New Music: Haley Reinhart

A week and a half ago, I logged into Spotify and one of the recommended new artists on the homepage was Haley Reinhart. Normally, I completely ignore Spotify's homepage and go straight to my own playlists, but for some reason, this time I decided to browse them and I clicked and started listening to Haley's debut album. And I'm so glad I did! I'm not sure how to describe her sound, but I think it's awesome. It has a classic, retro vibe to it that is simultaneously fresh, contemporary, and edgy. Take a listen to her performing live at the Hard Rock in Hollywood:

What do you think? How would you describe her sound?

"Keep Calm" Posters

I've never been a fan of the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster trend, but ever since I saw one of my best friend's versions of the poster that reads "Lose Hope and Despair," I've been a huge fan of the parody versions! There are a lot of them for sale on Etsy, like this "Freak Out and Throw Stuff" one, for instance.

Anyways, this past weekend has been a rather lazy one for me since I've been recovering from a cold and this afternoon, while I was messing around on my computer, I came across this site that lets you create your own version of the poster. I had so much fun playing around with different versions! Here are a few of the ones I made (feel free to download and print for your personal use):

This translates to "Deeds not words," and is the motto of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

This is, of course, a paraphrase of Lizzy's acceptance of Mr. Darcy's second proposal in the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice.

"Love Conquers All" 

"God and Glory"

A key phrase from Captain Wentworth's letter to Anne in Persuasion.

This is a paraphrase of the motto of the Air Force ROTC's Arnold Air Society motto: "The warrior who cultivates his mind, polishes his arms."

This is for my brothers Nano and Jon who are headed to cycling nationals this week. I hope they do well but most importantly, stay safe!

An epic line from the epic movie, Ben-Hur.

I thought it could be cute for someone to use this poster trend to propose.

In Persuasion, there are a couple quotes that talk about Anne having to choose between duty & prudence and romance & risk in breaking off her engagement with Captain Wentworth and in refusing the proposal of Mr. Elliot. I think this is a dichotomy that many people can relate to.

North and South is easily one of my favorite British novels and BBC adaptations. This is a line from Mr. Thornton's ill-fated proposal.

High Five for Friday 6/8/2012

1. On Monday I got to catch up with my best friend Kelsey. Now that she's working full time and I'm spending 3 days a week in another city, we haven't been able to spend much time together. It was nice to just sit and chat for a couple hours before heading over to Bible study.

2. I started a teaching credential program a few weeks ago that is about 1.5 hours outside of Sacramento, which means that I've been staying at my parents' place on the days I have class. Cora has loved spending so much time outside and running around with the dogs. Cannon, my little sister's huge Goldendoodle, is Cora's best friend and she always runs after him when I throw his ball.

3. I went to the movies last night with my mom and we saw Snow White and the Huntsman. It was really good, but sadly not as great as I was expecting. Something was just off. I wish they could remake the movie with a different actress as Snow White and some adjusted interactions between the characters. There was definite potential in the movie but it didn't quite reach it. I still recommend it though :)

4. One of the assignments for my credential program was to create a "memory book" of my five least and/or most favorite teachers. I really enjoyed the assignment! It was great to reflect back on what has made teachers either really good or really bad for me.

5. I made some more progress in my apartment! I cleaned up a few areas and I figured out how I want to (for now) finish off my art wall over my desk. I'm looking forward to finishing everything this weekend (hopefully!) and sharing some pictures next week.

Lining up to Lauren at From My Grey Desk.

Boys and Guns

After my brother returned from his first year of college a few weeks ago, one of the first things he did was buy a shotgun. My mom then decided that she wanted a shotgun for Mother's Day and Dad and us kids were more than happy to oblige her :). A couple weekends ago, my mom, two of my brothers, and I went out to a ranch and did some shooting. Although I must say, the boys primarily shot the guns while my mom and I primarily shot with the camera - hence the plentiful photos of my brothers shooting and none of my mom or me (I got off 16 shots and my mom fired 8, the boys shot over 100 between the two of them). Here are a few of my favorite photos from the day:

It was a beautiful day! This lake, which in my not-too-distant memory was once riddled with litter - oil cans, tires, old cars and the like - was looking quite pristine. The sky was beautiful, the sun was out, and there was a slight breeze to keep things cool.

My brother Joe and his shotgun. He and my mom got the same exact gun except my mom's is short-barrel.

Action shot of the empty shell being spewed from the chamber!

My brother Nano looked totally legit with his surplus store pants and black shirt.

Discussion Post Wordle

I thought it would be fun to create a Wordle of the online discussion posts I wrote for the class I took last semester on researching teaching writing. I somewhat randomly chose about 75% of my posts for this and I think it turned out really cool!