Walking Encyclopedia of Weirdness

When you’re first getting to know someone, there are always the inevitable questions of, “Where are you from?” “What are you majoring in?” “What’s your favorite color?” and, sometimes, “What color is your toothbrush?”  (Thank you, EFY!)  Every now and then, however, you get a question that’s actually kind of thought provoking.  One such question came to me very recently: “What is your favorite thing about yourself?”

            In middle school, I got the nickname of “The Walking Encyclopedia.”  Since I’ve been able to read, I’ve been reading everything I can find on things that interest me.  I probably wouldn’t know the answer if you asked me something about starfish (though I could tell you dissecting them in the seventh grade was simultaneously gross and exciting), but I’d definitely know every Robin Batman has ever had (Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Damien Wayne), and why vampires and werewolves are mortal enemies (particular to four different mythologies).

            In the TV show “Supernatural,” Dean Winchester says to his brother (in season 2, episode 16 “Roadkill”) , “Dude, you are a walking encyclopedia of weirdness, do you know that?”  I laughed when I heard that line, and my best friend looked at me and said, “You know, that totally applies to you.”  The more I’ve thought about it, the prouder of that fact I become.

            I love that I know just about everything there is to know about at least three different TV shows, four book series, and the mythologies of several different creatures and stories.  I love that in one specific online community, I’m to go-to girl for 1,200 people when they have questions about anything ranging from vampires in general to the TV show The Vampire Diaries.

            I love the fact that I am a Walking Encyclopedia of Weirdness.

            Then again, that’s probably not the answer someone is looking for within five minutes of meeting you.  Giving them that little spiel would be like saying I adhere to the five-second-rule after two minutes, or that I wear some of my jeans several times before washing them (which I’m, um, not admitting to).  So, I’m pretty sure I told him I like the color of my eyes.  Oh, well.  He’ll find out eventually!

A Haunting

I love when my research consists of me watching "Supernatural."  :)

So, this week I'm filming a short that I might be using for my film application.  I'm so excited!  It's about a girl haunting her ex-fiancee after she dies.  I can just see all of it happening in my brain.  I can't wait to put it all together.  I'm using music from "Supernatural," Sam (my star) and I are going shopping at DI to find a dress we can tear up for her, I've got to figure out how to make fake blood that is washable...  Gosh.  Everything is just falling into place!  I love this!  I love being the writer/director/cinematographer.

Yeah, okay, this isn't a very informational post.  I'm just super excited.  :)

Thunderstorm Poem

I was thinking about this when I was writing for my Creative Writing class.  And, somehow, I ended up writing poetry.

"Texas Thunderstorm"
There really isn’t anything
like a Texas thunderstorm.
Before anything,
the smell skips ahead,
and you know without a doubt
that your arthritic grandmother
was right
about the coming rain.


Everything
changes colors.
A little tinge of green
permeates your surroundings
and gives hue to even the deadest,
longest summer grass
you’ve ever seen.


Your daddy reminds you that a
hint of yellow colorin’
(not green like everybody thinks)
means a twister’s on the way,
so keep yer eyes peeled.
And momma tells you
about that day, when she was
driving you home from the hospital
by herself
and it came up a hurricane,
nearly sweepin’ her off the road.


It can come up from outta nowhere.
Big, angry clouds, ready for
a release.
Sometimes a two-minute warning
is all you’re going to get
before it just pours down
on top of your head
and your car
that you finally decided was time to wash
yesterday.


Sometimes it falls hard enough
to pull the petals off of
momma’s flowers.
If it really gets goin’,
the wind makes the trees dance around.
Scary,
but completely mesmerizing
at the same time.


The music swells with the
tittering and smattering of the drops
on the porch and roof,
and the big bass of the thunder
ranging from the little timpani’s
to the house-shaking, momma-scaring
booms that you can feel all the way down to your
bones.


It’s an uneven rhythm,
an unpredictable kind of song,
but rain’s beautiful however you play it,
and nobody plays it
like Texas does.

Picture of the Week - Utah Sunset

Yeah, I'm a few days late.  Enjoy anyway! :)

Picture of the week, February Week 2.

City of Glass

Wow, City of Glass was intense!  With about two hundred pages to go, I was soooo tempted to just google the end of it.  I just couldn't bear it!

I'm so impressed with the way Cassandra Clare wrapped up this series.  Yes, there's another book coming out, but this was such a good ending.  I almost wish there wasn't another one, because the end in this one was just perfect, and I want it to stay like that.  Slightly ambiguous, but happy.

I'm really proud of myself for figuring out everything.  Granted, I got some of it wrong, but I was excited nonetheless.

The character Clary in this book is so strong, but innately human at the same time.  I love it!  This author is absolutely amazing.

Yeah, I know, I don't have a lot to say, because I can't say a whole lot without spoiling the series for you.  Is it worth the read?  I don't know.  That depends on whether or not you like to delve into a world and start stressing over the characters, because that totally happens with this series.  I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but I do wish I had waited for the Summer to read this book and its predecessor, haha.  Goodness.

The only concern I have with this book is its lack of plot.  The previous two were so full of twists and secrets, but this one was more easily figured out, and we knew Valentine's plan the whole time.  But, maybe that's just what comes with being the third book in a series.  Usually it's the second that has the lull, but what can you do about it?

My rating: 7/10.

Go read it!

I Hate February.

I really do.  I don't think there's any other month I loathe quite as much as I dislike February.  Why?  Well, it's cold.  It is so miserably cold, often without snow.  (If it's going to be cold, it might as well snow.  That provides a little bit of insulation, at least.)  Also, I'm not particularly a fan of Valentine's Day.  It's cute, and I like all of the lovey-dovey chick flicks that come on TV (though I don't have cable), I've never had a boyfriend on Valentine's Day.  Well, okay.  I did once, but we did nothing, and I broke up with him two days later.  And, last year, I was waiting on a missionary.  Well, puh.

So, this February, I'm going to do something about it!  I'm going to make myself like this month.  I have twenty-six and a half days left to make it happen.  So it will happen.

1.  I'm going to write every day.  I'm currently reading an excerpt by someone named Lance Larson about Creative Writing.  He says to write every day.  So I'm going to.  It might not be more than fifteen minutes, and I might not write something of worth every day, but I'm going to write anyway.

2.  I'm going to have a photo of the week every week.  I actually want to do this all year, but it starts with February.  (I'm always late, haha.  My parents like to state that my birth was the only thing in the world I was early to.)  What I mean by photo of the week is, I'm going to get myself more involved in fun photography.  My photography.  (My photo of the week for this week is "Caleb" which I posted yesterday.  I'm just so in love with that picture.)

3.  No soda pop until my birthday.  Yeah, that includes March too...  Well, I don't really like March either.  So it works.  How is that going to make my February better?  Well, I'm hoping it'll help me lose weight.  Haha.

4.  I'm going to finish City of Glass by Cassandra Clare.  I keep putting that one off.

5.  I'm going to read my scriptures every day.  No excuses.

6.  Every week I will read something from the Ensign.

I really don't want to be the sulky, self-pitying person that I automatically revert to when I'm not really doing anything, or even when I'm doing something sometimes.  I want to be happy, approachable, and the best friend I can possibly be.  Positivity, woo!

Thanks for reading!
Krista

PS- Happy Birthday, Papa.  I love you.  I'll see you on the other side.

Photography... it's been awhile.

This week, I sort of realized that I really haven't been doing photography for the fun of it for a long, long time.  Then, caught up in redecorating our apartment with LIFE photos, I decided to finally get the B&W roll I had taken with my Minolta developed.  Today I got the prints, and I am absolutely in love with them!  Granted, a lot of them aren't very interesting, but I was playing with the focus, lighting, exposure, bla bla bla.  Here's a look at some of my favorites.

Granted, the scanned copies aren't as good as the originals (haha, excuses, excuses!), but I'm so happy with them. :)  There's just something about taking pictures with a manual focus lens, on black and white film, and then getting the prints back.  It's more satisfying than digital.

And now, my favorite picture from the entire roll....

Caleb!

Taking pictures with my 1971 Minolta is also something that was on my live list!  I've been taking pictures on this roll of film--carefully savoring each frame--since April.  Wow!  That film was in my camera for almost a year!

Thanks for looking.  :)

Always,
Krista