My grandma Billie Ann is in town, and we were in a whirlwind of preparation for Duncan's farewell party last night. There were multiple trips to Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Costco, Giant, Wardell's, Assal (the Indian market), and Abiki (the Asian market). Not to mention, Anthropologie, J. Crew, and Sur la Table. Everything went off beautifully. our prayers for a sunny, rainless day were answered. The food was great. Everyone had fun. In the Devine/Hartt family, there is no such thing as a run of the mill backyard party. We had mu We listened to this cd while we were driving around:
You can listen to some of it here. I was in Women's Chorus when I was a freshman at BYU, so I got to be part of the recording! (I sung on tracks 3, 6, 7, 8, 11, 14) One of those songs is called "Things That Never Die," and it is one of my favorites:
The pure, the bright, the beautiful
that stirred our hearts in youth,
The impulses to wordless prayer,
The dreams of love and truth;
The longing after something's lost,
The spirit's yearning cry,
The striving after better hopes-
These things can never die.
The timid hand stretched forth to aid
a brother in his need,
A kindly word in grief's dark hour
that proves a friend indeed ;
The plea for mercy softly breathed
when justice threatens nigh,
The sorrow of a contrite heart-
These things shall never die.
Let nothing pass for every hand
must find some work to do;
Lose not a chance to waken love-
Be firm, and just, and true;
So shall a light that cannot fade
beam on thee from on high.
And angel voices say to thee---
These things shall never die.
I couldn't find a video of us singing, so this will have to do.
I hope you had a happy Sunday, and that you will have a lovely memorial day.
I miss saltenas.
I miss greeting everyone I meet on the street.
I miss South America.
I miss who I am when I speak in Spanish.
Luckily, I am not alone. Yesterday, I went and helped the Spanish branch with a Mutual activity. Hopefully this will be a weekly thing where I can help the ward out, and brush up on my Spanish at the same time. The kids were sweet, and though they are all at different places in life, at different schools, and facing different challenges, they were generally kind to one another. Really, they were great.
My name is the bane of my existence in the latino world as Gretchen is not easily pronounced.
So I was christened "Eli" (Ellie) instead, since Elisabeth is my middle name. And for the rest of the drive from Mutual, I listened to reggaeton.
I've liked the past week or so in Virginia and I keep telling people that I could really settle here. But sometime soon, I hope to get on a plane and not come back for a while.
I need to go back to my "roots"
I want to go back to Santa Cruz and see the rest of Bolivia
And maybe even go to my on of my best friend's wedding here!
Till then, I will watch this video over and over again, sympathizing with Kermit the Frog.
and then watch this one over and over to pick up my mood.
I would like you to examine the list below closely. These are concert dates for the Arctic Monkeys. One of these things is not like the other:
28-05
First Ave - **SOLD OUT**
Minneapolis, MN (18+)
30-05
The Ogden Theatre - **SOLD OUT** Denver, CO (16+)
31-05
In The Venue Salt Lake City, UT (All Ages)
02-06
The Fox Theatre - **SOLD OUT** Pomona, CA (All Ages)
03-06
Hollywood Palladium - **SOLD OUT** Los Angeles, CA (All Ages)
10-06
Don Valley Bowl - **SOLD OUT** Sheffield (All Ages)
11-06
Don Valley Bowl - **SOLD OUT** Sheffield (All Ages)
Well look at that; Salt Lake still has tickets! This is almost always the case. It is also one of the only downfalls to being in DC for the summer. Their concerts sell out quickly. Foster the People, Avett Brothers, Rosebuds... I will be missing all of you this summer.
But you know who I might actually be able to see? SONDRE LERCHE! He's coming here June 7th. Is anyone around D.C. going? Anybody?
I'm not married.
I don't kids of my own.
But considering that for the rest of the summer, I will mostly be socializing with beings 20 years younger than me, you better be ready for some kid stories.
oh dear.
I've turned into a "mom blogger" without actually being a mom.
Anyway.
The first kid I watched today was so funny. He LOVES music, so we got along swimmingly, especially when I found this in his cupboard:
It has kids songs by Guster, Cake, and Billy Bragg.
That is neat.
He also plays the drums really well. Like I'm not kidding, the boy has rhythm. I mean, he's at least as good as Meg White, at least.
One of the other boys I watched today was a smarty too. He was jumping around the living room, trying to do barrel rolls and stuff. I said, "Wow, you're pretty good. You must be an acrobat". He kind of gave me a look of disdain and said, "No, I'm a break dancer".
Then, when he was getting ready for bed, he was trying to find excuses to avoid it. He tried adjusting the drapes, picking out more books to read, etc. Finally, I was about to leave the room, and he said,
"Wait! I have a problem".
"What?" I answered.
"My tongue is REALLY hot."
hahaha
"Uh, would you like some water?" I asked.
"Nah," he said. "I'll just sleep with my mouth open".
Then he closed his eyes and settled down with his mouth gaping open.
During the post-finals lazy days, I found a movie at the library:
This movie got mixed reviews.
But for what it's worth, I think it's worth something.
You know who else has mixed reviews? The screenwriter: Lars Von Trier
He's been in the news lately because of his confused musings on Nazism, art, and his mistaken Jewish identity. You can read a bit about it here. You can watch his comments, (and watch Kirsten Dunst feel totally awkward) here. He was banned from the Cannes film festival, and kind of sort of apologized.
I don't know.
They showed The 5 Obstructions at BYU's International Cinema last year, and it essentially solidified my opinion that Trier is a pretty twisted individual and that he will do whatever necessary to get under peoples skin. We watched Dogville over Thanksgiving a few years ago. Yeah, why did we rent that movie? It is a great/horrible film that leaves a pit in your stomach.
SO
I was interested in how Dear Wendy would turn out. It has Jamie Bell, who I've had a crush on since Billy Elliot came out like, 10 years ago. He's great. The soundtrack is KILLER with most of the songs by The Zombies. The movie is kind of disconcerting, but not overly so like Dogville. I was most interested in it because it was essentially a cinematic presentation of Latour's thesis in "Pandora's Hope" (the one I talked about last time). Anyway, the movie is a commentary on America's general fascination with guns. I've always been sort of ambivalent about guns in general, but it has become increasingly clear to me that these are issues that we need to think about.
