It's a little stale but since when have these two been fresh?

I love magazines. They are glossy, they smell good, they can teach me the many uses of baking soda in my beauty routine, AND I can use the pictures as research! Ah, the joys of being a costume designer! Since becoming a graduate student I don't buy magazines nearly as much as I did as an undergrad. Fortunately (sort of) People magazine has a site that is updated frequently, thus allowing me to be updated on the stupid world of "celebrity." Unfortunately that word, "celebrity," includes people who are famous for....why are these two famous again?



Sure, she was "friends" with Hills "star" Lauren Conrad, and he (and his creepy flesh colored beard) was the nemesis of said "star" Lauren Conrad. How much of that stupid show is actually real? Any of it? Does anyone care? Anyhow... Apparently the two recently pre-honeymooned in Mexico (despite the health warnings against it) and now, according to the headline on People.com, they are "Praying For Their Health." GIVE ME A BREAK!!!! That has got to be the stupidest thing I have ever heard! Although they are probably fine, I almost hope that they do get a mild case of swine flu just so they can have some sense knocked into them. It probably won't happen and they probably wouldn't learn anyway.

I just contributed to their "celebrity," didn't I?

What. The. Heck.

For an April Fool's Day, today wasn't so bad. Sure the morning was a little rocky but it got better! I didn't fall victim to any pranks, the only one was a theatre student who had a very convincing shiner. (She did a great job.) Anywho... I found out via a friend that "Pushing Daisies" season two is going to be released on July 21st. There are three episodes that haven't been aired and I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS! I WANT CLOSURE! Ahem.

Speaking of closure, "Life on Mars" wrapped up tonight. I was excited for most of the day because I just didn't know what was going to happen. How was Sam's life in 1973 going to be explained? What was up with all the space man references? What about the rocket ships? Or the space cruiser robot thingys? Rather than go the BBC route and explain it away with a coma induced fantasy, ABC went to space. Mars, actually. Sam, Gene, Ray, Chris, and Annie were all on a two year journey to Mars that required an induced coma for ease in traveling. Sam was supposed to be in 2008 but his "dream maker" thingy got messed up and it sent him back to 1973 with his 2008 memories. As it turns out Gene and Sam are father and son and Gene had the same tattoo as Vic, Sam's pretend father. It was weird. Although, not as weird as the dinky little pony tails sported by Ray and Gene. They got rid of the facial hair but they couldn't just chop the hair as well? Heck, Annie was wearing a really bad wig with little stringy bits hanging off the front. I'm not so sure if I liked how they wrapped it up. The last episode was pretty exciting up until the end.

My sister is coming to visit this weekend. I'm really excited. AND I am going to my mission reunion. Hopefully it will be a good time.

Why ABC, why??? and What is wrong with this?

First, it was Pushing Daisies and now, it's Life on Mars. Two fantastic shows that were cancelled. I just watched last night's episode and it was FANTASTIC! The storyline has really veered from the original British plot but it works. In the original series Sam Tyler was hit by a car and while he was in a coma in 2006, but he was living in 1973. At the end of series two, Sam woke up and then jumped off a building, an act that sent him back to 1973 but really just killed him. In the American version Sam isn't in a coma (or so the information in TV Guide states) and the "solution" is totally different. I don't know what it is but I'm excited to see how it ends next week.

Maybe it is a good thing that it was cancelled. The writers had almost exhausted the two season series of source material and why not end it on a high note? I'm just trying to look on the bright side, I guess. It's a bit like the Beatles. They broke up before their music got horrible. I also think that being "older" isn't so bad. My life is relatively drama-free, I don't have any attachments to high school, I can communicate with members of the opposite sex, and I can rent a car (I haven't done it yet but I could!) There is also a sense of independence that I feel I have now as opposed to five or six years ago when I was petrified to do things on my own. I do have a slight fear that I will grow too fond of my independence someday. Hopefully that won't happen.

What does it mean to be "too accomplished" or "intimidating" or "too independent?" I've heard these words thrown around quite a bit lately, sometimes in connection with me. Just because I have a bachelors degree, I served a mission, and I am a graduate student; I have become a scary, accomplished, intimidating, and independant person? How does that disqualifiy me in the dating scene? If anything, I think those would be positive qualities! Heck, here are some more, just for good measure:

1. I have no student debt. I have no credit card debt. I am currently a paying off my car.
2. I can cook. Just yesterday my roommate's home teachers walked in and said, "Wow, it smells good." I can also bake.
3. I have a vast knowledge of things both useful and non-useful.
4. I love trying new food.
5. I like adventure movies more than romantic comedies.
6. I am clean---my room is clean, my interests are clean and my record is clean.
7. I have ambition.
8. I believe that church is a priority.
9. I can carry on an intelligent conversation (thanks in large part to #3 on this list.)
10. I have opinions. There are few things worse than people who have no set opinions. These are people who usually "just listen to the radio" or like to do "whatever."

Hopefully this list will be useful for anyone who might be frightened of RM grad students. Just a heads up.

Honestly?

Apparently there is a shampoo shortage at USU. I can't think of another logical reason as to why people wouldn't take the time for personal hygeine. Maybe their showers are broken.

Either way, it's gross.

Sad, Exciting, and Strange

Word on the street is that Pushing Daisies has been cancelled. This is really sad news because I liked that show. It was funny, it had mystery, it featured pie (who doesn't like pie?) it seemed to have a really high production quality, Jim Dale was the narrator, and it had Lee Pace as Ned!

Quick Ned, touch the show! Bring it back to life!

Fortunately not everything this past week was sad. My friend had an insanely wonderful medical miracle, another friend went to the MTC, and I had fun with friends on multiple nights. On Friday I went with my super cool party people coworkers to dinner and a movie. Yes, the movie was Twilight, and it was better than I was expecting. Strangely better.

I was also able to log on to my grad school's website and register for classes. It's strange how something as small as knowing that you have a new e-mail address for a new shool, can be so comforting. It's as though the letter wasn't enough to let me know it's official. It was all cemented with an e-mail address? Weird! Lindsay.Keller@aggiemail.usu.edu

And now for the strange:

Exhibit A: British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

Exhibit B: Terry Jones, actor, director, writer, Python.

See the resemblance?

Just wondering.

I feel like I'm in an abusive relationship

In my almost twenty-five years on earth I have found myself confused by women who are in abusive relationships and don't break the cycle. Why do those stupid girls keep going back to someone who hurts them so much. Generally my thoughts run the course of the following: "How dumb do you have to be?!?" or just, "idiot!" Most of these thoughts stemmed from lack of personal experience in an abusive relationship (or any relationship for that matter.)

All of that changed last night when I gave in to some manicotti, stuffed full of cheese.

It wasn't that much, it was only two bites. I thought it would be okay. It tasted so good and it hadn't hurt me in the past. I thought maybe things had changed. This time it would be different. Right? RIGHT???

Nope.

On the plus side I now know for sure that dairy wreaks havoc on my insides. I have no plans on going back because the discomfort was just too much last night. It sucks but I can do something about it. I'm going to go drink some soy milk now.

GRAD SCHOOL!

It boggles my mind when I think about things that have happened since I returned from my mission two years ago. I am going to graduate from Weber State University (FINALLY!) in December and then, I'll move to Logan to start graduate work at Utah State University. The technicalities haven't been worked out yet but I have a good start on it. I have an appointment to take the Millers Analogy Test next month and I started filling out my grad school application. After several e-mails and a few phone calls it sounds like it's going to work out. I wasn't planning on this when I got home from my mission. Heck, I wasn't even considering Logan last year. What happened? Get comfortable and I'll tell you.

Two years ago I thought I had a pretty good handle on my college career, I would take two years of french classes while finishing up my theatre and art classes. After that I might apply to BYU's grad program even though it meant waiting around for a year because they only admit grad students ever two years. Honestly I thought I would have gotten married or at least started dating seriously by the time graduation rolled around. It seemed like the natural course of things. After graduation I thought I would work for a while, get married (if it hadn't happened yet) and then be a full time Mom. That was sort of what I thought would happen when I finished up my mission.

There were some wrenches thrown into the cogs, mostly thrown by the sabbatical loving art department. You'd think that a university would find other people to teach classes so their students can graduate. Anyhoo. Last semester I participated in the Kennedy Center's American College Theatre Festival in Los Angeles. This was the regional festival for students in the western states who "do theatre." I designed "!Bocon!" last spring and I had the opportunity to take my designs from that show to the festival to be critiqued. While there I met Shawn Fisher who is over graduate studies at Utah State University and I expressed an interest in pursuing a MFA at USU. Several e-mails and phone calls later and I'm where I am today. (See first paragraph.) It's not where I was planning but I think it will be even better than I had expected.

In other news, I think dairy is my new frenemy. For the most part of this month I have had pretty gnarly stomach aches, pretty different than other stomach aches. I'd had some before but they were stress related and they felt different anyway. I paid attention to the food I was eating and I made a connection between the stomach aches and dairy products, especially yogurt and cheese. This really sucks because I really like yogurt and cheese and ice cream. I guess weekly visits to our new Yogurt Stop are out of the question if I want to stay stomach ache free. At least I already like soy milk.