My first mission companion recommended this band to me because "la letra es bonita". She has good taste.
This was the first Latino group that I was ever conscious of. They have a soft spot in my heart.
OK. Some of you were present during "the summer of freaks and geeks". We used to watch multiple episodes of this vastly underrated show a night, waiting for a certain moment during the opening credits. Let's see if you can guess which part is was. Anyway. I feel the same way about this video, seconds :49 - :50. Love him.
This guy used to be half of Sin Bandera.
So there you have it. Four perfectly crafted reasons to love Mexico even more.
I am so excited for you to listen to this mix. It's a good one! I know I say that every time, but I REALLY REALLY mean it this time. I'm leaving in a week, and I think this mix is a good send-off. It pretty much encapsulates every emotion I have.
Whoever you are, wherever you are, I probably miss you.
1. "Cause in the summer weather, we'll put sunscreen on together, I would not want your skin to burn" True love is skin cancer prevention.
2: You may not want to listen to this song cause it will be stuck in your head ALL DAY. Quote from my brother watching the video:
Jeremy: So this is essentially The Royal Tannenbaums?
Me: Essentially, yes.
Jeremy: hm.
3: Who else thinks they should mash this up with Prince's "Kiss"? Just me? Oh. Ok.
4: Jhameel does some great covers such as "Heartbeats" (duh. you already know I'm obsessed with this song) and "Halo". Sometimes his voice sounds like My Chemical Romance, sometimes like Jamiroquai, sometimes like Jonsi, sometimes like Vampire Weekend. So pretty great. Right? You can download his whole album for FREE, though I encourage a donation. He calls his album an "expression of both my overwhelming love and bitter hatred for the human condition". Love him. 5 and 6: Look for these on Hype Machine. I guess none of my mixes are complete without a dubstep shout-out. 10: When I think Cold War Kids, I think freshman year at BYU. Music was my best friend that year... oh boy. 11: Thomas Mars is the perfect combination of Ben Kweller and Jim Sturgess. In terms of everything. 12: This makes me sad. Why? 14: Future camp-fire-hit-heart-break-song 17: You clicked on the link and watched the video right? You didn't?! Well, go back and click it right now. This song is magical. Now imagine that whatever cathedral hallway they are in is actually a hallway in HOGWARTS and Harry, Ron, and Hermione could come around the corner at any minute and start doing a jig. Even more magical. Now aren't you glad you watched that video? 18. :)
The New York Times sometimes posts poetrywritingstory things. These poems are short enough to fit in a twitter post:
Twitter Poem
The poem creates a space.
It hides in a tent in a forest.
Making its own bed it falls asleep in the dark,
wakes up under a lamp or the sun. Billy Collins, whose new book of poems is “Horoscopes for the Dead.”
earth donates
break in a wave train
fallout active plume cloud spills
red reactors give
cross characters translated
in kanji could say much more Claudia Rankine, whose latest book of poems is “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely.”
Teeny tiny poem
Teeny tiny poem/just enuf 2hold/1 xllent big word/Impluvium/open-eyed courtyrd/collectng rain/as all poems do/ skylife, open/birds do:/ tweet Elizabeth Alexander, whose latest book of poems is “Crave Radiance,” and who wrote and delivered a poem for the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
The times also did 6 word love poems. I think that the concept comes from this. They also have a book. My favorite?
"Waiting for us to be brave."
Pretty much sums up all of my dating experience at BYU. bahaha.
When I was on my mission, meeting odd people was a daily occurrence. I miss that. sometimes it feels like Provo lacks those eccentricities. I remember running into this man, we tried to talk to him, but, I don't know, he was full of this nervous energy that screamed "topo". Anyway, I think he new that he made us nervous so he bought us some candy or something and than told us to go to his website; "fiebre poesia". Now, looking back, I think he was really trying to be kind. Finally, over two years later. I checked that website out. Here it is.
Also, I just re-listened to this song that came out ELEVEN years ago. Wow. Still know all the words :)
Remember when Nelly Furtado was kind of folksy? Wha'happend?
Did anyone else watch it on CNN? I loved Anderson Cooper's attitude about the whole thing. It is summed up in the picture:
ambivalent
haha. It seemed like every five minutes he was saying "Let's listen to the crowds", and trying to get them to be quiet. But he got into it a bit later on. And I love Piers Morgan and I love Cat Deeley and I don't remember who else was there...but Vera Wang? I felt that was unnecessary. Whatever.
The dress was beautiful.
and the hats
fun.
And I also loved that Harry got to ride in the "Kids Karraige".
Awwww look at how cute they are!
I hear that Ellie Goulding will be playing at their reception "after party". So here's a tune for the happy couple. Wish them the best.
About twice a month, for the past 8 months, I have worked "standby" at Aspen Grove. Last night was my last lock-up EVER. I am done!
Here is a first-person account of what standby looks like:
The main duty when you work standby is to lock up all the buildings. I often dressed for this undertaking as though I were preparing for an expedition. You also need to carry a radio and the lodge cell phone in case you are needed.
Ready to go!
I never got used to this view
Over the bridge to Beckham lodge
The camp is usually deserted and quiet when it comes time to lock up. You will be by yourself, wandering around camp and through buildings in the dark. This is also a perfect opportunity for your co-workers to hide and pop out when you least expect it. They will take advantage of this opportunity whenever possible. This will put you on edge every time you need to lock up. Sometimes you will catch glimpses of yourself in windows and mirrors and you will freak yourself out.
Creepy, lonely hall
Creepy, lonely lobby
View of the pond from Beckham lodge
The paths will often be covered in ice and you will slip and fall. But it doesn't matter, because no one is there to see you. It is treacherous.
Bridge heading over to the Huish
Staff photos from winter. We are such a good-looking family. Ha.
The swimming pool
If you give a moose a muffin...he will become a nuisance, and extreme measures must be taken.
Most of the windows around Huish are buried in snow.
I often wonder if this his would be a defensive benefit or
a detriment in the event of a zombie apocalypse.
The Huish is a good place to do homework uninterrupted.
But you will probably end up playing the piano instead.
These are photos of a mini-avalanche that fell from the roof of our house.
I took two finals and turned in an essay; officially finishing my second-to-last semester at BYU.
That evening, I went over to Silvia and Dave's for Passover.
My experience with Passover is limited. When I was a freshman, a girl from my floor did a little passover thing in the basement because here father is Jewish. We did a sort of shortened version. This time, Dave led as the patriarch, and it was all in Spanish. The booklet we used included scriptures and thoughts from the New Testament that helped highlight the connection between Jewish ideas of sacrifice to the fulfillment of the covenants with the atonement of Christ. It was lovely. The ceremony really illustrated the concepts of trial, sacrifice, and patience, bringing them new meaning.
Today is Easter, and I think these examples show what this day is really about. Songs usually speak more eloquently than I can anyway.
"I’m not so much empathizing with his behavoiur as I’m empathizing with his nature. I guess I believe we all have the capacity for terrible criminal acts, and though I don’t understand how he did what he did and can’t imagine myself doing anything like that, I do feel that we often use criminals and these kind of horrifying anomalies in human naure as moral leverage to make ourselves feel better about ourselves. There’s a real division between what is bad and what is good. I’m saying that I think we all have the capacity to do this..." - Sufjan Stevens, June 2005
I think I've shared before, that it is easy to get caught up in the sad things in the world. Despite our good intentions, we slip up and make mistakes. Hopefully not to the extent of John Wayne Gacy Jr. but painful nonetheless. Our nature (the natural man), is so prone to be selfish and choose wrong. But we can have hope, and that hope comes through Christ.
The Salt Lake library never fails me. By chance, I picked up The Welcome Wagon's first album. I had been wanting to give it a listen ever since I heard this song* on Pandora before my mission. You can hear the Sufjan influence, no? That is because he produced this album. I love the Asthmatic Kitty family. I was worried they weren't sincere. I worry about sincerity a lot (see post on the Sufjan Stevens concert). Supposedly they are a husband wife duo and he is a reverend/minister.
I think they are earnest. This is the first track:
In the end, Christ knows our weaknesses and our faults, but he also knows our potential. He won't leave us alone. He makes up for what our "best behavior" lacks.
"For us our Heavenly Father gave His Son. For us our Elder Brother gave His life.
At the last moment the Master could have turned back. But He did not. He passed beneath all things that He might save all things: the human race, the earth, and all the life that ever inhabited it.
No words in Christendom mean more to me than those spoken by the angel to the weeping Mary Magdalene and the other Mary as they approached the tomb to care for the body of their Lord: “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen” (Luke 24:5–6)."
- President Thomas S. Monson, First Presidency Message, Apr. 2011
Here's to a happy and hopeful Easter!
Love,
Gretchen
*this song was inspired by this song by Brother Danielson. Yep. He usually dresses as a tree when he sings.
