Lowered Expectations Make For Great Viewing

So my sister Emily and I have a time-honored tradition of going to the midnight premiere of the latest stupid twilight movie and quietly mocking it amidst the general screams and cheers of girlish fans. We enjoyed the past two experiences greatly, with much shared laughter. But this time, upon taking our seats, we were unable to laugh more than a few times. We barely snickered at the plot. Taylor Lautner was bare-chested fewer than ten times. Edward stopped looking painfully at Bella and started to actually say things. Even Bella was less annoying. We were so prepared for sheer idiocy (reminiscent of the terrible New Moon ordeal), that we were able to be blown away by the final movie.

Eclipse wasn't half bad. Of course, by movie standards I'd give it a C+, but by twilight standards, it gets an A. When you walk away from the laughable teenage sexual angst of New Moon, anything resembling substance suddenly seems like the greatest film ever made. Eclipse was just such an experience. Yes, it was overly long and the Bella/Edward scenes could have been cut in half, but the exciting action and the thrilling music score made for an enjoyable experience. Emily and I even agreed that we might rent this movie from a redbox at some point in the distant future. It was that not-sucky.

Employed Again!

So today I started training for my two new jobs. The first one is for Carl's Jr. I get to be the cashier because my new boss says she wants my winning smile out in front of the customers. Yippee. Then I drove 45 min downtown (behind the Bellagio, just past the Palms) and started training on shirt variations and sizing at this bridal and tuxedo renting place that caters to the casinos. I learned how to steam shirts, raise and lower hems, lengthen pants hems, package gowns, and measure men for tuxedos. Did you know that the pants are meant to start at a man's waist and not his hips? That's news to me. And also that you're supposed to leave a finger's-space in the collar after you measure it. Guy's shirt measurements are crazy weird. And women are worse.

But anyway, I'm pretty excited that I have work. Hooray! And next Monday I start school again. So long story short, when I applied for graduation at the community college two years ago, I was already at BYU, and the registrar's office totally sucked and never returned my calls. After a few semesters, I tried to contact them again, but I was confused because they kept claiming I had a class missing. Because CSN really, really sucks, I could not get ahold with an actual person to find out why I couldn't graduate or what class I was missing. So a couple of weeks ago, I walked into CSN's Cheyenne campus and spoke with a counselor (coming in first thing in the morning and still having to wait an hour). She told me I was missing a communications class and that I couldn't file for graduation without it. So I signed up for the class this summer.

I guess that wasn't really a long story short, but I am pretty excited that I'll have some sort of degree from somewhere. I've been telling everyone that I have an associate's in poli sci, but until the end of July, that's not necessarily true. So I've really got to buckle down, because even though summer classes are crazy short (my course is only 4 weeks long), they're super intensive. I've got class four days a week. And two new jobs. Finally, I'm productive again! Hooray!

Plus I got a new pair of work shoes today. So I'm pretty happy.

Summer Update

Did I tell you guys my family has a **GARDEN**??!! It's so pretty! We planted herbs and peppers and sunflowers and a whole buttload of other vegetables and flowers and stuff in this varied mixture of useless and useful plants. It is the coolest thing in the world to see the sunflowers growing taller than the corn stalks. The only downside is that we don't have sprinklers installed yet so we have to water them by hand twice a day and there are THREE TIERS of crap growing out there! That part really does suck. The back of my neck is sunburned. :(

In other news, I'm learning the cello. I'm on day 5 of practicing. I know I'm holding the bow wrong because my right hand keeps cramping up, but I can't remember the brief lessons I paid for, like, four years ago, so I can't remember all the things I "learned" back then. Oh well. Rachel1 is learning the violin so together we squeak through a few hymns every night. It's been hilarious to watch our family wince at our screeching. My parents have always been especially positive about music education, so they're 100% supportive of our sudden, random interest in string instruments. After years of trumpets, mellophones, French horns, flutes, oboes, bassoons, saxophones, clarinets, trombones, and pianos, they have to act really supportive over Rachel's and my new hobby. Even if it kills them, which it probably will--inexperienced cello players can burst ear drums. It's unholy the sounds that a bad cellist can create.

I'm also losing my summer tan early this year because it's too hot to read outside. Blah. Oh well, pale people are attractive too...in Japan. Seriously, though. My friend Lisa is half Japanese and extremely pale, and when she flew to Japan, people on the street stopped her frequently to touch her face and arms because she was so white. It's apparently very attractive there. Did you know those Japanese masks they make contain bleached bird poop? That's kind of cool. My old gate teacher told me that. Don't remember much about the Jason project or the Mars project anymore, but I remember the Japanese bird poop masks. It's crazy the things you remember, right? Or don't remember, as the case may be. As the case always friggin' is.

Anyhoo, that's what's going on in my life right now. What's new with everyone else?