Fact of the Day

ANATIDAEPHOBIA- The fear that you are being watched by a duck.

On My Mind

1. Snow. It finally happened. And I still need an umbrella and rainboots. Come on blog fans!

2. How wonderful my bed is. Dark Purple sheets with tan/gray linnen sounds ick, but it's really so classy. I'll post a picture soon.

3. How embarrassing it is to break down in the middle of the library. Snot, everywhere. Puffy eyes. On the plus side, I finally cried since April! Still more than I'd care for, but still. The Ice Queen is melting.

4. My strange dream that came to me last night. Devon and I went to a laundromat owned by the Mafia. They made us buy hallowe'en costumes so that we could chaperone a pool party. The Devon's mom got mad at us for going to that laundromat instead of the one she uses which is run by elves. You can see why this is STILL on my mind...

5. The monster midterm I have tomorrow.

6. Haili Gregson's musical genius. She made me a special mix CD (don't bother asking her for one because she only does this for special people... me) and I LOVE it.

7. Sweatpants. For the first time in Hollie History, I shall be attending classes in sweatpants today. I really hope I don't run into you.

A Renovation of the TV Innovative

Just a thought: it seems to be wide spread thought that there is a lot of, for lack of a better word, CRAP on TV. Having said that, let it be known that there are some shows out there that work toward ameliorating the couch potato- or at least his mind. Shows like House and Bones and Greys challenge intellectual processes as well as prompt their audience to consider ethical situations. Perhaps there should be "thought time" after such shows- a period of say 7 minutes wherein the audience may contemplate what they have seen, form an opinion on the social aspects or make goals to further understand a procedure that they saw and may not fully understand. I think we underestimate the nations natural curiosity. Shows like this cannot get such great ratings and numbers merely because of the interchangable relationships that may occur- or perhaps I am expecting or hoping for too idealistically (at least in an educational sense).

MY POINT- it's easy to vege out on the couch and be mindless about what we watch. However, it is far more productive to use such time to educate and exercise your mind.

Issues: Fat Barbie

Barbie Doll - The Perfect Figure? by: Terry Edwards

While no one will argue with the popularity of Mattel's Barbie Doll, one area that has raised its fair share of controversy over the years is her figure. Many parents from around the world have argued that Barbie's ultra-slim figure represents a ridiculous standard for a body shape. They say that many girls grow up thinking that they must have the same figure as Barbie or there is something wrong with them. While I don't take that radical of a stance, I will say that it would be quite difficult to measure up to Barbie's standards. If you take the measurements of Barbie, she would be over 7 feet tall, weigh around 125 pounds, and have a shape of 32-20-42. Of course, no woman could maintain a figure like that, but this is where the controversy stems. In addition, Barbie has a very long neck. In fact, her neck is nearly twice the size of the average woman. Her feet are also another source of criticism with many saying that Barbie's feet are only half the size of a normal womans due to foot binding. That is the practice of preventing your feet from growing by constricting them. Some have went as far as saying that the Barbie doll has caused their children to become anorexic from trying to maintain Barbie's figure. I think that may be a little extreme, but I can see both sides. In recent years, Mattel has given in a little bit on this issue and widened Barbie's waist a bit. This took place around the year 2000. Barbie now has a more proportioned waist. Regardless of what Barbie's figure looks like, or who is right or wrong on this issue, the real winner in this debate is Mattel. The added controversy and publicity only helps to fuel sales. I wonder why no one talks about Ken's figure?

This is Not a Joke

I just don't understand what kind of Editor a) hires a "writer" such as this and b) publishes and article like this...

Life

Blog fans, I have neglected you for a short time. Not the best of habits, I know. I apologize profusely. Lately I have been experiencing something not unlike senioritis- only I'm not a senior... and I'm not in high school... so my claims to this "disease" are quite unfounded. Life has just been catching up with me! Am I in the right major? Am I doing the best I possibly can in my classes? Am I balancing my time appropriately (a 3 hour nap on a Friday afternoon says "no")? Am I doing everything I should be doing right now?

I think we, as humans, like to throw ourselves into ruts every now and then. I say "throw ourselves" because, really, we cannot expect to presume that anyone other than our own selves are responsible for how our day turns out, our thought processes and our priorities; especially when we live in the sorts of societies that we do.

I feel a tremendous amount of inability and inadequacy. Why? Because I allow myself to have this small moment to wallow in before I know that I will pick myself up, brush myself off and get the heck on with it. Why then, if I have this knowledge, do I allow myself to wallow? My only answer is a feeble excuse: I'm human. If I didn't, this world would not be enough for me and I'd have surely fulfilled my life's purpose and be on to bigger and better things than humanism.

Allow me to take a detour (for your own sanity, I presume) and tell you about some other things that have happened recently.

BIKING. One glorious Sunday afternoon, after a glorious morning at church (kudos to Keith Evans for a fantastic sunday school lesson), I decided to get out of my teensy couple-filled apartment (couples aren't my favourite thing right now. Only because I'm not one...) and hopped on the bike. I found the Provo trail and followed it to the very beginning. I followed Julie Andrew's advise and started at the very beginning (it actually is a very good place to start).

I had my ipod going, and soon Iron and Wine, Busta and Coldplay had joined my feast of nature. A thousand storylines and plots came to me and life was good. I hit Utah Lake shortly thereafter. When I say shortly I mean trillions of miles later (about 10).

By the time I got home I could not feel my butt. 5 minutes later, I could feel it, and it was in major pain.

Why did I do it all again on Monday? My butt has no idea.

In other news, Haili and I spent some quality time together this week- long overdue I might add- but only after we went on a BIKE RIDE (my butt hates me). Anna and also had a friend date this week.

Work is the one thing that I quite enjoy in my day. How odd is that? I took a few escalated calls for fellow workers this week, and a few escalated emails. It used to be that escalated calls (which is a polite way of saying "customers who have their knickers in a twist") would make me shake make palms sweat. Now, however, I get excited- I crack out our list of policies and rules and hit my customers over the head with it! Just kidding. I am very polite, but very unwavering. They call me the iron fist. They don't really, but it would be cool.

And that's it. For now.

Fail of the Day

Worthy of Posting

Brought to you by Erika and the mac-a-lac.

If this picture were the last thing I saw before I died, I'd have a smile on my face until resurrection day.

'Nuff Said

http://www.todaysbigthing.com/2009/10/05

On the Run...

Just a quick one while I am sitting here "studying" before my battery dies on me (though, 8 hours- nice going my young mac-a-lac)- So I am sitting here and this girl comes up to me and says "Hey! don't think this is creepy or anything but would you be interested in modeling for a face class right now?"

BLESS HER HEART I nearly hugged the little mite. However I had to tell her no because I have American Lit. in about 20 minutes. Too bad!

Wait... was this a big compliment or a big insult...

This Happened Yesterday

As is usually the case, the picture does not not do this natural miracle justice. It was probably the most vibrant rainbow I have ever, ever, EVER seen.

In the Kitchen...

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes

This was tuesday night, along with green bean casserole and greek toasted sandwiches (which means you glaze the bread with vinegar and herbs). I stuffed the tomatoes with spinach, red pepper, garlic, onion, bacon, basil and sour cream. Whack it in the over, as Jamie Oliver would say, and bon apetit! (as those frenchies say).

Last night was Left-Over Night. Wednesday is the day that I don't get out of class until 8pm- hence left over night. BUT last night I had to walk home in the RAIN. Left-overs just wouldn't cut it, so I cheated: I made Cupcakes. Thanks to cupcakeblog.com I was relatively inspired.

I added chocolate pudding to the batter, along with chocolate chips. Then, once they had baked, I stuffed the centers with chocolate vanilla creamy goodness. In a word: epic.

For Your Entertainment...

Just so you all know: I'm famous. At least, my opinion is.

Check out my slight comment in the Daily Universe:

http://universe.byu.edu/node/1640

PS. I lied.

PPS. Well, alright it wasn't a lie because AT THE TIME I was biking to school every day.

PPPS. That little reporter manipulated the heck out of my comments. I feel violated and know exactly how politicians feel now.

Bedtime Reading

It strikes me that I have not told you, my blog fans, what I am reading lately. Let me kill the suspense (I know you were all concerned about it): Due the the pure volume of reading my major requires of me, I am not currently reading anything too spellbinding for pleasure.

However, tonight I shall be reading "Aiding Developing Countries through Non Governmental Organizations, as Opposed to Directly Supplying Corrupt Governments," an essay I wrote in my freshman English 150 class. Why?

I'll admit to you all that lately I feel like I am sinking away [albeit subconsciously] from the things that once concerned me intensely. This is a tragedy of the highest degree! And so, as tonight is a non- cooking night (left-over wednesdays), I plan on re-reading past papers and essays, in order to re-evaluate my progressive mindset.

I'll give you the cliff's notes later.

Literature for the Day

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant---
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth's superb surprise
As Lightening to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind---


Emily Dickinson speaks to me.

In the News...

Top Rwanda genocide suspect pleads not guilty

Idelphonse Nizeyimana, a former Army General and intelligence officer, is one of the top suspects for the 1994 Rwanda Genocide. He pled "not guilty" in his first appearance against a U.N. court in Tanzania today.

In 1994, ethnic Hutu soldiers massacred 800,000 minority Tutsi's in just 100 days. Nizeyimana is said to have ordered the execution of the Queen of Rwanda as well as preparing the names of the 800,000 murdered.

Read the update

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE59D3JE20091014

Awkward Family Photo of the Day

Words cannot express how this photo entertains me.

Announcement!

I hereby propose offering a reward for any information about mystery fan X. If you know anything, send me an email or comment. And as I am a starving student, rewards offered will probably take the form of baked goods (don't let that desuade you- my baked treats are epic).

Movie of the Day

The Transporter. Before the bashing begins, let me just say that I utterly LOVE Jason Statham and generally, these movies entertain me no end. Partly because of the following, I won't lie.

Firstly. The sound track. The tacky, tinkly and very obvious "love" theme that slips into the scene whenever the [awful] female lead is on screen is incredibly irritating.

Secondly. The female lead. WHY is Jason, this all hunky, fast driving, mean fighting machine, going for this nasty brat??

Thirdly. The Asian villain. Does anyone else think he looks like the lunch lady you were afraid of?

Things I like? The fitted shirt he wears, and the fight scenes. And the tackiness, let's face it.

In the Kitchen...

Today was not particularly fun at school. However, I came home to Johanna and her very incredible kitchen skills! She had embarked on one of her mother's recipes: chicken enchiladas. They. Were. Spectacular!

She made them with cubed chicken, sour cream, corn tortillas, green chili's, cheese and cream of chicken soup. This is the second dish we have chowed down this week that has involved sour cream. As such, I am feeling the effects and am longing for a good work out! Regardless of the calories that we refuse to calculate, it was incredible.

As it was a friday night and we were [somehow] home alone slash dateless, we thought it only appropriate to involve chocolate and [more] creamy goodness. Enter the cheesecake plan.

We created cheesecake mastery with the help of our friends at JELLO. However, we added our own little touches. After the traditional graham cracker base, we put down a chocolate fudge layer, then the cold cheesecake, then a chocolate mouse layer that we concocted.

Do I need to describe to you how utterly delectable our cheesecake was?

Didn't think so.

In the Kitchen...

Last night Johanna and I were in the mood for potato goodness. We opted for potato casserole. It was not quite as wonderful as we would have hoped- I don't think we cooked the potato long enough- but it had potential.

6 potatoes, shredded

1 cup sour cream

1 cup cheddar cheese (grated)

1 cup chopped onion or leek (we did leek)

1/2 cup crumbled bacon

1 tsp salt

1 cup crushed cornflakes

425 degrees, 25 minutes (longer!!)

Haha of the Day

Advertisement for footsie PJs. Alastair wants some of these so I am searching for them. Thanks to Sydnee at work for sending me this link!

In Memory of Anna...

... who is NOT dead. I just saw these and thought of her.

Breaking News!

FINALLY, someone is going public with a Twilight spoof. Get excited for Nightlight, in stores Nov. 3rd. I will be saving my pocket money for one. as well as the movie The Proposal, which comes out on TUESDAY (do the wave, wherever you are. I am serious. Do it.)!

Medical Fact of the Day

Have you ever been drifting off to sleep when suddenly your body jolts itself awake?

Basically this is the body checking that you are alive. As you fall asleep, different body processes slow down, and the brain just needs to make sure that you aren't dying.

And they say Dr. House is just a silly drama...

This is my Favourtite

My ultimate favourite book as a child. Now that I finally found it at amazon.com, I think I realize it was my favourite because of the way my mother read it to us. The storyline is really quite dark for a children's book, and would probably never get published today! However, I love Rob Lewis' work. He is truly one of the most imaginative children's book writers/ illustrators around.

Anyway, having said that: I suppose it makes sense now that my first attempts at writing for children have ended rather... violently/ disturbingly/ horrificly. Horrificly isn't a word. And now I'm rambling...

Go read this book, blans!

Song of the Day

Human, by the Killers. Turn it up.

In the Kitchen...

So my lovely new roommate, Johanna, and I have been feverishly cooking lately. On Sunday, we decided to make my mother's famous and very yummy Spaghetti Bolognese. We combined our efforts in dicing and sautéing onions, plum tomatoes and garlic, to which we added some Prego (baby steps, blog fans, baby steps!), minced beef (it's worth it to get the lean stuff- ask your butcher), and some other hebishness including, always, chives (Mum, this is my contribution/ addition).

THEN, believe it or not, we added SUGAR. Because all things nice include sugar and spice.

It was an epic attempt. The lovely Erika came over for dinner, bringing with her some wonderful sesame seed bread rolls, and we wolfed down our dinner with Parmesan Cheese which, I admit, I have finally given the "thumbs up". As long as you don't heap a whole pile of it on top of your food, which I have known people (/person) to do. It is an atrocious habit that robs the food of its original zest.

Last night, Johanna and I copied a little trick that one of our friends, Paul, attempted last week: fried slices of Zucchini! We didn't stop there though: we also scalloped some sweet potatoes and regular potatoes, salted them lightly and ate them all together. It was wonderful! We decided that the sweet potatoes tasted the best. And that was our monthly intake of olive oil.

Next, we made one of my personal favourites, Apple Dumplings. I cannot describe the method in which we created such a masterpiece as it is HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL and very sensitive material. I'm sure you all understand. I swore Jojo to secrecy, so don't even bother trying to squeeze the secrets out of her either. Apple Dumplings are, quite frankly, one of the greatest deserts. They are a staple: like pie, but a little fancier. We had tons left over, so I made up a tray for Devon because he was a hero that morning (Sydnee, my work buddy, and I had trouble getting her car to start, so Devon came out and gave us a jump at 6.50am. Seriously, "San Devo" or what?)

THEN (yes, there's more) Jojo and I finished off the night by making orange/lemon jello- wait for it- with SODA. YES, our jello is FIZZY. We are desperately tying to get jello to successfully take on the shape of this jello tin I got at the DI. So far, no success, but we have our fingers crossed for this one. We'll let you know.

Any food requests? Make them now, while we are enthusiastic about trying/ following new recipes!

Breaking News!

1983 Classic, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation-- the SEQUEL! Word on the street is that the story will follow Rusty's new family... watch this space!

Haili at the Muse

Quick heads up to you all- Haili has a show at Muse Music in down town Provo this week, on thursday the 10th from 8pm to 10pm. Her lovely roommate, the beautiful Morgan, will also feature.

Haili's demo will also be on sale so buy one because it rocks. See you there!

PS. seriously, who sent me the scarf? I need to thank you!

Reaping the Rewards of Blogging

Something of the most curious nature has occured.  And now that I have your attention with my most Conan- Doyle mysterious tone, here it is...

You may recall (you, my faithful blog-fans... or "blans" I think I will call you...) that I posted a comment last week featuring a ridiculously beautiful scarf that I [jokingly] invited you all to purchase for me.

Some bloggers get movie deals: some bloggers get book contracts, slogan t-shirts etc.  Yours truly?  I get gifts from fans.  Yes, one of you lovely stalkers sent me a beautiful burnt orange pashmina today!  The package was completely anonymous, but tissue wrapped in a very exciting manner!  Well, the excitement was all me, but still.  Whoever you are (feel free to name yourself and I will feature you on this here blog), my deepest thanks!  It was the BEST suprise to come home to after a long day of work and school!

To my other fans: I guess mystery fan X beat you to it this time.  But in the interest of being fair, I'd could use an umbrella right now.  Also, an apron for all of my cooking exploits.  And sure, why not?

Diamonds from Tiffany's.  

Funny of the Day

If Rich and Haili were Pixar newly-weds, this would be it.  Many thanks to my mac-a-lac for the good times.