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!"

Advice Column

There has been something on my mind lately and I would like to express my feelings about it. If I could I would write this and send it to an advice column.



Freshman Year-

College is a great experience. It's exciting, new, scary, and extremely tough all at the same time. There are a ton of fun times to be had and people to meet. The thing that makes me sad is the fact that there are freshman who are not having a positive first year experience. I had a blast my freshman year. I did a ton of stupid things, stayed up very late, slept in, didn't study and was a true and complete FRESHMAN. I know a handful of freshman who are very lonely, don't have a good friend to talk to, and don't really do fun things with other people. It breaks my heart because they should be having a great time not spending all their time alone in the library or lonely in their apartments.

There is a way to help this that I learned about my first year at college. First, moving away from home and living on your own with complete strangers is scary. I know that young adults don't want to admit it, but it's hard. I was homesick for the first two weeks of school. I cried the first couple of times I called home because I felt so lonely. The remedy to this is to get involved. Being involved in a ward, club, or social group gives you something to focus on besides yourself. It fills your life and you don't have time to be lonely. And you usually have fun doing things. Second, people are selfish and stupid. They usually won't come to you to make friends. So sometimes in order to make friends you need to suck up your pride and courage and make the first move. There aren't many people who won't be willing to talk to you and make friends. It can be hard to do. In the beginning I didn't know people so I would go to things by myself like sports games and concerts. It would have been more fun if I had invited people to go with me. I had a hard time learning how to befriend people, but usually they are waiting for an invitation so why not be the inviter? I made a few friends freshman year just by inviting them to come to dinner with me in the cafeteria. Then you look for more people who need someone to eat with and pretty soon you have a huge party going on. There was one boy freshman year who spent the whole year avoiding the dinner rush so he could eat by himself and not look wierd. Then my friends and I started making him eat with us when we saw him. We got to know him and he felt more comfortable. Hopefully he enjoyed his experience and felt like he could have friends. The best way to get more friends is to be outgoing and friendly yourself. This also helps to cut away the loneliness when you have good friends to surround yourself with. Pretty soon you will find that time has passed quicker than you thought and you want more time. It is best to live it up and not miss out on anything. Sometimes this means involving yourself, (again people are stupid and don't always remember everyone), but you will eventually have a great time.

I know that there won't be anyone who will really benefit from reading this but I just want to say that it is hard learning to live on your own, make new friends and start a college education. But I did it and many others did too. I used to walk around campus watching friends greet each other and wonder how they even knew each other in the masses of people when I couldn't recognize a face. Now I have the same thing happen to me. It just takes time and perseverance. Some of my best memories are from my times in Helaman Halls. Late night chats with friends, discovering facebook, photoshoots, getting stranded in SLC, going to Denny's at 2 am, wasting time at the cannon center, visiting hours, home teachers, functioning in a ward, the dollar theater, having the doorms be your whole world, watching the Amazing Race in the basement, ward talent show, being on campus late at night, late night antics in general, and yes even breaking my leg had some good experiences like having my own personal goodbye party, my girlfriends sleeping on the hard floor of my room for my last night, getting a priesthood blessing from newly ordained Melchezidik (?) priesthood holders, and the poster everyone signed. I have a lot of great memories that could not have been had anywhere else. I am grateful for the time I spent as a freshman in the doorms because it was the right amount I needed to handle in order to grow at that time. I just wish that everyone could have had as positive experience as I did. I know there are some tough things to deal with like roommates you don't get along with but you still can have a positive experience. I wish with all my heart that others will have a positive first year also.