Labor Day (AKA the official end of summer)

Summer Check List:

-Road Trip to California

-Manti Temple Pageant

-Found a job

-Passed my comps (hurrah!)

-Hiked Squaw Peak

-Read some books (mostly Hunger Games)

-Baked a moderate amount

-World Cup!

-Invented a diet based on a summer movie

-Road Trip to California, Again

-Taught exactly one (1) Sunday School lesson

-Went to IKEA a few times

-Threw a party for the World Cup (Lionel Messi's B-day)

-Went to Lagoon (pretty much THE theme park in Utah)

-Visited Seattle area

-Procrastinated all things related to thesis!

-Changed the color of my skin (aka got a tan, even if it doesn't look like much, it's still there)

-Procrastinated a hair cut

-Moved! At the beginning... (it threw me off to move in April instead of August, actually)

-Learned about The Wonder Girls

-Got lost in Midway

-Went camping with friends

-Provo Freedom Festival (three different days...)

-Camped out for 4th of July parade

-Watched a season and a half of '30 Rock'

-Went to Thanksgiving Point (Farm country)

-Went to my nephew's B-day party (he was visiting Utah right before moving to Tennessee)

-Went to a concert in Salt Lake and forgot my wallet (money AND ID)

-Went to a FREE concert in Salt Lake

-Went to a British Tea House in Salt Lake, then the British Store next door

-Ate Liege waffles once (1) and Belgian style fries once (1)! It's like being in Heaven, guys.

-Went to the Timpanogos temple (while Provo was closed)

-Played mustache badminton

-Provo farmer's market

-Bought a bike

-Discovered Sen. Orrin Hatch's (R) musical talents

-Helped some friends out with their mix tape release

-Attended said mix tape release party

-Never once (0) washed my car... gross

Riddles

Things that are absolutely true about me:

-I have red hair

-I absolutely love dogs

-I really, really, really like runny yolks

-I enjoy talking about several subjects without getting tired of them: Europe, France, French music, food, socialism, pop culture

-I am lazy and enjoy procrastinating

-I tend to blame other people for things (ie if someone is insulted by my sense of humor, it's because they're too sensitive, have a bad sense of humor, or something along those lines)

-I hate mingling

-I like people, for the most part

-I stare at strangers too much and don't particularly like eye contact when I'm talking, ironically

-I generally prefer the ridiculous to the serious

Recipe checklist

Recipes (on my notecards) that I have made:

-Avocado pound cake

-Texas flour tortillas

-Honey Whole Wheat Pound Cake

-Lemon Risotto

-Nancy Silverton's Bran Muffins

-Flourless PB&J cookies

-Bacon and tomato guacamole

-Hummus (two recipes; one on each side-- Simply Recipes and Ina Garten)

-White batter bread

-Lowfat oatmeal banana bread

-Avocado shakes

-Peanut Butter brownies

-David Lebovitz's chocolate chip cookies

-Almost flourless peanut butter cookie

-Zucchini pancakes

Recipes on my notecards that I haven't yet made:

-Chocolate nut bread (pain aux noix et au chocolat)

-Babaganouzh or Moutabal

-Falafel

-Tehina

-Rick Bayless' dairy-free avocado ice cream

-Hummus bi tehina

-Vanilla ice cream w/o the machine

Nous sommes ce que nous sommes: des hommes

Musical Songs I've Thought of/ Sung/ Referenced Recently:

-"Nous sommes ce que nous sommes" from Dracula: Entre l'Amour et la Mort

-"Master of the house" from Les Mis

-"Who am I?" from Les Mis

-"I Like Rice" from Home Movies episode "Writer's Block"

-"Stop Looking at his Particles" from a musical my friends and I wrote that I don't think ever even had a working title outside of "the musical."

-"Rum Tum Tugger" from Cats

-"Memories" from Cats

-"The Way We Were" from The Way We Were

-"A Little Fall of Rain" from Les Mis

-"Un peu de sang qui pleur" from Les Miserables

-"The Legend of the Rent" from School of Rock

-"Math is a wonderful thing" from School of Rock

-"Teacher's Pet" from School of Rock

-The Franz Kafka rock opera from Home Movies, episode "Director's Cut"

ROTFLOL

Reasons Why I Laugh So Much:

-Feeling awkward

-Finding things funny

-Having fun

-Giddiness

-Good ab workout

-Fond (and funny) memories

-Witticisms

-Good sarcasm

-Silly children

-Inside jokes

-Smug satisfaction

-A really good plan or scheme (more like evil laughter)

Nature vs Nurture

Things Lots of Other People Do Naturally That I Just Don't:

-get excited

-compliment people

-socialize whenever, where ever

-talk to people in the morning

-take initiative

-pay attention in engaging conversations

-smile at strangers

-show a full range of emotions

-say nice things to people

-ask questions that are practical

-like breaks from classes or graduating

-care about others' feelings in conversations

Things I Do Naturally That Lots of Other People Don't Seem to:

-talk to myself, pretty much constantly and about anything

-keep calm, or at least a stiff upper-lip

-keep my thoughts to myself in public

-enjoy silence

-enjoy solitude

-research everything ever just to know more about it

-accidentally scowl instead of smile

-space out, constantly

-giggle at seemingly nothing, pretty much everyday

-expect everyone to be independent and ask for favors

-expect things to be done for me (I've decided this is because I'm the youngest, so everything was always done for me growing up and it's hard for me to remember that I have to do certain things)

The Things that Take Up My Time Lately

My World Cup Teams That Have Lost:

-Argentina

-USA

-Cote d'Ivoire

-Brazil

-Portugal

-France (miserably)

Things I Mean to Read But Never Quite Get Around to:

-Notre-Dame de Paris

-Joe's novel

-In Defense of Food

-La Dame aux Camelias

-Any number of things I should be researching for my thesis

All I Really Want to Do of Late:

-Road trip to New Orleans

-Lay out in the sun

-Ride my bike random places

-Sleep

-Bake/cook random recipes and give them away to anyone willing to eat them

-Shop

-Go home

-Visit Seattle for a week

-Go to festivals/concerts

-Chat