching twin peaks lately.

vicky cristina barcelona

2008-08-18T01:29:00.000-07:00

the new woody allen film came out this past weekend and i haven't seen it yet:

after seeing the trailer, i couldn't help but think that it was an american attempt at doing something reminiscent of 90's almodovar since it takes place in spain and stars javier bardem and penelope cruz? who knows! i'll keep you posted if it was any good! the trailer is pretty steamy, huh? which we like?

samantha ruth.

2008-08-10T14:20:00.001-07:00

samsam is back in provo. all is well.

temptation

2008-08-05T10:52:00.001-07:00

kenmore & newcomb

2008-07-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

i reclaimed my sewing machine from tara's house after leaving it there one day last summer. i really don't know what took me so long but regardless, i've since destroyed two pairs of pants! abby was nice enough to come over last saturday night to show me how to thread it.
in honor of it's retrieval, i went to smiths to buy a replacement needle for it and some bobbins out of anxiousness with some friends. while we were there, abby asked if she could take a foto of allan and me. pretty funny that this was not planned and that we are looking pretty damn similar??!
continuing with the good news of the week, i finally got a new record player on ebay to replace my old one that just wasn't cutting it any longer. the speed was off and it was VERY moody whenever i wanted to listen to a record(which some have speculated that it was probably a worn out belt). it was always on it's own terms which was a pain. but to give it some credit, it was my first record player and it got me to start collecting records. my collection has grown to 50+ records in the last 2 1/2 years! the new one is very similar to it's predecessor but mainly because it's portable. this one is a bit bulkier and plays louder. i should have a dance party with some good dance records in it's honor. back in early 2007 after a spencer kingman/viking moses show at the booberden, a handful of people came over for an impromptu dance party to listen to the limited edition flaspar 7" i bought from spencer that night and listened to it over and over and over because whenever someone would dance too hard, the needle on the player would reposition itself back to somewhere in the beginning. needless to say, it was a fun night that can't necessarily be recreated (mainly because hiro is missing, samsam's in africa, chaunte's in new york, bret's in love, lissa's in slc, and hannah is married).

my room

2008-07-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

i don't like the house i live in but ill admit that i like my room a lot (even if it looks like a teenager lives in it).

the rip

2008-07-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

my absolute favorite track on the new portishead lp:

you can imagine my excitement to find radiohead's recent rendition/cover of the song:

new york city boy

2008-06-09T06:18:00.000-07:00

i'm sitting in bardhi's bedroom wearing a pair of shorts that just are not short enough to accomodate for the heat that i've been enduring since i arrived early yesterday morning. something about the weather seems all to familiar but it's only because i grew up in such humid climates; however, it's still SO DAMN HOTTT.
it was a busy day yesterday with bardhi and me going shopping in soho which let me tell you... it is not within my budget. everything i liked was over a hundred. but i'm confident that i'll find my spot. new york is exciting and intimidating. i grew up in miami but it was nothing like this.
there are puerto ricans running all over the place. apparently, the puerto rican festival was yesterday but i had no idea about it. i was under the assumption that puerto ricans went all everywhere draped in the puerto rican flag. haha being half puerto-rican, i was a bit bummed i didn't know about it and go.
later in the evening, we headed over to chaunte's house and hung out with about 15 kids ALL from provo. it was an odd gathering but so great and fun to hang out with friends in this unfamiliar setting. aside from chaunte, i saw the likes of matt wood, tyler smart, michelle christensen... it was great fun. i miss those guys.
i'm heading on my own now over to soho again to kill time before i meet up with chris crosby to check out the MET and then later this afternoon with mikey taylor. there's a burger joint that's apparently famous that bardhi wants to take me to later tonight with his roommate chris and i might meet up with helen or betty and max sometime today or tomorrow.

i <3 NY

wheelz

2008-06-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

i can't afford to drive my car anymore because
of gas prices and it's the best thing that's
happened to my spring.

GROW

2008-05-13T06:58:00.000-07:00

it's guerilla gardening month at gallery 110 and to kick things off, we made seed bombs comprised of a variety of seeds placed into clay cases. the idea is to throw them into any destination you decide on that can get enough water and sun to grow on their own (i threw mine into the park on 8th east by that random canon).
PLUS!

for the third time this year, ashley mae's project "GROW" has been set up for passersby to participate in. the idea is to take a packet from the arrangement of seed packets on the wall and plant them somewhere/anywhere else around town. all the little boxes are packets sewn from library index cards with wildflower seeds found inside. after taking a packet, you are encouraged to write down on the blank card left on the wall describing your plans, thoughts, ideas, etc. if you would like to participate in the project, please go down to the corner of 300 w. and center st. it's across the street from the police station (which is pretty funny that no cops stopped us to ask what we were putting on the walls of that building like they did when she first put up GROW by my house. weird.).

(thanks to alex for the photographs!)

Summer 2006

2008-05-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

so i've been thinking... i'm staying in provo for spring/summer again for the first time since 2006 and i'm wanting to make a themed cd for such an occasion. i like making cd's for friends and i have a handful of songs that i want to put on such a themed cd. HOWEVER, i'd like to have some input from you guys to make this a great mixture of songs. so if anyone would like to contribute, let a brother know.
PS
if you'd like a copy of the finished product, let me know and i will make them available for delivery via my bike or snail mail. what up!

spring beginnings and good friends

2008-05-03T07:03:00.000-07:00

adam barlow moved out on thursday for seattle and microsoft. it's weird to not have him around but i'm happy to see him go and move on with life. i think one of my fears is to get stuck in provo after graduation. i have no definite plans yet for after i graduate but i've thought about putting off grad school for about a year and just work full-time and study for that damned GRE.
anyway, allan has taken adam's spot in the house and i'm excited to have him as a roommate.

i was telling sam yesterday that if i were much taller and thinner i'd probably be allan??

making things even better yesterday morning was the fact that josh came in from slc to work on some financial aid stuff with some byu advisors since he'll be going to the university of london in august for his masters. i think him leaving will be even more devastating since he's been one of my closest friends since moving here and the fact that i've known him since i was 20. we have history.
it was so great hanging out with him and sammy yesterday. we got pupusas and then sam gave him a haircut on my front porch while i played celia cruz on my computer. it felt like i was in miami again chillin on the block with some salsa playing somewhere in the background. we keep it real at my house. or we try to atleast??

ps, that cape was used for the haircut and not for fashion purposes.
pps, if you're wondering who celia cruz is, shame on you!

Celia Cruz - Pinar del Rio
she died in 2003 and my parents and i went to her funeral in downtown miami beach. it was pandemonium in the streets and especially in the metrorail but i got to see a who's who of cuban-american celebrities. weird.

i went to work later in the evening for "date night" where we had the clients help in making delicious hummus to put in pitas with some cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and the option of chicken. it involved making your dinner and watching a movie. zina accompanied me and was a huge help in the kitchen and on the van making friends. they watched enchanted, which i've never seen and still haven't seen because i was in the kitchen the whole time putting things together. it was a long shift but i'm glad zina came with me to lighten the load.

Third

2008-05-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

since the semester's ended, i've tried to basically do nothing at all. and although that hasn't been the case, unfortunately, i've been able to actually chill out in bed in the mornings and read or surf the internet before going on runs with my roommate ryan or heading off to work. this morning as i was on nme.com and reading their recent record reviews, I realized that portishead had a new album come out this past week! how come no one told me about this?? maybe no one cares anymore? i'm pretty sure Dummy was one of my favorite albums when i was a teenager. but anyway, the new album is called Third and it's a departure from their last two efforts which is a good thing because it's been about 11 years since they've released anything. this new album comes just in time not only for the summer, but to get back my DVD from a friend of Portishead live in 1998 at Roseland New York.
remember how great Glory Box was?

R.A.H.

2008-03-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

many of you know that i've been working at R.A.H.(a private, non-profit organization that serves individuals with varying disabilities) for about 4 months now. i've never written about it because there's always so much to divulge. and i won't attempt to do that now but i think it's important to include some fotos and videos of the people i work with to show how great of a time i always have being with these guys.
since being home from my mission (about 5 years now), i've never been able to fully recapture what it really is to serve others but r.a.h. has given me back that focus. i'm grateful to be an important part of people's lives again by working with them to function effectively in their society through recreational and educational activities.

rex!

sara!

united in movement

2008-03-06T11:01:00.000-08:00

on a recent post, i listed my top 25 songs of 2007 for my itunes library and listed bjork's wanderlust as my #1 song of the year. well! looks like the song will be her next single off of volta and the music video is being directed by Encyclopedia Pictura. it's looking pretty stunning and a good follow-up to the michel gondry directed declare independence.

tía Nelly

2008-03-05T12:03:00.000-08:00

my dad just informed me that my aunt passed away a few days ago from a short bout with cancer. i was able to spend time with her last summer when i went back to peru after 20 years. she was definitely the dramatic one of the family and never failed to remind me how much she loved me over and over and over again. i can't help but feel so blessed for the chance i had to see her before she passed. i will miss her greatly whenever i go and visit.

missão brasil fortaleza

2008-02-21T12:47:00.000-08:00

Exactly seven years ago today, i entered the São Paulo mtc and began two years of missionary work for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. i spent the majority of my time in the northeastern state of Ceará and a very brief stint in the neighboring state of Piauí. I feel very blessed to have served there and in retrospect, realize that most of those blessings are important to me because of the people i served alongside with and those who helped me have a desire to continue working (members, friends, family). i haven't been back since 2003 but i hope to go back some time soon with either my dad (who, being from south america, has always said that the stork accidentally passed brazil and dropped him off in peru instead) or a friend. i've unfortunately lost contact with a lot of the people i met but i hope to rectify that somehow. i thankfully still have great friendships with my best friends mike taylor and josh everett. i have really funny pictures of the three of us when we were about 20 years old but they're all back home.

this is the flag of the city of sobral (i spent almost half of my time in this city):

persepolis

2008-02-17T12:12:00.000-08:00

on friday i ate one of the most delicious sandwiches i've had in a long while. everyone should check out "gloria's little italy" on 3rd south for authentic italian food. the place is run by an italian family that grows everything themselves. after dinner, ashley mae and i drove up to slc to finally watch Persepolis (from sony pictures classics: the story of a young girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It is through the eyes of precocious and outspoken nine year old Marjane that we see a people's hopes dashed as fundamentalists take power - forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden. Yet when her uncle is senselessly executed and as bombs fall around Tehran in the Iran/Iraq war, the daily fear that permeates life in Iran is palpable.):

this graphic novel was one of the first books i read when i came back from my mission in 2003. please read the book, please watch the film!

saturday, i interviewed tristan call for my psychology of gender class about homosexuality and the LDS church, got my hair cut by alissa and hung out with her and betty for a while and then went to ashley's house for pizza and friends before going back to max and betty's to see jp haynie and spencer kingman play music. there are few shows i still attend here in provo and having these two play on the same night is a blessing. i also like that whenever i see these good friends play, i know i'll end up having a reunion with the "old provo" from when i first moved here.

PS
cheers to Kosovo on declaring their independence from Serbia today: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7249034.stm

traditional landscape

2008-02-11T06:40:00.000-08:00

last year, my friend grant photographed me for a project his wife chelsea was doing in making portraits for a show she had along with good friend eva jorgensen. i came across chelsea's blog yesterday and found the finished portrait. i was unable to attend the gallery their show displayed at because i went home right after the semester ended to work. i miss grant and chelsea. i only ever hung out with my married friends when i first moved to utah back in 2006. mike and kristin are in new york, kirk and eva are in ohio, and grant and chelsea are in l.a.. they're all gone and i'm still not married! oh wellz, i just really hope/need to graduate in august.

first week back in the 801

2008-01-14T20:48:00.000-08:00

the only thing i like about finals week is that everyone comes out of hiding and i get to see people i hadn't seen in months. but no one is around the first week of school.
it sucks to walk around campus and not see a familiar face in sight, to come back in to town and not have a place to live and to be jerked around about open spots in a house and then have it not be available (i was able to end up staying in my old place. which i'm ok and happy about!), it also sucks to start a 25 hour-a-week part-time job that requires you to go train (while you're still working regular hours) in order to get a class c commercial drivers license with passenger endorsement on your own time, to have bardhi leave for new york and not hang out with him for a while, to drive up to slc and waist 3 hours waiting to pick someone up at the airport and have them not call you to let you know their flight had been delayed. all within the first week of being back from home!
but with all this craziness, i've felt pretty productive with school and to find time to be with friends.
i miss my family back in FL a lot but it was a good break. i was able to hang out more with my sister rebecca and her husband karl than i had in a long time.
i didn't work at my old job like i had planned but it gave me a chance to spend more time with family:

catch up with season 3 of Lost & read Epileptic:

but most importantly, find the biggest lemon in the history of my world:

HELLO, 2008!

itunes: year-end review

2008-01-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

i was curious what my top 20 most played songs of 2007 were on my itunes since it's my first year with my mac "totorro".
here's the list:
1. bjork - wanderlust
2. blonde redhead - silently
3. beirut - interior of a dutch house
4. the blow - hey boy
5. animal collective (feat. vashti bunyan)- prospect hummer
6. nick drake - place to be
7. xiu xiu - body breaks
8. animal collective - leaf house
9. beirut - napolean on the bellerophon
10. let's be honeys - pop love
11. yo la tengo - center of gravity
12.

13. deer tick - ashamed
14. mirah - we're both so sorry
15. the smiths - i won't share you
16. the boy who could fly - trash that is my treasure
17. deer tick - art isn't real
18. joy division - digital
19. the magnetic fields - when my boy walks down the street
20. secret secret - untitled

sorted for e's & wizz

2007-11-16T14:18:00.000-08:00

adding on to a recent post by a good friend, i got to thinking about what britpop meant to me growing up in the nineties and how it's still relevant now at 26 years of age.
i was admittedly pretty "late in the game". britpop was a british music phenomenon in the early to mid-90's but it wasn't until 99, really, that i expanded on what i was listening to and discovered this musical genre i had been missing out on. oasis was all the rage but i preferred to listen more to blur, the stone roses, and elastica. they were the bands that were so so so "hip" to me. and, there was more than just music that surrounded the bands. there were long term relationships between damon albarn of blur and justine frischmann of elastica (who also helped form suede with then boyfriend bret anderson), incredible fashion, drug-binging band members, politics, and a groundbreaking soundtrack for the film trainspotting.
however, with all this going on, it was pulp that always did it for me musically. can there be any frontman as charismatic or engaging as jarvis cocker? one of their early albums, 1994's his-n-hers, is often compared to suede (bardhi) and missed winning the Mercury Music Prize by one vote. but it wasn't until 1995's different class that they managed to gain fame and justly win the Mercury Music Prize. It is highly regarded as one of the most influential albums of the nineties and to some (me!), of all-time. Their follow-up, this is hardcore, was critically acclaimed but never achieved the commercial success of their two previous efforts.

here's a clip from the Glastonbury Festival in 1996 when Pulp famously took the Stone Roses' spot at the last minute when they were a no-show. It's probably their most recognized song and you might have heard me play it at goth prom 2 years in-a-row. watch how crazy the crowd goes. it blows my mind:

Pulp - Common People (Live)

these days

2007-11-05T08:34:00.000-08:00

i saw volver this last friday for maybe the 4th time? i went with zina and it was the most packed i've ever seen the international cinema on campus. we ended up sitting on the floor. it is, by far, the best film i've seen all year.
On saturday, i went to salt lake to attend a portion of the Counterpoint Conference being held at the University of Utah. The 2 hours i attended were entitled: “BUILDING A BETTER WORLD: PEACE, JUSTICE, AND RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP” and centered around "Doing Good: Mormonism, Feminism, and Activism". the panelists included:

Ashley Sanders, on the importance of activism (speaker at BYU alternative graduation)
Jason Brown, on environmentalism (treasurer of Mormons for Equality and Social Justice--MESJ)
Suzette Smith, on poverty (member of MESJ and director of Executive Women Intl.)
William Van Wagenen, on peace and war (peace worker in Iraq).

Josh came with me along with some of my roommates and zina. It's the second saturday in a row that i feel have been centered around activism and what can be done on a more minor scale. Last week's protest went well and there was a larger turnout than i expected.

last night i went and worked on a collage i started on friday with kimball, pack, kate, and zina while listening to the new feist record i got on vinyl last week. my record player can be a bit dodgy at times but it played well, thankfully. it's so nice to work on something creative again. i haven't used my hands to draw or make a collage in close to a year (with the exception of the mini collaborative water color projects from peru this summer)! i'm stuck for the time being on mine but i appreciate the time given to creativity. plans to continue working on such projects have been made!
i also took over this record i bought in salt lake by a band called noise addict. it's the best find i can remember of a band i had never heard of and it was only $1.99! with the price of vinyl these days, it was a great find. they're a scrappy punk band of 13 year olds from australia circa 1994. the lyrics are so cute and they reference pavement, the beastie boys and the pixies in some of their songs. cory bushman came over the other day (dressed as amy winehouse for halloween??) with elisa and ashley and said she used to know all the words to theirs songs back when she was a kid. so cute!

soy de surquillo

2007-10-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

probably one of the most important parts of my trip to peru was seeing my grandmother (mamita zoila) again after 20 years. these .avi files are some of the videos of her singing and dancing with me. many thanks to zina for capturing this on film.
First week in Peru:

The day of the earthquake (about an hour before):

My last day:

brummy rabbit

2007-10-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

remember how much of a great time i always have with ashleigh?

duh.

2007-10-20T09:52:00.000-07:00

i realized how long it's been since i've updated my blog. i guess peru and school never left me with much of a desire to work on it. but i think i'm at the point these days where i can begin to rededicate myself to a blog. maybe i'll even add a friends list! i just wish someone would show me how!

anyway, i found this video of beirut recently and thought it'd be good in response to bardhi's post a few weeks ago:

BEIRUT - THE PENALTY from the Flying Club Cup
Uploaded by flyingclubcup

a beirut is kind of like the magnetic fields or the smiths where i feel like their songs are written and sung directly for me. i know... stupid! but it's all i want to listen to these days. word on the blog circuit is that la blogotheque is releasing the 12 videos they recorded with beirut and his new album "the flying club cup" onto dvd in "the near future".
we can't wait!

hong kong garden

2007-07-18T07:46:00.000-07:00

one of the fun things about coming home is finding things from your past you almost forget about. i found a cassette tape the other day that my ex-girlfriend stephanie taped for me back in 2000. i was just getting in to siouxsie & the banshees at the time and she taped "once upon a time/ the singles" for me since i worked early morning shifts at the gap doing shipment and would listen to a ghetto blaster in the back room by myself.

teeth

2007-07-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

the other day in an impromptu wrestling match against my 9 year old nephew, i tripped him making him fall face first and chipped his tooth.
he now refers to me as "CHIP-TOOTHER". this replaces the previous title of "BLEEDER MAKER".
:(

summer wasted?

2007-07-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

i'm in the final stretch of my 2 month stay here in tampa. i've out casted myself from others to the point where my social life is almost exclusively dependent on my sister and her work schedule! i've recognized that i've done this all to myself. i used to have friends here but for some reason, i don't have the desire to reconnect with anyone since i'm leaving in a week and half. but i regret having that attitude.
i don't know why but for some reason, i feel dependent on my identity in provo and with everything that's going on there. i think it's mostly because i've been able to be around people that i naturally have more in common with. i am who i want to be there. make sense? i guess what i mean is that whenever i'm here in tampa with my family and people in the branch, i feel like i'm begrudgingly accommodating to them. i just know that it's not where i'm supposed to be anymore and provo will not always be where i'm supposed to be but at this time in my life, it is.
i'm glad i've come to this conclusion. for a while, i didn't know if i had a shallow attitude where i was "above" everything here but that's not the case at all.
i want to try and see more people here while i still can and enjoy their company and appreciate the relationships i had/have with them. but i'm definitely excited to go back to utah even though i don't have a place to live! i hope i can take bardhi's spot in the room i was already living in since he'll be in kosovo!

miami

2007-07-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

i went to miami last week for 5 days. i didn't go back to my old neighborhood in kendall this time around because i didn't have a car and my sister moved about 30 minutes away from where we grew up. i love that town. it brings back so many good and weird memories. my sister rebecca and i reminisced about the things we used to do as teenagers. it's funny how at the time we felt completely "with it" and that things we did were perfectly normal and ok. if my parents knew half the things we did, they'd still kill us even now at 26-7. i miss my sister so much. people thought that we were twins when we were younger since we were so close in age and took classes together occasionally. she stayed with us in tampa for over a month with her kids this past summer while her husband was away. it was fun to have that feeling of home again. at one point during one of many late evening talks, she told me that when she got pregnant with her first child, she could tell there was something different between us and that since then, things have never been the same. she's probably right. i don't know why though. i guess for some stupid 17 year old reason, i felt abandoned when she got married. i guess with her getting pregnant, my parents moving to tampa, and me being a senior in high school and moving in with my other sister and her family really disrupted what i recognized as my family. why do these things still bother me? there's more to the story but i guess i don't care to post such personal stories.
i think that after she made that comment about us, i felt a bit more comfortable about explaining why i reacted so strongly. she even asked if what has happened in her life had affected my own personal issues with commitment. i wish i knew!
i watched "volver" with my mom sunday night. in the special features, there's an interview with pedro almodovar and he describes his fascination with strong female characters in the majority of his films because as far as he can remember, females have always had a major impact on his life and how he sees the world because of his mother and the neighborhood women's stories, songs, and struggles. i see that sort of influence in my own life and it's frustrating at times..!

headbands

2007-06-30T08:42:00.000-07:00

this is what happens when you have a niece that wants to play dress up in the early morning.
wtf.

barlow

2007-06-28T08:04:00.000-07:00

i talked to adam last night on the phone for the first time since the alternative commencement in late april. we made plans for the fall when we'll be roommates. i'm excited about working on a road bike with him that he said he'd help me with. i like my new bike "pablo" that i got at the salt lake bike collective a few months ago but i look forward to making a bike of my own that'll be lightweight and fast to go around town.
apparently he was invited to go to bill gates' house for dinner last night with the other microsoft interns. a) i might not believe him and b) if i do, i jokingly said that he should give bill a pass-along card. he took it seriously and was surprised he hadn't thought of it before and wondered how he could get his hands on one to "pass-along" to the billionaire.
what started as a joke on my end, turned into me feeling bad and wanting to be more involved in missionary work. seriously!

long time coming

2007-06-27T06:24:00.000-07:00

unfortunately there's been no major breakthrough in my life to try and make up for my absence from updating my blog but it's been a tremendous 3 months.

i'm writing from my desk at work. i've been back home in florida for a little over a month now. it's been a weird and uncomfortable homecoming but it's probably because i always seem to feel like a frustrated 17 year old whenever i come back! of course zina would know how to handle that kind of situation so i talked to her on the phone last week and after hanging up, i felt better prepared to go about my stay here in tampa. it's interesting how much i miss it here when i'm gone and then within my first few minutes of being in the city, i feel a huge feeling of sadness come over me. not like any time before. i guess it has to do with everything i left in provo. like i said, it's been a tremendous 3 months.
i miss my people.

in more exciting news, i'm going home to miami next week for one week. since my sister rebecca is the only one left there, i'll stay with her and her family. i love miami. it's been years since i lived there but every time i go back i have a great time. there's so much going on.
i'm leaving some pictures to show what i've been up to the last few months. sorry for the shotty organization of the fotos. this is all new to me.

HELP! go to the web-site and donate. COME this thursday too!

2007-04-23T07:22:00.000-07:00

i know this is short notice but we can use all the help we can get! WE ONLY HAVE 3 DAYS LEFT!

I'm writing to ask for support for a cause that is very important to me. Last month, Brigham Young University invited Vice President Dick Cheney to speak at the school's April commencement. Because many students, faculty, alumni, and community members feel that Cheney represents neither their standards nor those of the university, we've formed a group called BYU Students for Alternative Commencement.

The purpose of BYU Students Alternative Commencement is to voice our dissent in a constructive way by having an additional ceremony after the official commencement on April 26th 2007. Our alternative commencement will not be about opposition, but about alternatives–-creative, democratic alternatives to the problems facing our country and government. As such, we've chosen speakers for our event who embody these principles: former Amnesty International director Jack Healey, former U.S. Senate candidate Pete Ashdown, and citizen activist Ralph Nader.

By having these speakers at our alternative commencement, we seek to promote a spirit of political optimism and ingenuity. We also hope that this event will counter cynicism and wholesale criticism by encouraging discussion and empowering graduates to search for positive solutions to daunting problems. We believe that preparing students to make this kind of visionary, creative change is what commencement should be about.

Sponsoring a large event with distinguished speakers on such short notice is very time-consuming and costly. In order to bring our speakers out to Utah and secure a venue we have to raise $8,000 IN 3 DAYS. Through hard work and many generous donors we've already been able to secure a significant amount in a few short days, but we still need your help. Please support us by making donation through Paypal* at www.byualternativecommence

ment.com, or by sending cash or check payable to the “Gene and Charlotte England Education Fund” at Zion's Bank, 1060 North University Ave. Provo, UT 84604. A donation from you of $50, $100, or $250 will make it possible for us students to accomplish our goal and 100% of it will directly support this event.

Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions, ideas, or if you know anyone who might be interested in contributing. We also encourage you to learn more on our website, tell your friends about the alternative ceremony, and attend on April 26th. Thank you so much for your consideration and for helping make this event possible.

thanks eric.

old drawings

2007-03-03T10:36:00.000-08:00

these are some of my drawings from last semester that i've been meaning to put up. i have more but i left my sketch pad back in tampa. i've been wanting to draw more lately but i can never find the time. it's so frustrating. i'd like to take more classes at byu but i'm not sure if i have what it takes. my instructor said that i had a very distinct style but i always thought it was cos i had no training. i also never realized how much time goes into it. i enjoyed drawing but i hated the process.

gracias

2007-03-03T10:09:00.000-08:00

many thanks to everyone who came to a birthday dinner at thai chili gardens hosted by bardhi haliti this past monday.

senate bill 155

2007-02-27T19:00:00.000-08:00

saturday, the 24th, i went to the governor's mansion in slc to protest senate bill (sb) 155. i was a bit hesitant at first since i wasn't to familiar of what it was all about but zina filled me in on a few things and i looked some stuff up on the internet and was surprised with what i found. apparently, the bill "exempts a radioactive waste disposal facility from local government planning and zoning approval, legislative and gubernatorial approval, and from certain siting requirements." what that means for utahns is that key laws would be eliminated for Energy Solutions and allow them to dump as much nuclear waste without oversight from local government. what's even more surprising is that about 80% of utahns oppose this bill but 70% of our state's legislators have received funding from Energy Solutions in the past.
the protest had a good turnout with a lot more people showing up than i anticipated. we marched up to the energy dome and stuck around for about 3 hours.
after it was all over, i went to the gateway and saw a friend of mine working. when i got back to provo, josh told me that that guy wanted my number cos he had an extra ticket to the jazz game that night and wanted to invite me. that would have been reeeally weird to go back there under such different circumstances.

26.02.1981.

2007-02-26T11:04:00.000-08:00

this is the 2nd year in a row that i have my birthday dinner with kari, karl, kirk, and eva. ashleigh and bardhi were there this time. last year we went to the festival of lights and i almost vomited cos i hated the food so much. which is weird since everyone else loved it.
but both times were lots and lots and lots and lots of fun.

quicksilver

2007-02-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

i got a dental check-up and cleaning on thursday. then, that same afternoon, i got 7 fillings done. my insurance expires this monday on my birthday so i had to act quickly. this is supposed to be my "golden" birthday with my turning 26 on the 26th but instead of gold, i got $150 worth of silver put in my mouth. murp.