Merry Christmas!

This post, so soon after my last, is partly happening because I feel the need to overcompensate for the negativity of the saran wrap incident. But mostly it's because....I LOVE CHRISTMAS! YAY!

This Christmas was fun because I was like, "I think I'll actually get presents for people this year! Good idea, me!" And then I did it*. Mostly for Mom, who probably got a record high big haul this year. It was splendid to be excited to give people things. Funny how a little bit of preparation does that.

(*there are at least 2 people for whom I still have not shopped. Not from laziness!!! ... well partly from laziness. But really they are so hard to shop for! And I know that even though they say they don't want anything, they want something. Also there is a third person for whom I've only partially shopped. SO I really need to get on that... starting Monday.)

This is also a grand time to mention that I love people, and how they're all different and weird, ofttimes endearingly pathetic or heartwarmingly silly, if those two adjectives can even go together, but regardless there are many people and they are all wonderful in at least several ways.
There is one person who walks by Funfinity several times every day, all day long. He is a middle-aged man with long hair. He wears a trench coat, and from what I can tell he does nothing but walk up and down Springville main street for hours. I bet he's very in shape. Sometimes I say hi to him when I'm outside putting plasmacars on their display rack, and he nods back. I like that guy.
There's also this girl in my ward, who is always excessively happy and makes me feel loved whenever I see her. She's even nice in the same superfluous way to people I'm less fond of, and it always makes me think that I really should probably be more fond of them, since she is, and she's awesome. She's going on a mission in ten days. She is delighted with her life and I'm delighted to know her.
My family also watched Mr. Krueger's Christmas last night, as it is a warm fuzzy Christmas-y movie and a good way to start off the eve before Christmas. Mr Krueger is, of course, not a real person but I'm sure he is very similar to many real persons in life. His sweetness and hopeful attitude make me happy inside, and every time those carolers are about to leave his house I want to say, "nooooo! go back in and have his chocolate!" Because if they did, they'd get to know one of the coolest people ever. Plus he's Jimmy Stewart (don't they know???) But really, I like people like Mr. Krueger in real life.
Summary: I'm super glad that I am surrounded by people. They are the jelly on the toast of life. Even though they sometimes do obnoxious or thoughtless things (like we all do), it is probably people's endless capacity for love and goodness and laughter that most keeps me in awe of the magnificence of God's creations, 'cause only He could create something so wonderful (like amazing people) that it fills you up from the inside like sunlight to watch them. That's kind of what I've been thinking about this Christmas.

One last thing -- I got a new camera for Christmas! (*rraaahbhhhhghhhh!* = wild applause from ALL my many blog-fans) This means that maybe now and then I'll take some pictures, and put them here, and this blog will then become the most amazing incredible masterpiece of the whole blogosphere!!! Since that's basically the only possible outcome of the whole camera/picture addition.

Merry Christmas!

Love,
Tara

Saran Wrap

I learned this today:
If you are already irritated, don't even try to mess with saran wrap. It crumples up into a ball of malignant plastic meanevilhate which then sticks to everything but your pasta dish. And that happens.

A Storyful Story

So last week in my email to Spencer, I was trying to fill up space and ended up writing what I have dubbed a "Six Minute Scribble", which is pretty much what my creative writing always is. It basically means I start to write with no idea what I'm writing about, for anywhere for 5 -10 minutes, and hopefully some kind of coherent story comes out of it. Since I never post anything, I thought this tale would be as good as anything to distract my few readers for a couple of minutes. (The art isn't mine. I wish.)
Ahem... Once upon a time there was a rooster who was very gloomy. All the time he waddled around, grouching at various animals on his farm that they were too loud, or too cuddly, or too annoying to exist. Everyone took his grumpiness with good humor, because he was the rooster and had to sport that ridiculous red floppy thing on his head, so naturally he'd be a little miffed. They didn't listen to him, however, and continued to remain loud, cuddly, and annoying.

One day the Sun rose into a beautiful, cloudless sky, and the rooster opened his crusty, beady, grouchy eye.

"Harumphhchc!" He half cackled, half gurgled through his stained beak. "Another stunningly bright, blinding, horrible day. I wish the Sun would never rise so I could live in my grouchy, uncuddly, annoying state forever in the cool darkness of night and never have to see all the other things around me."

Suddenly, the Sun revolved, and turned to the rooster with a face full of distress.

"Poor little rooster," said the Sun. "The world is full such beauty, such color, such lovely noise. Each morning I rise so that my Earth friends may have light to see all the pleasant things of the world, but you see none of it."

"Harumphhchh," gargled the rooster. "There is nothing beautiful about your light or the world. It's cute and fluffy and full of silly, loud creatures. I'd much prefer to live in a world that is always dark and silent."

The Sun thought for a moment, then beamed a bright and glorious smile.

"Very well, young rooster," he said with a voice dipped in ancient wisdom. "I will grant you your desire. Today I will go away, and I will not come back until you call for me to come."
"Not very likely!" The rooster cackled grumpily. And with that, the sun turned back around, and left the sky. All was dark again.

In the blackness the rooster could hear the uneasy shuffling and squawking and snorting of the other animals. "Serves you right for being so pleasant all the time," he grumped. Still, he was pleased that he had gotten what he wanted.

The day passed in muffled silence. No one knew what time it was (for this was in the days before time-keeping pieces were invented, though it would have been too dark to see them even so) and it was rather chilly. At first the rooster didn't mind the cold, for he had his layers of feathers to help him stay toasty. But when he thought several days must have passed, his beak began to chatter as he shivered.

"Haa--ruuu--mphhh!" He chattered. "N-nnoo ch-ch-channc--cee of eeev-verr call-ling back-k-k that an-n-noying Sunn-n!"

His crusty, grumpy eyes began to hurt from straining so hard to see all the time. And worst of all, thought the rooster, worse than anything else, the other animals began to realize that the Sun might never return. Slowly but surely their muffled noises of concern turned into screeches and wails and whinnies of full-on panic. The noise was so loud that the rooster greatly wished his wings were better able to block his ears and keep out the cacaphonous noise.

"Auughh!" He shivered and grouched. "Th-his is worst of all! I've nev-v-ver hear-d-d such an awfffful racket-t-!"

Stubbornly he stood, cold, hurt-eyed, and annoyed to the extreme by all the noise. All at once he could not take it anymore.

"Alright!" he yelped! "Alright, Sun! You win! I want to see! I want your warmth! And most of all, I want these annoying cuddly creatures to stop their racket!"

But the Sun could not hear his creaky, quiet old rooster voice over all the other animal's noise. What to do? Thought the rooster. Of course, he knew, to be heard he'd have to make the loudest, most obnoxious noise possible. So he gathered up all his stale rooster breath...

"COOOOCKKAAADOOODDLEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He crowed!

All the animals went silent.

And slowly, slowly from the east, pale light began to rise on the horizon. Tingles of warmth began to flow through his ruffed rooster flesh. The light grew brighter and brighter until at last the Sun rose, a glorious glowing orb in the sky that showed to the Earth the magnificent color and variety that abounded.
He turned once again to the rooster.

"Well," he said, "how did you like your time in the dark, grouchy rooster?"

The rooster looked grumpily down at his creepy feet.

"I didn't like it very much at all, Mr. Sun. All of the cuddly, annoying animals were even louder and more annoying than ever. Comparitively, their noises at the moment are quite pleasant. And besides that it was very cold and my eyes hurt from trying to see without success."

"Yes, there are many reasons why Earth needs her Sunlight," said the Sun. "And it seems you have learned your lesson. But from now on, every day when I'm about to leave my horizon bed and rise up into the sky, you must first call to me with your rooster cry. Then will I gladly climb the skies, bringing my warmth and happiness to even the grouchiest, weirdest looking old creatures that live."

And with that, the sun turned its face and continued its arc across the sky.
And that's exactly how it happens, every day.

The End.

So there you have it, my six minute scribble.

"There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein."
-Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith

Eggplant Girl

Welllll, shockingly enough, it would seem that someone other than my family reads this blog from time to time (ahem...Sarah) and she, the paranthetical presence I just mentioned, has requested an update on my blog. I'm going to have to start getting creative here so that I can make frequent enough posts to satisfy her blog-stalking desires.

I have to admit, though, I'm all for blog-stalkers. I already have a journal which is not meant for prying eyes. This, on the other hand, is here so people will read it and ho and hum along with my annoyances, laugh graciously at my lame jokes, oo and ahh at my inspiring words, and so on. So please, if you are blog-stalking me right now, even as you read these words...read on, reader. Read on.

Since I have nothing to say, I shall tell you a sad tale.

Once upon a time I lost my camera, and ever since then I have not been able to post an original photo to my blog.

The End.

(I know, I know. This from the girl who wants to be a writer. Sigh)

I feel bad about not making my blog more visually interesting, so here is a picture taken by Yours Truly:

It's basically cruel for me to blog this picture unbeknownst to the subject, but I justify it because I have a reason for displaying my best friend's picture to the blogosphere. Melanie is Engaged! Woohooo! She and her high-school sweetheart/recently returned missionary are getting married in December, which means that both of my best friends, all the way from back in the days of Springville High through to our college years (so far), found mawwage in 2010. You go girls!

My other justification is that she posed for this pic. She had it comin', I say. But dang, eggplant never looked so good. Am I right?

In other news, I have a sticker on my bathroom counter that says "I Make A Difference". Why do I have this sticker? Why do I make a difference? Because...I donated blooood today! It was the most painless blood-draining experience yet, which is pretty good. One thing I find interesting is that the girl who stuck me didn't quite get the vein right off and had to fix it... but I'm not bruised. But the finger they had to poke for my blood test is turning all sorts of purple-y. Crazy! That's never happened before.

I guess I'll make a book plug too. I read Incarceron this last weekend and it was very imaginative. Kind of to the point where it was beyond my ability to follow along visually in my mind, because my mind was blown. Yeah. It was good though, really creative and engaging I thought. Read it. If you want. Maybe, like, if you're bored. Or mind-hyper.

Alright, one last by-the-by comment that I've realized (er, remembered) this last week: Choosing gratitude over complaint can help smooth out even the most wrinkly days.

And that's a wrap. Blog successfully updated. :)

"A friend of mine once sent me a postcard with a picture of the entire planet earth...on the back it said, 'Wish you were here'"

-Steven Wright

The Network

This is going to sound pathetic.

Sometimes facebook (yep, I'm referring to that old beast again) crashes, goes super slow, glitches...whatever. It does something it's not meant to do, and in that moment, a brief spasm of frustration slices through my mind-numbed internet haze.
Which wakes me up, and I realize ... I'm still on facebook.
Ugh!
This just happened to me, and I thought to myself, "well this is interesting. Facebook sometimes comes along with it's own built-in repellent...imperfection!" Thank goodness it stops working sometimes, seriously. Every time that has happened that I can remember, I end up closing my computer, annoyed, and trot off to go do something else! It's truly amazing. I wish facebook crashed every other minute.

Anyway, I feel slightly idiotic even posting about something so menial, but it clarified my predicament (being...ahem...addicted to facebook) so nicely that I just decided to tell everyone about it.

Maybe I should have someone unplug the wireless every now and then... just to make sure.
(except not really, Mom. I am in online classes after all.)

At times my mind argues that anything internet related is similarly wasteful. Like blogging for example. Am I not wasting time still by sitting in front of my screen, watching these very letters appear one by one as I type? I would say nay. While blogging, my mind is working, my eyes turn ceiling-ward every now and then in actual thought, and that little place inside that is somehow linked to my creativity wakes up, warm and growing, eager to be put to use after a long and dusty wait. I love that little creativity creature that lives inside me, but Oh How I Neglect It!

Anyway, basically this is my public declaration of what I've already decided to do, what I've been trying to do, for the last few weeks.
No more turning to the dreaded social networking drug in any and all spare moments.
No more succumbing to Laziness, Laziness with a capital L because it's the pathetic kind with no excuses like "I just got back from track practice"... or "I just had a baby"... ya know, something like that.
No more feeling my life-minutes drain away as my friend browsing turns from useful updating to obsessive, bottomless time wasting.

It's time to acquiesce to that little being inside me who has been yearning for my growth, lingering hopefully for the chance to work its magic and give me a life that will be, if not extraordinary, then at least satisfyingly enriched with good and needful things.

"Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense."

-Ralph Waldo Emmerson

Autumn

As usual I've got nothing enlightening or exciting to talk about, but if I'm going to have a blog I might as well write on it, right?

So here's some thoughts:
-why haven't I read Calvin and Hobbes in years? An oversight that ought to be immediately fixed.
-Community and 30 Rock started again tonight. They are both SO good, but I'm gonna have to go with Community for winner of current favorite show.
-since I'm on the subject of shows, I'll mention that I finished watching the last season of Lost, and it is aptly named. I'm totally lost on what happened.
-I still like my job. Not bad, not bad. I even actually do stuff, all the time, actual work ... and I still like it! Maybe my laziness is slowly fading away....
-I REALLY really REALLY need to start painting or drawing again. Why don't I ever do it! How can I possibly be so boring as to find facebook more entertaining??
-Speaking of facebook, time to get off, Tara! Do something fun or active.. or anything.
-I've started reading again, and I highly recommend it.
-Book is not going so well. Probably because I don't do anything with it usually.
-I'm feeling fall coming, and while I dreaded it those first few days (walking outside and hitting a wall of cool air was shocking and distressing) I've reached the "Point of Delight" which is the point in any season where I stop thinking about the negatives (e.g. fall = one season closer to winter. This is the only negative to this time of year) and begin to delight in the good things.

Good Things about Autumn:
Thanksgiving!
Pumpkin carving
Dressing up idiotically for Halloween with friends, going out in public, and feeling silly about it constantly but going along with it anyway because all your friends are having fun
Haunted houses/forests, which I actually hate but look back on fondly in my memory for some reason
Changing leaves
Perfect weather...for about 2 weeks
The colors complement my hair...well, they do!
The season premiers for excellent shows such as Castle, Community, and others (this is recently added and not really high on my list.)
School starts! (well, that used to be a reason)
The need to wear a light jacket almost daily

Ok that's all I can muster. If i'm being honest I could probably talk about how this whole post is one big attempt to procrastinate readings for my psychology class, but I'll just lie and say it isn't.

New

Well, it seems that my blog somehow had it's background deleted so this is the new change.

I know, I know. It's grayish, darkish. Almost depressing.

{Shrug}

I liked this background but didn't realize how dark it was when I chose it. Howeverrr I also have changed my background now about 3 times, and with the way blogger is set up it's taken a while.

So! It's stayin for now til I find something bettah.

I had my Lauritzen family reunion last week - what a blast! You guys (since most who read my blog were involved) are so much fun, and I had a great time getting to know everyone.

and NICKELL & TERE thanks for planning such a fantastic weekend for us!

Despite looking around my house before I left for Colorado, I could not find my camera anywhere. Thus, no pictures. But rest assured my family is a fine looking bunch with the cutest kids on this good earth, if I may say so.

I GOT A JOB!

I now work for the fine establishment of Funfinity, here in Springville. I am the "book expert" and it is therefore my responsibility to make a good book selling environment and to know all about children's books, teens books, some adult books, cookbooks, and the like.

(By the way, if any of you have suggestions for MUST read books...especially in the children's books department...let me know! I'd love to hear input!)

Anyway I love my job so far. I've worked one week but I'm busy all the time, always on my feet, and work with some of the most fun and thoughtful people I know. They are great and really nice to me

(even when I accidentally knock over a whole shelf of toys and mess up customer check outs)

Life seems to be smooth sailing at the moment, I'm enjoying my summer, thrilled to be working now, enjoying my ward and looking forward to whatever comes next.

Nothing left to say, but since my cousin Kelsey (Grierson) and I have spent the last two weeks watching the Lord of the Rings movies, I think I'll end with one of my fav quotes, said by good ol' Samwise Gamgee.

(I wish I could put the music with it, ha ha, but I guess you'll just have to imagine.)

"And sometimes you don't want to know the ending,

because how could the end be happy?

How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?

But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow.

Even darkness must pass.

A new day will come, and when the sun shines

it will shine out the clearer."

Summer

Well I just wrote a whole lovely blog post and managed somehow to delete it just as I was finishing up. So in its place, imagine line upon line of incredible wit, unmatched humor, and mind-boggling creativity.

For a spot of news, I should mention that I'm going to attempt to write a book - a real one - to get published. It will take a while to get anywhere but so far I'm having a lot of fun writing it!

Also, in honor of the newly begun Summer that dawned upon mankind a few days ago, here's an ode to this glorious month that I wrote in my freshman year of College. Enjoy.

Summer Song

Warm Summer haze hangs heavy in the air

While sun's sweet breath blows long and softly down

Lazily the sleep bees bumble humming

To music in the cattails' swaying sound

The lullaby of sweet July floats throbbing

Pulsing to the rythm in the light

Dancing slowly, waltzing calm and breezy,

Keeping time with songbirds' Summer flight

Emerald beneath the golden days

Sways the song of Summer's lyric ways