I don't really feel at home in a place until I've found my own little spot where I can read a book, draw, or just meditate. When I lived at my parent's, it was my old beat-up pink chair (that coincidentally vanished as soon as I moved out).
Here, it's my roof:
This was last Friday when I had a Fat She-hermit (shermit?) night and devoured a pizza by myself while studying and watching the sunset. It was tragically beautiful... or beautifully tragic. I haven't decided.
As soon as I moved in I was psyched about the fact that our kitchen window led to the roof of our "shed/garage". I immediately got a camping chair so I could hang out out there but then the winter hit and it never happened.
But, now that it's warmer, I finally get to take advantage of MY spot. I've been out there almost every day lately, especially when I come home in an awful mood and need to zen. It really helps me not to freak out on the cats or my roommates when I've had a bad day. That, and I get a good amount of Vitamin D, plus the sun heats the bricks during the day so when I go up there in the evening, I can sit agains them and be all roasty-toasty. Only downside... sometimes Rick and Larry yell at me and disrupt my zen time. Rude.
Oh, it's also an ideal pranking location. I've gotten my roommate twice. The first time, he was cooking dinner and didn't know I was on the roof. Just as he turned around I jumped back in through the window and shouted "hey!" at him. Spaghetti. Everywhere. The con was that I had to clean it up. It was worth it.
In other news! I just got my graduation robes:
Yeah, that's happening. I liked the part where they sent them with a piece of candy. Like, here's your consolation prize! And if you don't blow it in the next month, we'll even let you have a degree!
I don't even like laffy taffy.
Oh, and latte art at the cafe : not awesome, but we're getting there:
I wish I'd taken a picture of the marijuana leaf I made. That one was pretty decent.
Not as a homosexual, but as a Mormon who lives and breathes the gospel but who thinks that rights are rights and my religious agenda shouldn't interfere with other people's lives. I believe in a separation of church and state and I like that my church and my government are their own entities. If anything, it gives the gospel more meaning in my life. Not everyone has the religious beliefs and upbringing that I have so why should I expect them all to adhere to the same lifestyle? If I expect people to let me practice my religion, why shouldn't they expect the same with their own practices?
There it is.
Today, half of my friends changed their Facebook profiles to the equality symbol. I would have done the same except for fear of stirring up controversy and unneeded contention in such a public arena. Maybe because I'm also a coward. I have too many people on my Facebook with differing views and I want to respect them all because they each have good reasons for their stances.
But I did want to say something and I think that as I have all of two people reading this blog, this might be the safest place to vent.
I could go on and on but I'll try to keep this brief:
I support gay marriage.
If you don't like it, don't have one.
It's not going to make your kids gay. Open-minded, maybe. And heaven forbid that happens.
Marriage is a sacred thing (and for me, it's eternal versus the earthbound marriage that's stirring up so much controversy) and I can't deny another person that privilege if it's what they want. It means sharing something with the person you love most. And if you truly care about that person, you should be allowed to be considered that person's family. It doesn't make marriage any less meaningful to me. I've seen more heterosexuals take light of marriage than homosexuals, in all honesty. It doesn't matter which way they swing. People are people and there are douchebags in every subculture.
Kids with gay parents don't typically care that they don't have a "mother" and a "father" (as far as I know). They have parents and I don't imagine they love them any less. Gender is not an issue. My friends who have gay parents are just as well-rounded as I am. A man and a woman can still be crappy parents just as a homosexual couple can (or not).
It's not going to lead to people marrying/having sex with goats. I'm pretty sure that stands under non-consensual.
One day, this issue is going to fall in line with women's suffrage and the civil rights movement. It's just bound to happen and we can't fight it. The fact that so many Christians are is making us very unpopular. Not that that should be an issue but it doesn't help our case when we complain about being persecuted and then go on to persecute others (not that all Christians are doing this).
If I have kids someday and one of them is gay, I don't want him or her to be afraid to be honest about themself with me or with society. I'm not very open about my views unless people ask because I know a lot of people won't accept it and it sucks. I don't want to put other people through that.
When my roommate holds hands with his boyfriend in public, it's not a statement intended to offend anyone. It's a simple gesture of affection and should be left at that. I'm not trying to offend homosexuals by holding hands with a guy in public.
Shoving my religion down other people's throats, when they don't want to hear it, isn't going to convert anyone to my views.
As far as I'm concerned, this is a social issue and my religion has nothing to do with it. I don't consume alcohol but we saw how the prohibition went down. We know making it illegal isn't going to make it go away.
It doesn't affect me. My friends having same-sex relationships doesn't mean I'm going to and it doesn't mean that Mormon temples are going to have to allow same-sex marriages. It's a private institution. And people have to be temple-worthy for it anyway.
Look at Canada... it's been legalized for years and their society is still standing. As Pierre Trudeau put it: "The government has no business in the bedrooms of Canadians"
Most of my friends right now are part of the LGBTQ community. And they're good people. My roommates are some of the most caring and pure-hearted people I know and yet they're met with so much hate, ignorance, and opposition over something that, as far as they're concerned, they can't control.
I believe in free love. Not in the sense of having sex with multiple partners but in the sense that everyone deserves my love and acceptance. As my church says: Love one another. Everything else is between that person and God. Live and let live.
Besides, if we keep denying gay marriage....
There, I got it off my chest. I'm sure there are great counter-arguments to most of what I said, which is why I don't try to stir up debates on Facebook. I could argue back and forth but it's not going to accomplish anything because people have their views for a reason. I probably know most of the arguments too. These are still my views and I'm sticking to them. I may not be very educated or politically involved but I can still think for myself. It doesn't make me a radical liberal, I'd just like to think it makes me a decent person with a little common sense.
Sorry, that wasn't as brief as I thought it would be. Here are some thoughts on love and commitment:
Sincerely,
Whit
(and I hope there are others who feel the same, even if, like me, they lack the courage to say)
As a side note: I really appreciate that my church has been reaching out with statements like this that clarify our stance: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-mormon-responds-to-human-rights-campaign-petition-same-sex-attraction
Birthdays are really controversial for me. I love them, I hate them, I sometimes wish we could just pretend they don't happen.....
I wish I could pinpoint what it is that gets me so bugged around my birthday.
It could stem from that one birthday party when my parents took me and all my tomboyish friends to a hair salon to get makeup and curly updos. After which, one of those friends told me that she didn't want to be friends anymore because I was too girly (I remember wanting to go horseback riding or to the fun center but for some reason neither of those happened, either it was a money thing or Mom had a girly agenda....hm....).
Or it could be that I don't like the attention. Or making other people feel obligated to celebrate me. Or just getting older and not feeling like I've accomplished much in general. I don't know, really.
Either way, I get all moody around bday time every year. It starts with getting slightly excited a month before and thinking maybe I'll actually plan something fun. Then the closer I get, the less zeal I have for even acknowledging it. Then I eventually get to the day and just decide to buy myself a congratulatory smoothie and go about my day as normal.
Anyway, this year was no different. I called my sister a month before and told her she should come down and we could go out and have fun on my bday. A week later I took it back but she was already set on coming (I didn't realize at the time but she had already contacted some of my friends to surprise me at dinner).
I thought about going to the Mummy exhibit that's in town but it was too expensive and people were busy so it kind of fell through. I finally settled on just hanging out with Hay and going out to dinner with whoever was available that day.
My day actually started really well. I woke up to this incredibly crappy weather and a barrage of text messages (I didn't even check my facebook until way later that night because it's too overwhelming, but the wall posts were appreciated nonetheless!):
(First day of Spring gloriousness!)
Ate a cliff bar and broke in these bad boys (thanks Mom and Dad!) with a nice run around my neighborhood:
I even got to race my good buddy, the mastiff across the street. He even stood at the ready until I ran past. I may have ran a few laps past his fence since he was so excited to race with me. And my Iphone is magical and always knows what songs to play. It was perfect.
I skipped Spanish class (Ay, no bueno!!) and lounged around the house watching some depressing biographical dramas from the punk-rock era with my roomies. I even gathered up the energy to try curling my hair while my roomies were out:
(Oh-em-gee, shameless selfie!)
At some point during this frustration, my roomies came in and yelled my name. They got a really crouchy response and then I threw open the door only to see them holding a box of my favorite vegan cupcakes. They sang Happy Birthday to me and I felt like a jerk. I may have devoured those cupcakes four times over. My roomies are awesome and they know me too well.
Then I pounded out some of my screenplay before Haley arrived. We went to Gateway and strolled through the Urban Art Gallery there and Haley bought me some prints for my wall (despite my objections to her spending money on me >:( ) < angry Jabba the Hutt face!
and we discovered a new Blickenstaff's had opened there and probably spent an absurd amount of time playing with all the toys:
(I'm the birfday princess and Harey is my gallant knight!)
We even found Bueno bars, which I haven't seen since Spain:
Then we got Rose Lemonade at Tony Caputo's and met up with Megs, Nick, Brady Kummer, and Cho at my house and drove to the Himalayan Kitchen for dinner. Devynne met us there as well. It was delicious and I was in heaven. The server was pretty funny too and nice enough to take an awkward photo of us with the aftermath:
(Cell-phone tower. So embarrassing....)
All in all it was a surprisingly great birthday and I actually felt pretty special. Gotta thank Hays for making it happen! I kind of blew the surprise by inviting everyone to dinner but they all conveniently had work off.... sneaky, sneaky. So that was surprise enough ;) Maybe I can get over this annual birthday crisis I seem to have.
(And to conclude...here is Cho's depiction of Kummer as a zombie. She claims the app was glitchy...I claim operator error. We had some fun goofing around after dinner and annihilated what was left of my cupcakes.)
Dear girl walking around a windy campus in a very ruffly mini-skirt,
My condolences for that poor life decision you made this morning. You seemed very uncomfortable having your butt cheeks exposed like that. It was a good idea, in theory.... Oh wait, no it wasn't.
But then I can't judge people based on the drowsy choices they make in the morning. Personally, I thought it would be fun to dance like an idiot while drying my hair and nearly knocked myself out with the hair-dryer. This is why mornings are the worst idea ever.
Dear God,
Please make it so mornings do not exist.
"Spaghetti-O's? Looks like someone's having poverty for dinner!"
"I've had these same earrings in for like 3 days...."
"For 3 days?"
"Yeah, I've slept with them, showered with them..."
"So, like, you're going steady?"
"Who bought this 7-11 toilet paper? Those opposed to chaffing say 'aye'!"
"I bought Ho-Hos!"
"I'm not gonna say it...."
"What? Were you going to say it's a reflection of what I am?"
"This is why I love you."
"Want a ho-ho, ho-ho?"
"You should tell your mom you're not feeling well again so she'll send us more candy."
Me - "I hate wearing dresses and heels."
Nick - "Oh, me too."
(this was followed by a long moment of me trying to figure out if he was being serious. He was.)
"What's with this welfare candy? Are we trying to repel trick-or-treaters?"
"Your food is what my food eats."
"Are you saying you're going to eat me?"
- regarding vegetarianism
"Nick, this yogurt expired a while ago. Do you think it smells bad?"
"I'm not going to smell your yogurt."
"Nick, smell my yogurt!"
(later, while eating the yogurt)
Me - "Why am I still single?"
"One of your people stopped by." - regarding my home teacher
"Oliver, come out of the closet, sweetie, I won't look at you any differently!" - regarding Nick's cat
I probably think we're funnier than we actually are....
I found this entry that I never published and figured I might as well throw it up here. This is more of just a journal entry.
2/12/2013
So, today was interesting and not in a super-exciting-let's-do-it-again way.
I started my day at the butt-crack of dawn assistant-teaching at an elementary school in Midvale.
Everything was going fine and we were just doing a simple tile-design project but then my boss quietly informed me that we were on lockdown.
The teacher at the school showed us an e-mail on his computer that said the school was on lockdown, there was a shooter on the loose, and not to stir up panic by telling the kids. That was all the info we got and you can imagine how our minds started to race given recent events.
We did our best to stall during the lesson so the kids wouldn't wonder why we were still there but we ran out of things to do pretty quick. I think I was too sleepy for it to really sink in that this could be serious.
After a while, the school just went on partial-lockdown and we were allowed to move to the other classrooms (although we were in trailers so that was interesting). The teacher pulled up this news article to show the kids what was happening: http://fox13now.com/2013/02/12/multiple-injuries-reported-in-midvale-shooting/ They weren't too concerned, I guess this is the second incident in the past couple months so they just joked about it and moved on. I had missed my class anyway so I stayed the entire day.
By the time I left to head straight to my other job, a police barrier had been setup so I had to take a massive detour to get to the freeway. I kind of hoped that meant they'd caught the shooter but I guess they just found his car at the Motel 6.
I love riding trax around Salt Lake. Ever since I was in High School and would skip school with my friends to go up to SLC, I've had a fascination with Public Transit. Some people find it tedious and stressful, but it's kind of the best part of my day. Here's why:
*The Scenery -
(I couldn't find any pics of the scenery but this is me and Linds on my 20th B-day at the Trax Station, it was a super fun day)
SLC isn't exactly gorgeous all the time with the smog and drab little buildings but I love getting to observe the city from the train and getting to spot out new places to visit. Sam Weller's - the Used/Rare bookstore (back when it was in Gallivan Plaza) was one of these finds. Best store ever, I'm sad they moved to Trolley, it's just not as fun. Also, I love seeing cool graffiti art and the trax line tends to go past all the best murals.
*Chillin' with Homeless Peops -
Yeah, some are mentally unstable and smell bad and maybe they won't leave you alone unless you give them some cash. But, there are a few gems on the train who just want to have a nice conversation. I remember one gentleman who used to hang out by the Smith's stop got robbed one day. He had a little red backpack full of all his possessions that someone took off with and his only real grievance was that they'd taken his bible.
Today, I met a real friendly guy who kind of made my day. I'd missed my train by a millisecond and was pouting on the bench when he came over and offered me a hotdog from the little $1 pack he'd just bought with a friend's food stamps (I declined, since I don't eat meat but it was really nice of him). He went on to tell me how he can't eat milk or gluten and so it's hard to find food he can eat for cheap. Then he read the label on the hot dogs and found out they contained sodium lactate. He vented for a minute about how hard it is to find things to eat and functioning with aspergers, then thanked me for listening, and went on his way. It kind of got me over missing my train.
Sometimes when I'm in a really good mood, I'll drop by the Wendy's next to Trax and get some value meals to take to my favorite hobos for lunch. Maybe I should start hanging with kids my age, oh well....
*It's my Fortress of Solitude -
I have a hard time being alone sometimes because I tend to think too much and get myself all depressed. I'm not as shy and introverted as I used to be and I feel like I socialize enough but when I'm alone in my house, I start to think like I'm the only person alive. So dramatic.... But being alone on trax, on the other hand, kind of makes me feel like I'm still participating and doing something without having to overexert myself. I love having an excuse to just sit and think and maybe read a book without the distractions I have at home or around a computer. For that 15-60 minute ride, that seat is my home. When I lived in Sandy, it tended to be the only time I did homework too....
A few weeks ago, I had one of those rare days where I got out of class and didn't have work or school for several hours and no homework to do. It was really nice outside so I got on trax and instead of going home I just road all over downtown and made a few stops at the Gateway, a little German bakery, and a bookstore. I chatted with some people at the trax stops and bought myself a treat at the bakery, which I ended up sharing with a homeless gal while I waited for the train. Probably one of my best days this semester.
Probably a weird way to kill boredom, but it beats wasting away in front of a computer.
