the world needs more rock organ

So I was listening to my new Neil Diamond cd in my car (Hot August Night-Live, and I love it, thanks Stephen!), and this song came on that I wasn't familiar with. Neil was just spouting a bunch of names and got rocking, and I was really confused. But then it got to the rock organ part and I was hooked, it got really crazy after that. And I realized, the organ is something you don't hear too often in music. So I thought about other songs I knew that had organ, (besides motab or classical) and I didn't have too many. It's a shame though. Here they are:

Ok that version doesn't have organ, but just imagine it with organ on those trumpet/trombone parts. I just love Neil.

STYX Blue Collar Man-Monicky, I always think of you when I listen to STYX. Oh, and this is also a really good song to run to or drive fast in a car to.
STYX probs had organ on lots of other songs 'cause they were classy. I'm probably missing a Led Zepplin song or something.

And then! We were listening to the stream of Josh Groban's new album and he has organ on one of his songs! It's more in a classical music way, but it totally works. The song is Sincera and it's in Italian. Way to use the organ, Joshy!

Also, I missed celebrating Neil Diamond's birthday on January 24th, but let's just say every day around here is Neil Diamond day.

And tomorrow Mom and I are going to the movie theater for the cd release show of Josh's new cd, All That Echoes. I am going to pee my pants, I'm so excited. The album is awesome and probably going to be my second favorite after Awake.

Also, one time, I touched Josh Groban twice.
 

i'll have literature for 400, alex

So I've been having this literary crisis for about a month now. I can't find anything to read. I use Goodreads. I browse my local library's catalog online. I've been through Barnes & Noble twice and left sorely disappointed. I even tried the used bookstore and found a book that was mildly entertaining but a fifth grader could read it. I am desperate to find and decide on something that will fit the bill of being entertaining or educational and take me longer than three hours to read. I'm not that picky, I do like a quick read every so often.

And then I hear this conversation between two of my coworkers today, a little embellished "OMG you guys I finally finished the Hunger Games! It was soooo good. It took me forever but I'm so glad I read it. And next on my Kindle is Fifty Shades of Grey. It's soooo addicting and I hate it because you have to find out what happens next. I can't wait to read that series."

I just had to shake my head. No doubt this person has read all the Twilight books too. But here's the thing, I wouldn't call the consumption of these books "reading" per se. I guess one does have to physically read them. But they are definitely not literature. Ok, I have read the Hunger Games, they were entertaining, but I read them the summer everyone else was reading them and they were way over-hyped. They are decent. But not the breakthrough literature everyone made them out to be. They did make a good movie though. I also read the first Twilight book to see what the big deal was. Bella seriously made me want to vomit. Whenever I think about reading that book I think about Jenn's reaction, (paraphrased) "The description of Bella touching Edward's cold clammy body...ewww that's disgusting. What's romantic about clammy skin?" Tee hee. So yeah, I stopped there. And Fifty Shades of Grey? From what I hear, besides the fact that it is fan fiction spun off from Twilight (maybe that should tip you off), it's just plain smut.

A Plea: America, I need better than this. And keep it clean, please.

In other news I heard a charming story about Grand Central Station in NYC today on NPR which celebrates its 100th year this year. I also learned that the word commuter came from the railroads starting to offer commuted or discounted prices for tickets for people who were taking the train into and out of the city each day, as in "commuting a sentence" only their trip price. And that's how that word came to be. Knowledge. I like it. Thanks Mr. Vanderbilt. I've never been, but I'm sure I'd enjoy that historic piece of architecture.

2012: A Year

Changing things up a bit on my countdown-mostly cause I didn't make 10 friends this year. (only sort of kidding)

10 Firsts

First time reporting for Jury Duty and it was quite the experience-January

Got First place in the Carr family March Madness tournament-see proof below

First time I joined a gym-then it lost money and I had to join Gold's-I only sorta feel like I sold my soul to the devil...

First time I snow skiied behind a truck-At Scott and Katy's wedding in Colorado. Andy took us out in his truck and we zoomed all over the YMCA ranch at night pulling people on skis and plastic tables.

First time I went to Europe-that included a lot of firsts!!

First time on a real train-the Eurostar is the only way to travel between London and Paris!

First time I got Netflix-I know this is lame, but it significantly changed my media usage.

First time I went through the temple-Columbia River Temple in March

First time I quit my job-end of November, a good decision

First time a sibling got married-Jillian married Mike on December 15th

9 Entertainment Decisions

Downton Abbey-I got on that train, and it's so addicting. I also have already watched season 3 because I know secret internet things and was able to stream it from the UK. Plus I like watching it with my mom.

Sherlock-the BBC series. My and my mom like this one too. She really likes the banter between Sherlock and Watson-and also has a little crush on Benedict. We also hate waiting between seasons and cannot wait to figure out the conclusion to the Reichenbach Fall!!

The Muppet Movie-watched this on the plane back from Europe. Jillian was singing it all the time on our trip,  "Life's a fillet o' fish! Yes, it is!" This was very nostalgic for me, and they did a really good job on it. 

The Jazz Singer-NEIL DIAMOND being Jewish, singing songs. It's all one could ask for.

White Nights-Mikahil Barishnykov and Gregory Hines dancing to save themselves from the KGB. Again-it's all one could ask for.

Once Upon a Time-tv show, me and my mom watch this one too. Caught the first season on Netflix. I like all the fairy tale characters hanging out together. The first season was really good, the second is decent. But I am afraid for the show because it's made by the same people who did Lost and I know that show got out of control. 

Dance Academy-found this one on the Netflix as well. A good teenage comedy-drama. And it's set in Australia at a Ballet Academy in Sydney. It's actually a well-written show, but since it's on an Australian channel I have to wait for it to be on Netflix. But it's got ballet too, and I like it. 

Moving Up Living Down-cd by Eric Hutchinson. I didn't like this one as much as his first one, but then I listened to it more and it's fabulous.

The Kings Speech-caught this one on the Netflix, it was weird that Helena Bohnam Carter wasn't crazy in this movie. I love Colin Firth. I'm glad he won the Oscar, he was superb.

I also watched the tv shows Jane by Design and Hart of Dixie on Netflix and I liked them both but they are both teen comedy dramas. (I'm 13, didn't you know?)

7 Books 

I read a buttload of books this year, these were among the cream o' the crop

Team of Rivals-the new Lincoln movie is based on this book, it is amazing and Lincoln is baller.

Left Neglected

The House at Riverton

Joan of Arc-Joan is baller too.

Jane Eyre-I liked it more than I thought I would

The Hiding Place-Corrie Ten Boom is baller as well

John Adams-baller founding father, I tried to watch the HBO miniseries and only got through the first two. It's good though. 

Ok a few more than 7

I reread my Betsy-Tacy series and loved, loved, loved it.

Elegy for Eddie-Jacqulin Winnespear is probably the best writer out of all the historical mystery series I read. Her books are more than just a silly murder mystery.

6 Trips

Colorado in March for Scott and Katy's wedding

Europe!-in May-London, Paris, Florence, and Rome

Oregon Coast-in June-saw the beach, saw the dock that washed ashore from the Japan tsunami, saw sea lions, ate ice cream, had a bonfire on the beach. We had nice sun one of the days which is weird for Oregon. 

Leavenworth-July-we went horseback riding and then I got some delicious ice cream, but we missed out on the gingerbread factory. 

Utah for Bub's BYU graduation-August-btw, summer commencement is the way to go. A ton shorter and not as many people filling the towns restaurants.

Pullman, WA-to visit the Millers in October. My first time visiting Pullman and WSU. Although we did not get ice cream we did visit the bears and had fun at their ward Halloween party. 

Utah for Bub's wedding-December. I wore snowboots to Bub's wedding. Best decision ever. 

5 Friends

Brittney Davis

Dallin Shaw

Brigham Shaw

Meagan Mickelsen

Megan Lyon

Alexis Metcalf

4 Police encounters and little critters

Pulled over on the way to church for speeding-got a ticket

Pulled over late at night because cop said I ran a stop sign (I didn't), then asked if I were drinking (I wasn't), didn't get a ticket.

Pulled over on the way home from Leaveworth (around Quincy) for speeding. Cop was nice and didn't give me a ticket. 

Pulled over on the way home from Kennewick the day I quit my job, got a ticket, which made the day less exciting

Neighbors had the cops called on me, William and Bonnie, for sitting in his car in front of my house just talking at 10:30 at night. (It was really strange and random and my mom is now in a blood war with the neighbors).

Ran over a skunk on the way to Alexis' house in Feb. I used a whole can of Febreeze on the inside of my car. It's not like you can dip your car in tomato juice. My car smelled FOR-EV-VER. Don't run over a skunk if you can help it. 

Ran over a baby porcupine during glow in the dark Crank It Slow, I didn't see it but felt this huge bump under my wheel and then proceeded to freak out in case it was another skunk but it didn't smell. Someone who came behind me told me it was a baby porcupine, but I don't think I killed it. 

3 Concerts

Eric Hutchinson-in Spokane

Neil Diamond-in Seattle-My mom was fist pumping!!

Jason Mraz-the Gorge at George, WA

2 Olympic Games

London 2012 Olympics-were amazing and completely fulfilling and I didn't get enough.

London 2012 Paralympics-Because of Oscar Pistorius I became interested in the Paralympics. They are the same yet completely different than the Olympics and I loved every minute of them that I could get. Also, they made me not as sad that the Olympics were over. 

1 quarterlife crisis. I turned 25 and did not do well. So I went to Europe to feel better. Now I have accepted it just in time to think about turning 26 in a month. WTF?

Other Things of Note in 2012: I got released from Relief Soceity and put in activities committee. I planned an awesome Ettiquette Dinner in October that I had my mom talk at. People showed up dressed up and a lot of people came. I am proud of that one. I was a bridesmaid not once, but twice! Once for Nikita in June (I also threw her a bridal shower) and once for Bubby. I also did a buttload of work helping my mom for Bub's wedding and we are going to need about a month to recover from it. Many of my good friends moved away from the TC so life is a little less busy. My job was too ridiculous and my last two paychecks bounced so I said syonyara and had December off to help my mom with the wedding and Christmas. Stacey had a murder mystery dinner at the Hoyles for her Birthday and it was tons of fun. I wish we could do it again. I rented a Kayak on Labor Day with William and we had a good time paddling up the Colombia River. My peeps and I went to Benton City to watch fireworks this 4th of July and they were up close and personal. I had a blast planning and taking my trip to Europe and fell in love with London especially. I got a smart phone for Christmas and am now one of those people. 

The last four months of this year were honestly kind of hard on me. My job took its toll and I let a lot of things slide. I am looking forward to a new year, a new job and new fun times on the horizon. Let's have a lucky 2013!

the internet is dangerous

Clearly I need to do more with my life. But hey, I have an adopted panda and you don't.

reminding myself

Today, I got my eyes checked, donated blood and voted. How's that for accomplishment?! Booyah. 

I just wanted to write a note (mostly for myself) about meeting new people. I forgot that I liked doing that. When I donated my blood today my phlebotomist and I had a nice chat while he stabbed my arm and siphoned away my blood. We just chatted about this and that but he was friendly and it was easy. Do you ever feel like talking to someone you've never met before is easier than talking to someone you've known for a long time? I don't know if it's because they don't know a thing about you or if because you are unknown that you are still new and interesting, but sometimes it's refreshing.

I love my friends. But maybe I've been around my current ones too long. We're very comfortable but things are also a little stagnant. There's little discovery anymore since we know each other pretty well. It's possible I've gotten to comfortable and don't have to exercise the "meet new people" muscles very often. Which is probably not a good thing. 

I need to remind myself that it's nice to meet new people and I like to do that for the most part. 

i got to get this off my chest

Last weekend the General Authorities announced there would be a change in the age requirement for Young Women to serve a mission for the LDS church. It used to be 21. Now they lowered the age to 19. The men can now go at age 18 if they have a high school diploma or equivalent. I've heard a few reactions and now this is my reaction to those reactions. First off, I think it's great. I think a lot more girls will serve missions that may not have. Partly because if they were to mature to the ripe old age of 21 some would be married and thus ineligible to serve a mission. It may make life planning easier-I don't know, like going on a mission after a year of college instead of after three. It's great, it really is. Personally, I am having a hard time with some people's reactions. From Facebook, friends, blogs, feedback from my sister who is currently at BYU, I've heard several things. How the marriage age at BYU is going to increase because all the girls will be on missions, how Liberty Square (a place known for marriages and housing straight out of the dorm girls {I know, I lived there}) is going to be vacant next year, how there will be less dating in the dorms at BYU, whether there will be any boys at all in the dorms, how they can't make that joke about ugly girls going on missions because they couldn't get married because all the girls will be going on missions, yadda yadda yadda. I think this will be a very interesting cultural change for things down there. I'm not sure if the marriage age will increase, maybe the number of marriages will decline because girls aren't getting married as young because they will be out on missions during an age when many girls become married. It will be quite interesting. There are many blessings that come from serving a mission and it's great that all these people are excited about these changes.

However, I am having a bad reaction to some of the things I am hearing. Women who are upset because they would have served a mission had the age been lower at the time they were contemplating service but by the time they were 21 they were married or on the way to marriage. They feel cheated somehow. This really hurts me. A lot. I am a 25 year old single female. A BYU graduate who did not earn her "MRS" degree. I have been in the "singles" system for 7 years now and have endured a lot. It just gets harder as you get older. But to hear these women complaining that something is "unfair" or "too late" is unfeeling. How can they say that? Especially to their husbands? But think about all the single women in the church who have longed and ached for the blessings of a temple marriage-and these women are complaining they didn't get to serve a mission. Well, me not being married, I don't know how it would feel to have to make that choice. But obviously all these women had a choice at one point in their life. And they made it. Missions are wonderful. Marriage is too. I'm sure it was gut wrenching for those who had to decide. But to say you feel cheated? You made a decision base on your options and knowledge available to you at the time. How do you know that if you had gone on a mission that you'd still have the same marriage opportunities? You cannot go back so please, please do not regret your decision to get married.  This change has come, now, in the year 2012. It cannot retroactively change the past, but it will have a huge impact on the future. 

I read some comments on a blog that were sad. How one girl was sad she didn't go on a mission because she always felt she was not on the same level spiritually as her husband, and how she always deferred to him because he had served a mission and knew so much more than she did. I just felt sad for her. Going on a mission is not a prerequisite to gospel knowledge. Women and men who do not serve missions have just as much room to grow as people who do. Just because someone has served a mission does not guarantee a lifetime of righteousness or imply any kind of superiority. From a young age my mother taught me something that was very important to her that she learned from President Kimball-that women could be just as scholarly in the gospel as men. And she has striven to make this a part of her life. Yes, it is weird to be in Sunday School and hear all the "On my mission" comments. Especially when you are in a ward as a 19 year old girl with a bunch of 21 year old return missionaries. But then you get over it. 

I guess in the end I have to say a few concluding points. Missions are a priesthood calling for men. They are a wonderful option for women who want to serve. There will still be women who choose not to serve for their own personal reasons. I think what everyone (including me) needs to remember and have faith in is that Heavenly Father is mindful of us. He knows our righteous desires. He has a plan for us. That may be to serve a mission, it may be marriage and a family, it may be something else. But we need to recognize and have faith that what we do and have done is part of our Heavenly Father's plan for us. 

Sorry for the rant. But I needed to vent. I would like to read your comments if you'd like to make them.

*This is based off of my life and my experiences. I have never felt pressure from "The Church" or my parents to become married just to be married and be righteous. It is a goal and desire of mine. But whether the reason it hasn't happened yet for me was because of my options, choices, independence, focus on other goals, naivete, lack of skill, or whatever, I never have felt like I was only worth something if I were married. I have a strong sense of self worth, thanks to my parents and have tried to live up to my own capabilities.*

bacon number

So I recently discovered something that allowed me to figure out my "Bacon Number." No, not the delicious pork product but the number associated with Kevin Bacon. Also known as the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon." The legend goes that every star in Hollywood can connect themselves to Kevin in 6 moves or less. He's starred in many movies with many people so I guess it's easy to trace. You can even google it now just by writing in a name and adding "bacon number" afterward. So I now give you my Bacon Number and its moves.

#1 I am Meagan. I am related to my Grandma. Grandma Carr

#2 I found out the other night that Grandma and Grandpa Carr used to get some kind of insurance through a Homer Gere in Syracuse, New York.

#3 Homer Gere is the father of Richard Gere

#4 Richard Gere-googled his "bacon number" and found that he was in the movie "Pretty Woman" with Julia Roberts

#5 Julia Roberts was in a movie with Kevin Bacon called Flatliners.

#6 Kevin Bacon

mmmmm Kevin Bacon

That makes my Bacon Number-6 and if you know me then your Bacon Number is at the most, 7. Fun, huh.