The Vacation Chronicles

I decided I wanted to write down my experiences on vacation this year because they were very interesting. My cruise to the western Caribbean was unlike anything I have experienced before. So before I forget I want to remember to write about: the ship itself, the people on the ship (Walter and Made) and how hard they work, and the different countries and my experiences in them. Overall the cruise was good but I didn't really enjoy being on the ship all the time. I wish I could have had more time in each country but you only get like 7 hours. My grandma Carr took some of my extended family because it was her 80th birthday and she wanted to celebrate. Nice grandma huh?

The ship I sailed on was the Carnival Glory. It was huge!! I did not imagine that you could fit that many people on one boat. I got blown away when I thought about how much it takes to plan a cruise, the food that all the thousands of people need for one week, the amount of laundry and garbage produced! Walter told us that they only get supplies in Port Canaveral, they don't fill up when they go into other ports. That is a huge undertaking alone. There were 12ish decks on the ship. My room was on the 6th deck right above the casino. Every night we could tell when someone won big because they would cheer really loud. I used earplugs though. Best decision I made was to bring those on vacation. The 3rd deck had the lobby with a piano and bar where there would be music and singers every night. It was also the floor of the Golden dining room where we had dinner every night. We didn't really ever go on the 4th floor. The amber palace was the auditorium where the shows were performed every night. Mom and dad could hear the show from their room. The 5th floor had shops with all kinds of high priced items, the casino, coffee bar, some nice couches and chairs where we hung out a few times, the teen clubs, one bar where Jillian and I listened to an asian guy sing Elton John and Billy Joel one night, he was pretty good, and it had the club where we sang for family Karaoke. The 6th, 7th, and 8th decks were rooms and the 9th deck was the Lido deck. This is where the two pools were, the red sail restaurant (huge and buffet style), grill, all day pizza, deli, and most importantly 24 hour self-service ice cream cones. I had no idea that all you do on a cruise is eat. The pools had salt water though so it wasn't too exciting. It also had the spa and gym. Jillian and I went there once. Deck 10 had shuffle board, deck chairs, a track, chess, and ping pong. They put the deck chairs away every night. The last two decks are just for hanging out on except one has the mini golf course, volleyball and basketball courts. Deck zero was where we got off the boat in port.

The shows were not really very good. The dancers wore skimpy outfits and had cheezy choreography. The singers were ok, but I stopped attending the shows because they weren't very good. My family went sometimes because there was nothing else to do. We kind of had boring times on the ship because we don't drink or gamble. At night was especially boring. The younger kids could go to the teen clubs but there wasn't anything for the older cousins to do. One night we crashed the family Karaoke and took over. I made Jillian sing Journey with me, Separate Ways (Worlds Apart), it fulfilled a dream of mine. I had a lot of fun with it and tried to channel Steve Perry. Mom enjoyed it a lot. For awhile all the people getting called up were Carrs. When we did get bored we usually went and got ice cream cones. On Thursday morning (a ship day) I went on deck and finished my book. I sat in the shade since I had already gotten sunburned but it was very enjoyable. There are televisions in the rooms so I watched a little TV now and then. The ship showed movies but they were the same ones over and over again, not very good. There was a "library" but they only had about one bookcase full of books and it was only open for an hour per day. There were also photographers that were available to take your picture every time you turn around. They want you to buy the photos. At dinner, after dinner in front of backgrounds, when you get off the ship...all the time. Basically I learned that people go on cruises to spend money and those who are unwilling to have a more boring time. No spa treatments, drinks, clothes etc. Plus you have to charge everything to a credit card that is connected to your "sail and sign" card. Which privlidges I did not have.

When we first got on the boat my family got lost a lot. But I quickly learned my way around. I have a great sense of direction. My grandma couldn't go anywhere by herself because she would always get lost. My dad went on a tour of the ship but he didn't really learn anything. We also had a drill when we first got on board which was fun. We had to report to a station and take our life jackets. Women and children get saved first. My dad was a little freaked out when Jillian and I showed up among the last people to arrive.

Well, I want to post this so it doesn't get lost. Look for the next installment coming soon!

They need recognition

There are many actresses and actors in Hollywood that are all trying to make their careers bigger, some are cool, some have too much exposure. (I really want the whole Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie thing to die down, but as long as they keep having babies my prayers won't be answered.) There are a few people that I think need more recognition for the performances they give in film.





1. William H. Macy-this guy is a great actor, should be put in more things. See him in: Mr. Holland's Opus, Seabiscuit, Sahara, Cellular, and many other movies that I probably am not aware of.


2. Greg Kinnear-he is good with comedy-Little Miss Sunshine, Baby Mama, Sabrina...


3. Toni Collette-first of all I didn't know she was from Australia??-Little Miss Sunshine, Emma, About A Boy, In Her Shoes...


4. Viggo Mortensen-LOTR hello? and many more





So I guess a lot of these people have been nominated for some big awards. I guess I just have the idea in my head that when you do well in a movie that you keep on making great movies. But it's exactly the opposite. You make whatever the studios tell you to make, and sometimes it's crap. I first learned this with Halle Berry. I watched the Oscars when she won and then waited for her to make something that I would want to see. It hasn't happened yet. Another person I wonder about is Kierra Nightley. Why does she get all these roles? I don't think she's that good.





Three people I've decided I absolutely enjoy:


1. Tom Hanks-great man, great actor, Philidelphia, Apollo 13, Forrest Gump, Castaway, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail


2. Kate Winslet-she is beautiful and a wonderful actress-Titanic, Sense and Sensibility, the Holiday, Finding Neverland, keep on going


3. James McAvoy-his success is more recent but he will become a great actor as he gets more notice, has a huge thick Scottish accent but you don't get to hear this in the movies-Narnia, The Last King of Scotland (haven't seen but heard it's good), Atonement (also haven't seen), Penelope (indie flick), Becoming Jane, and he's delicious to look at. New one coming out with Angelina Jolie as (suprise!) a secret agent, not so sure why he's in this role, not really the steamy kind of guy they put here. We'll see. But he'll do well.

My own talk show

My family has often told me that I should have my own talk show. And I quite agree. I think it would be fun to interview people and give away tons of free crap. A little pointless but fun. I appreciate it when the people of the show try to do something with it like Oprah. I am also starting to appreciate Ellen. I really enjoy her sense of humor. She also likes to do things for others and appreciates having people on her show who are not famous but special in their own way. I have no idea how to get into this business, probably a lot of butt-kissing. I think I could be very good at it though, but I'm not a lesbian, or black, so I'll have to think of a new gimmick.

Of the late night men I have opinions on all of them. Letterman has very dry, ironic humor that I kind of enjoy, Jimmy Kimmel is so stoic most of the time and it confuses some people, they don't get his jokes, but I enjoy the notorious video he made with Ben Affleck, but I can't repeat the name; Leno is very NBC, his comedy is formulated, I used to like him better at first but now, not so much; Conan O'Brian is hilarious because he sidetracks himself with his own jokes, he has kind of a frat house humor, he has a ton of energy, not quite so sure if this will be ok when he takes over for Leno since he will have a different demographic, I also have thought of him as a smart man even before I found out he graduated from Harvard with honors; I am skeptical of Jimmy Fallon taking over for Conan. Who decided that Jimmy could do late night TV? Yes, he was great on SNL, but this does not necessarily mean he will do well at late night. I'm not so sure about that. But I probably won't watch him because I only watch late night TV when I live at home and can stay up late because I have nothing to get to in the morning.

Life decision #1

I have recently decided that I want to become a world traveler. Well, I have always wanted to travel to certain countries but now I am making plans. I thought about it, and I want to go somewhere while I am in college, either study abroad or an internship type thing. I am always hearing about other people's vacations and I want to make my own.

Among the list of places I would like to visit someday in no particular order-
Australia/New Zeland-been hooked on this place since the 2000 summer Olympics
England-London of course, the lake district, the indian district
Ireland-It looks so pretty and green but cold
Prince Edward Island-Anne of Green Gables, need I say more?
Italy-tons of art, history, fashion
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter-Opening at Universal Studios in Orlando, FL 2010 or 11
South Africa, Ghana, or Kenya-I have a facination with Africa
Somewhere in South America-not sure where yet
The Czek republic looks cool
Thailand
France-I would only go here with my mother, she knows more about it than I do.

Places that I have been that I love-Boston, Seattle, Vancouver Canada, Moab Utah, New England, Portland Oregon, warm beaches.

Places I don't so much like-Las Vegas NV, LA CA, and Idaho.

Costume day

I was wearing a new shirt today that I hadn't washed yet. It had the smell of fresh fabric that has been sewed together in a factory. Your sense of smell can trigger old memories and that is what happened to me. My shirt reminded me of costume day when I was in ballet. Each year when I did ballet I was in a recital where I danced anywhere from 1 to 4 dances. This meant I got to have a costume. My teacher Mrs. Monson would show us the costume in a catalog and we would all get measured. A few months later the costumes would arrive. Costume day was the best because we got to drop everything and try our costumes on. Then we would go show the other teacher our dance in our costumes. The smell reminded me of costume day because our costumes were usually all balled up in plastic bags and a lot of them had netting for the tutu. The netting and the nylon costume had a specific smell, probably because they had just come straight from the factory. It was fun to dance around in the pretty sequined costumes and imagine how it would look onstage when we did our real performance. One of the best costumes I had was when I was a lobster for "Alice in Wonderland". I had red spandex pants, a red tuxedo jacket and huge red felt claws. It was amazing. We had to skip around on stage wearing these felt claws. Another of my favorites was my first real tutu. I had a few long tutus before, but it's not the same because they aren't the pretty short skirts you always picture. I was proud when I got my first real short tutu because I was able to be in a pointe dance that year. I felt like a real ballerina. I still have all of my costumes at home in a box. Someday I hope my little girl(s) will have a lot of fun in them.

Reason #43 why Utah is dumb

As a Public Health major I recently was made aware of a shocking health issue that is not practiced in Utah. The state of Utah does not put fluoride in its water. Fluoridizing water is one of the ten greatest achievements of public health and Utah has refused to make its citizens healthier. Adding fluoride to the water has been proven to improve the dental health of people by decreasing the incidence of cavities. Fluoride is a mineral that helps build up the strength of teeth and protect against cavities. Every other state in the US has fluoride in the water. Why not Utah? Why are they refusing to start a practice that will improve the health of people? It's like saying, "No that's ok, I don't want to be healthy." There are two reasons I've heard of why this hasn't happened. One is that some people are opposed to additives in their water. They want it to be pure. There's already enough stuff in the water that we don't think about. The other reason is that dentists actually oppose putting fluoride in the water. They WANT people to get cavities so they can make more money off the people who need them fixed. Basically they are greedy. This is ridiculous. And yet another reason why Utah is dumb.

I am the Walrus

I am the Walrus is the name of a Beatles song that makes no sense whatsoever. It was pretty much written while they were high on drugs and they just wrote whatever they wanted to. What does my blog have to do with this? Well nothing really. It's just the Beatles in general. I feel that an upcoming event in my life is just like the Beatles breaking up. None of them went on to make good music, they just were not the same without the whole group. There was not really tons of success for the members when they tried to have solo careers. You see I have lived with three wonderful girls for three years now and it is soon coming to an end. I feel like we are the Beatles breaking up. For no random reason, I am Paul, Monica is John, Jenn is George, and Marissa is Ringo. We are all going our separate ways in the next few months and we are not going to be able to live all together ever again. This is really kind of depressing to me. I would never have thought that girls I met freshman year would become my best friends and that I would live with them for three years. We have had a ton of good times together and come to know one another really well. I'm going to miss the fact that we all know each other so well that we know how to tease, teach or torture with certain things we say or do. I know how to make them laugh or entertain them with stories. We've developed traditions, gone on vacations, made dinners, and made some lasting bonds. This is all ending because we have to grow up and go our separate ways. I'm not excited about this because I will have to live with people who I don't know as well that have wierd habits. It's just not going to be the SAME. Basically it's like the Beatles breaking up because I will never have as good of friends/roommates ever. It can't happen. Now I have to tell myself to enjoy the time we have left and have a lot of fun. I will miss these girls!! I think the lyrics to a different Beatles song fit. "I believe in Yesterday." But, "All you need is Love!"