So all last week I had this brilliant idea of what to write about. Then, when I sat down to pound it out, nothing came. Sometimes, it's just not as easy as it seems. All these thoughts and emotions built up in your head, but getting them down on paper can be a friggen hassle.
So i've given up on that train of thought and decided to start over from scratch.
You know that feeling when you're leaving a place? The one that says: You've forgotten something. It's important and you can't survive without it!
Well, yesterday, as i was packing up and driving away from OIMB, I got that feeling. Thankfully, it was only my shampoo. And my wallet. And my computer. :/ Yeah. Ok. The last two are with me now, as I'm waiting to board the airplane.
On my way up here to Oregon, I stopped by my old house: the one that we lived in when I was in kindergarten. I didn't remember much from those days when I was younger except for playing in the river with our dog, picking fresh blueberries and going to the farmers market on saturdays. When we pulled up to our house, I didn't recognize it at all. It wasn't what it seemed to be. However, as I wrapped my head around the fact that it was, indeed the house I lived in as a kid, so many memories came flooding back.
I swung my head around and saw the house where I played with the other kid in the neighborhood in his back yard. I looked back and saw tree in the back yard above the top of the house and remembered the tree house, the dog kennel, the strawberry patch, crawling down under the house in the crawl space, the magic show we put on once upon a time.... Memories are a funny thing. Sometimes we hear a story so much that we feel like we were actually the ones to experience that event. We make fun of one my friends because he once mentioned how he remembered his parents wedding.
Things really aren't what they seem.
Before i got out of Utah, I thought everything was just like it was there: dry, barren, hot. Then I flew out to NC just after my freshman year of college. I didn't expect it to be so green. So lush and beautiful. For my mission, I thought of the children's book of virtues story about the boy who stuck his finger in the dike and saved Holland. I expected to see this little country the size of Provo with a huge wall around it, water up to the top. But no. Nothing like that. The story isn't even true. The author probably had one of those: oh! I was there! moments when he was thinking of that particular virtue.
Even though I was here once, and even drove through on my way to choir tour in high school, I didn't remember how green, hilly, lush this state is.
Last night was super fun. I ate Aligator at a restaurant here in Portland with a friend. Then we went to Voodoo Donuts and went up on top of a huge hill to look out over the valley as we ate our donuts. Yet another "it's not what it seems moment" as I ate my bacon on maple bar. It tasted pretty good, no matter how it sounds.
There was this sandwich we had on our mission. We called it the Amsterdammer. It was created by a missionary who lost an incredible amount of weight on his mission. It was an open faced sandwich with a piece of toast covered with penut butter, cheese, jam, fried egg, mayonaise, salami and applesauce. Now, before you try this at home, know that it doesn't taste the same in the states. The cheese, applesauce, mayo, and bread are all different over there. It's not guaranteed to loose you weight either.
I'm not sure where I'm going with this post... but I just realized: I'm talking about food again.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Movies
Something I've been thinking about recently is movies. On a side not, usually, what happens when I'm writing is: I start out with an idea, and start writing. Then slowly, what really has been in the back of my mind, wanting to be expressed, comes out surprisingly coherent.
And now back to movies. I enjoy movies: going to them, watching them, analyzing them, listening to soundtracks, etc. In fact, I even enjoy making/being part of a production. You should check out the most recent one I was in with a couple of roommates that was made for a class project. CLICK ON ME! or go to: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2046665925239&comments&set=t.17831634&type=1
Whenever I watch this, it makes me smile. There have been other movies I've been in, and some of my fondest memories of making movies goes back to the Junior High German class. For our final project, we were required to make a movie with all the communication done in German. Easy enough. I don't remember what they were about anymore, but I do remember the fun we had and there seems to have bene a cross-dresser in all of them.
Another fond memory I have of movies is my freshman english class: philosophy 150, getting substituted for the required english credit (maybe that's why I'm not the best at writing... :/). This class was one of my favorites -- not because the final grade I got was the one I gave myself, or because there was almost not work involved, or the content of the class, but a mixture of all three. I think we took notes in that class a total of 3 times. The rest of the semester was spent watching movies, analyzing them, and writing about them. A one-page paper was due almost every week on a different movie we had watched, using a different method of critiquing for each movie. There I learned what makes a movie "good". I've tried to use those methods as I watch movies now, but more often than not, it gets overlooked. Frankly: even if a movie sucks, I'll probably enjoy the experience. And here's why:
The thing about movies is: they put you in the actors shoes. You feel the emotions of fear, excitement, sadness, joy etc. as they experience what happens on the set. In most movies, the actors end up with a happy ending. So we leave the theatre happy. It's two hours where we can forget about all the crap that's going on in our lives and pretend we're someone else. Maybe a reason why I, in particular, enjoy movies so much is because I feel like the cards haven't been dealt very fairly to me. So it's nice to get away and pretend for a moment that I really do get the chick in the end, or that I suddenly inherit a billion dollars, or that I save the world from the crazy terrorists.
Maybe this post is being written to, in some way, justify my so frequent viewings of movies. Last week, for an assignment in our Developmental Biology class was to take turns on 3 hour shifts 24 hours a day and watch developing embryos of a sea urchin. As exciting as that sounds (and for those of you who haven't done this: something happens the first 3 hours, and then nothing for 10 hours, rinse and repeat), I didn't mind staying up till 1 a.m. or waking up at 4 a.m. or even the shift from 1 to 4 a.m.. And the reason why: I had plenty of movies to keep me company. Thankfully, exciting friends are here to stop me from sitting down all day and watching movie after movie, and get me outside to the beach. Yes. We've been to the beach at least 4 times a week. We've recently been to the beach to: build sand castles, play ultimate frisbee, play soccer, lay out, go on walks, watch the sunset, watch the jumbo boats drive by. Yeah. I'm sooo glad I decided to come up here.
Also, on another movie-related note: I was in the redwoods last weekend. I met up with a stranger, drove 2 hours to a friend's place (after the 2 hour drive we weren't strangers anymore) then drove another 2 hours to the redwoods: where parts of Star Wars was filmed. Oh yeah. We went to the beach while we were in California as well. :)
As I think about what else has transpired here in Oregon over the past couple of weeks, even though these happenings may not be related to movies in any way, I think to myself: self. This was a good week. I don't really feel like I'm the type of person Paul of the New Testament was, declaring my faith and religion from the tops of buildings, I did get the chance this week to share the Gospel a couple of times. I had a chat about my mission and a little bit about why people convert with a nonmember from California, and last night, after I played Capture the Flag with the U of O students, I invited them all to church this morning. Most of them were either drunk or high, so I didn't expect anybody to actually show up when we left. In fact, I was so unsure about people caring, I was joking with some classmates this morning about how awkward it was inviting everybody to church. Then, as we walk down the stairs to our cars, there Tony is, waiting for us. He says: you guys are five minutes late. I was so glad there weren't any crazies bear their testimonies during fast and testimony meeting. And to be honest, it is soooo much more relaxed to bring a non-member friend to church than to bring an investigator to church as a missionary. I should have been doing this the whole time! (I think I made a friend tho. Turns out he's gay.) (I was wondering why he's been sitting so close to me at meals... I hope he doesn't think I'm gay) (Although the mistake has been made before.) (Maybe that's the reason why I kiss so many girls: to make sure people know I'm straight).
I guess to end this post, I'll end with a suggestion for the more sophisticated: Dead Poets Society. I watched this movie this past week and enjoyed it. Another is: the Patriot. And The Emperors New Groove. And that's where i'll stop.
And now back to movies. I enjoy movies: going to them, watching them, analyzing them, listening to soundtracks, etc. In fact, I even enjoy making/being part of a production. You should check out the most recent one I was in with a couple of roommates that was made for a class project. CLICK ON ME! or go to: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2046665925239&comments&set=t.17831634&type=1
Whenever I watch this, it makes me smile. There have been other movies I've been in, and some of my fondest memories of making movies goes back to the Junior High German class. For our final project, we were required to make a movie with all the communication done in German. Easy enough. I don't remember what they were about anymore, but I do remember the fun we had and there seems to have bene a cross-dresser in all of them.
Another fond memory I have of movies is my freshman english class: philosophy 150, getting substituted for the required english credit (maybe that's why I'm not the best at writing... :/). This class was one of my favorites -- not because the final grade I got was the one I gave myself, or because there was almost not work involved, or the content of the class, but a mixture of all three. I think we took notes in that class a total of 3 times. The rest of the semester was spent watching movies, analyzing them, and writing about them. A one-page paper was due almost every week on a different movie we had watched, using a different method of critiquing for each movie. There I learned what makes a movie "good". I've tried to use those methods as I watch movies now, but more often than not, it gets overlooked. Frankly: even if a movie sucks, I'll probably enjoy the experience. And here's why:
The thing about movies is: they put you in the actors shoes. You feel the emotions of fear, excitement, sadness, joy etc. as they experience what happens on the set. In most movies, the actors end up with a happy ending. So we leave the theatre happy. It's two hours where we can forget about all the crap that's going on in our lives and pretend we're someone else. Maybe a reason why I, in particular, enjoy movies so much is because I feel like the cards haven't been dealt very fairly to me. So it's nice to get away and pretend for a moment that I really do get the chick in the end, or that I suddenly inherit a billion dollars, or that I save the world from the crazy terrorists.
Maybe this post is being written to, in some way, justify my so frequent viewings of movies. Last week, for an assignment in our Developmental Biology class was to take turns on 3 hour shifts 24 hours a day and watch developing embryos of a sea urchin. As exciting as that sounds (and for those of you who haven't done this: something happens the first 3 hours, and then nothing for 10 hours, rinse and repeat), I didn't mind staying up till 1 a.m. or waking up at 4 a.m. or even the shift from 1 to 4 a.m.. And the reason why: I had plenty of movies to keep me company. Thankfully, exciting friends are here to stop me from sitting down all day and watching movie after movie, and get me outside to the beach. Yes. We've been to the beach at least 4 times a week. We've recently been to the beach to: build sand castles, play ultimate frisbee, play soccer, lay out, go on walks, watch the sunset, watch the jumbo boats drive by. Yeah. I'm sooo glad I decided to come up here.
Also, on another movie-related note: I was in the redwoods last weekend. I met up with a stranger, drove 2 hours to a friend's place (after the 2 hour drive we weren't strangers anymore) then drove another 2 hours to the redwoods: where parts of Star Wars was filmed. Oh yeah. We went to the beach while we were in California as well. :)
As I think about what else has transpired here in Oregon over the past couple of weeks, even though these happenings may not be related to movies in any way, I think to myself: self. This was a good week. I don't really feel like I'm the type of person Paul of the New Testament was, declaring my faith and religion from the tops of buildings, I did get the chance this week to share the Gospel a couple of times. I had a chat about my mission and a little bit about why people convert with a nonmember from California, and last night, after I played Capture the Flag with the U of O students, I invited them all to church this morning. Most of them were either drunk or high, so I didn't expect anybody to actually show up when we left. In fact, I was so unsure about people caring, I was joking with some classmates this morning about how awkward it was inviting everybody to church. Then, as we walk down the stairs to our cars, there Tony is, waiting for us. He says: you guys are five minutes late. I was so glad there weren't any crazies bear their testimonies during fast and testimony meeting. And to be honest, it is soooo much more relaxed to bring a non-member friend to church than to bring an investigator to church as a missionary. I should have been doing this the whole time! (I think I made a friend tho. Turns out he's gay.) (I was wondering why he's been sitting so close to me at meals... I hope he doesn't think I'm gay) (Although the mistake has been made before.) (Maybe that's the reason why I kiss so many girls: to make sure people know I'm straight).
I guess to end this post, I'll end with a suggestion for the more sophisticated: Dead Poets Society. I watched this movie this past week and enjoyed it. Another is: the Patriot. And The Emperors New Groove. And that's where i'll stop.
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