pob dyffryn, pob clogwyn, i'm golwg sydd hardd

Preach My Gospel mentioned Wales today.

And maybe I cried, just a little bit.
{because}
I feel like making scones at Strathnairn. I feel like tea from Tesco.
I feel like a run in Roath Park + dinner at Y Mochen Du.
I feel like walking fifteen miles to capture a castle.
and
I feel a little bit heartsick.
(this rain is not helping, either)

you're the most amazing, the most exalted, the most pre-eminent, the most top drawn---you won!

This post is dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the great friend that relayed ibuprofen six thousand feet over rough ice, across treacherous waters, through Arctic blizzards from home to the relief of stricken E. in the Winter of 2009.

Ren spent minutes in bitter cold, facing wild animals, and ultimately risking death from exposure, all to save me from the bitter throes of migraine. How much do we love her? So much.


side note: anyone else in utter awe of the sheer number of Balto quotes they've got stocked up on IMDB? This wouldn't be a problem unless you take a look at the more quotable sorts of movies and see the difference.

I can see a lot of bright in you

I love sketchy people. You know, the kind with the notebooks and the pens. All that doodling! All that art! All that talent. And I super-love BYU sketchy people, which is convenient seeing how as a} I trod the same ground and b} they seem to like this blogging business, too.

Well, good and bad. On one hand, you've got some serious browsing to do---so many pretty, picture-full posts. Jake's ink-on-field-notes. Michelle's Fire Tiger Snake of Justice. Boston's book pages. Leslie's I-wish-I-were-you fairytales. And then all of these lovely people link to their lovely friends, and so on and so forth in a happy cycle of loveliness.

On the other hand, you've got some serious browsing to do. This comes in handy when, say, you stay up an extra two hours because your roommate says Colbert's on at ten-thirty but it's really not until midnight-thirty. This does not help, however, when you're supposed to be reading papers. Or writing papers. Or grading papers.

You should check them out anyway. School can wait.

sunshine, we all see the same sky

True Story: We are crazy creative. We are jump-happy joyful. We want to share the love. I skip next door with a plateful of confection perfection. ME: Huzzah! THEM: We're Republican.

Um, right. Because that's what yesterday was all about.

Apart from that small sadness, WHAT A DAY! The crowd, the speech, Aretha's bow. And, tip: do stay up long past midnight to catch The Report, no matter the homework and school. Especially if your South Carolinian (?) roommate has a y'all to match Colbert's.

card {via}

to choose our better history

yes, we can.

Happy, happy New President Day!

I loved today. Waking up ready for the excitement. A cup of pear tea and my fingernails America-red. Racing home from class to catch the full coverage. Standing for the oath. Listening to the speech and then reading it all over again. Crying through it all.

Boy, I love America.

there's a world of shiny people somewhere else

Last Saturday we set out for some serious star-stalking at Sundance, which is too much alliteration even for me. As always, the parents laughed. As per usual, we kids proved them wrong. This weekend round was our best yet, with a full list of names any paparazzi could be proud of. Collectively, we spied:

:::Chris Ashworth (from The Wire)
:::Ashley Judd
:::Emma Roberts
:::Jay (from The City)
:::Michael Richards
:::Andie MacDowell
:::Robby Krieger (The Doors)
:::John Cleese
:::Dominic Monaghan
:::Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth director)

Plus, the long day was entirely educational. Aside from recurring life lessons such as when it's this cold in Salt Lake, it will be doubly cold in Park City, and wear hats and scarves, I learned:

1:::Keep close the the guys with the cameras. Not only do they lead you straight to celebrity, they're also perfect fodder for story + dialogue (it's a blessed thing I had my creative writing journal with me).

2:::Ms. Judd wears waaaay too much makeup. You can stop being envious of her beauty now.

3:::As shallow as it is, this star business is scarily addictive. And try as I thought to understand it, I still don't know why. They're people, we're people, we should all move on. Yet I'm there too, caught in the throng of fans outside the Film Lounge, desperate for only a glimpse. Much inner reflection and evaluation this weekend, though not enough to stop me when it came to Mob Mentality.

So: star-studded, educational, and thought-provoking---I vote Sundance a winner. And word on the Main Street says John Krasinski might be making an appearance this weekend . . . anyone up for Round Two?

ps: I have pretty sisters. And pretty, pretty friends.

anyone lived in a pretty how town

Sometimes, I don't want to be here. In this town, on this campus. I feel too much of a pull to my city, to my family. To countries across oceans. Other times, like today times, I find it strangely satisfying.

1::: A Friday night with the girls---with all the insanity, insight, and constant laughter, it's like we never left Siena.

2::: Amphigorey, Also. Because Edward Gorey not only gets the writing right, the illustration's my favorite as well. Because I've read it just about every semester. And because I checked out another dozen books today, so why not this one?

3::: My dad's the new constant on my "recent recipients" texting list. Never thought it would happen, so love that it did.

4::: Debating The Killers' dancer/denser in a frozen Brigham Square.

and

5::: Scone party tomorrow---a Sunday tradition we didn't have to leave in Cardiff.

I am re-remembering that, when what you love is far, you (and only you) have the memory to bring it back again. Hooray for old books made new, family only a phone away, and new friends that feel they've been with me all along.


image via {ellemoss} , post title courtesy of mr. e.e.