Meso/TMBG/Song Lyrics

So, I don't gamble, so I don't know how to wager against Heather's song lyrics other than, "Umm ... I'll see you another one!"
My choice of lyrics has been inspired by two things:
1) Andrea's blogging trip down memory lane when she took me to the They Might Be Giants concert in Salt Lake and introduced me to one of the quirkiest, most enjoyable bands EVER!
2) Jessica and Joelle's recent return from the MesoAmerica tour. I was looking through Jess's pictures last night and reminiscing about all the good time I had climbing pyramids in Monte Alban and trying to see Monica Lewinski's butt in the trunk of a tree. I had a fellow TMBG fan on the tour with me, and Shawn and I would often see this song as we'd hike along rainforest trails and climb even more pyramids!

They Might Be Giants-- Whistling in the Dark

A woman came up to me and said,
"I'd like to poison your mind
With wrong ideas that appeal to you
Though I am not unkind"
She looked at me, I looked at something
Written across her scalp
And these are the words that it faintly said
As I tried to call for help:

"There's only one thing
That I know how to do well
And I've often been told that you only can do
What you know how to do well
And that's be you
Be what you're like
Be like yourself"
And so I'm having a wonderful time
But I'd rather be

Whistling in the dark(x6)
There's only one thing that I like
And that is whistling in the dark
Ahhahhahhahh
Ahhahhahhahh

A man came up to me and said,
"I'd like to change your mind
By hitting it with a rock," he said.
"Though I am not unkind."
We laughed at his little joke
And then I happily walked away
And hit my head on the wall of the jail
Where the two of us live today

There's only one thing
That I know how to do well
And I've often been told that you only can do
What you know how to do well
And that's be you
Be what you're like
Be like yourself
And so I'm having a wonderful time
But I'd rather be

Whistling in the dark(x6)
There's only one thing that I like
And that is whistling in the dark
There's only one thing
That I know how to do well
And I've often been told that you only can do
What you know how to do well
And that's be you
Be what you're like
Be like yourself
And so I'm having a wonderful time
But I'd rather be

Whistling in the dark(x6)
Whistling, whistling, whistling in the dark
Ahhahhahhahh
Ahhahhahhahh
Ahhahhahhahh
Ahhahhahhahh
Whistling (whistling)
Whistling (whistling)
Dark, dark, dark, dark
Whistling (whistling)
Whistling (whistling)
Dark, dark, dark, dark
Whistling (whistling)
Whistling (whistling)
Dark, dark, dark, dark
[Repeat to fade]

New 'do

Before picture (you can't really see how long it is)

Okay, so Heather's been bugging me to post a picture of my new hair. After having my hair LONG for most of my life, I got sick of it and impulsive and I chopped it! 12 inches, to be exact. And really, I feel no different. Just a little less shaggy. There goes Mufasa! But it's still thick and crazy. I have to use a really expensive straightener, or else it's just a 'fro!

Anyway, here's a picture of it after it's all straightened.

after picture

There, Heather.

Lyrics

So, I'm following Heather's lead. Song lyrics rock! I used to find them all the time and send them to friends. It's been awhile. Here's a new song that I LOVE! Love the message, love the words, love the sound ... just love it!

Shine--Anna Nalick

Oh, the night makes you a star
and it holds you cold in its arms.
You’re the one to whom nobody verses “I love you”
unless you say it first.

So you lie there holding your breath
and it’s strange how soon you forget
that you’re like stars.
They only show up when It’s dark
‘cuz they don’t know their worth.

I think you need to stop following misery’s lead.
Shine away! Shine away! Shine away!
Isn’t it time you got over how fragile you are?
We’re all waiting,
waiting on your supernova, ‘cuz that’s who you are!
And you’ve only begun to shine.

There are times when the poets and porn stars align
and you won’t know who to believe in.
Well, that’s a good time to be leavin’ …

And the past knocks on your door
And throws stones at your window at 4 in the morning
Well maybe,
he thinks it’s romantic. He’s crazy.
But you knew that before.

I think you need to stop following misery’s lead.
Shine away! Shine away! Shine away!
Isn’t it time you got over how fragile you are?
We’re all waiting,
waiting on your supernova,
‘cuz that’s who you are.
And you’ve only begun to shine.

Won’t you Shine, Shine, Shine, Shine over shadow.
Shine, Shine, Shine, Shine over shadow.
Shine, Shine, Shine over …

I think you need to stop following misery’s lead.
Shine away! Shine away! Shine away!
Isn’t it time you got over how fragile you are?
We’re all waiting,
waiting on your supernova,
‘cuz that’s who you are.
You’ve only begun to shine.
You’ve only begun to shine.

Revelations of 5/21/08

I have gained such a strong testimony of looking outside myself. Living at Greenbrier, I tried to hide away during the last few months ... but in this type of community, you can only remove yourself so much! I still had so many people whom I loved and so many activities and socialities to be involved in!
Since I've moved to Salt Lake, I've been miserable. I've hid in my cubicle at work, not knowing how to fit in, and not knowing where to go when I get off work. I didn't know what I'd be missing by leaving Greenbrier! At GB, we're a family and sociality is forced upon you! You can't help but to be a part of things! In Salt Lake, I've found that I could just disappear in the throngs of people, or even worse, go all day, surrounded by people, but not be noticed! I didn't like the way I was feeling, but I didnt' know what to do about it. Then I realized what was missing. Service. I hadn't taken an opportunity to look outside myself and see where I could be needed. I haven't been able to attend a ward yet, I'm not a visiting teacher, I don't have a calling, and I've missed that! I prayed to my Heavenly Father that I would find a way to serve. That some organization would fall into my lap, or that I would see where I am needed. Nothing HUGE and amazing has happened, except that I was able to take my cousin's kids for a day to give her a break and spend some time with them, and I was able to spend some time with a lady at work and make a new friend.
But this only further confirms one of my favorite teachings of the Church. We are all in this together. We are meant to lift and teach and learn and grow together.
I know the Church is true. I know without a doubt that Jesus is my Savior. I know that President Monson is a true prophet and that what he and our other leaders teach us is straight from our Heavenly Father. I know all these things. They've never been in question! But ... what am I going to do about it? That's what's been lacking. I know the truth, but the Gospel isn't just something to "know" ... it's something to "do." And until I can go out and LIVE the Gospel ... serve, teach, grow and reach out to others, I'm not going to find true happiness. We're all in this together!

My Favorite Things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens ...

Mmkay. Maybe not.

But I was sitting at the kitchen table after work today, eating peanut butter and reading my scriptures when I accidentally dropped a glob of peanut butter on my scriptures! That made me remember a fireside that Kimball and I went to in Seattle where the speaker said, "Scriptures are yummy!"

I can't think of a better combination than scriptures and peanut butter! These are 2 things that have proven to make me feel better NO MATTER WHAT! They truly are my favorite things!

I had a few fun favorite things on Saturday that seem to have changed my attitude.

As you can probably tell by reading, I haven't been too excited about this new Utah life lately! And I realized a few key things that were missing. I'm not involved in ANYTHING and I haven't found opportunities to serve!

I had a coworker reach out to me on Friday morning. Her name's Kim and she actually offered to have me come live with her and her family! I'm okay on my living situation, but I didnt' want to turn her down flat, so I tried to come up with a way I could reciprocate her huge gesture and at least be friends!

My cousin, Heather has been "hinting" to me since I moved down here that I would be a close and convenient babysitter! I've always loved her kids and have been close to their family, so I decided that it was time that I step out of my "woe is me" hole and SERVE! So I emailed Heather and told her I was taking her boys (Shae's 10, Hunter & Gavyn are 4) on Saturday. I knew Kim's boys are close in age, so I asked her if she wanted to play with us. I ended up taking Heather's boys to Kim's son's baseball game for the first few hours. Then we split up and I took my boys for pizza, and then to our cousin Silvester's first birthday party. I dropped them back off at their mom's house at 3:00 and they didn't want to go home! We had a fun day with minimal temper tantrums and zero broken bones! I label that as a success! Then, I met up with Kim for a demonstration on shopping at CostCo! It was the most random day full of service and bonding and "learning" how to buy bread and get gas in my car!

But, after all that, I finally felt like I had a purpose, and now I have a fun friend at work and something to look forward to when I go there every stinkin' day!

Those are just a few of my favorite things ...

Annoyances

Is anyone else annoyed with the music that comes on automatically on my blog? I sure am. But I'm too lazy to do anything about it, so i just hit mute on my computer.

I'm also annoyed with myself. Isn't there a song, "It's no surprise to me, I am my own worst enemy ..." I'd continue, but I think there's a bad word coming up. I don't even know what song that is. Ring a bell to anyone? So guess what? It's 2:23 p.m. I'm sitting in bed with my laptop, wearing my pajama pants. i got halfway dressed, but never changed my pants. I straightened my hair, but didn't do my make-up. I considered going in to work, but yet ... here I am. Is that annoying, or what? I think I've hit some level of depression with this whole Utah/scary job thing.

Here's the problem: they've given me too much freedom. They should be regretting it about now. I'm on salary, so I don't get paid hourly. I also have 5 vacation days that I earned the day I started work. Then my boss tells me that if I work any part of the day, he'll count it as a whole day and not make me work my vacation days. He says that the hours are generally 8-5, but if I come in late, no biggie ... if I need to leave early, no biggie. Well ... since I've been doing tutorials and am incredibly frustrated at not knowing anything ... feeling useless and very stupid because I am SO not a technical person (even though I'm not expected to know what I'm doing this soon, I'm so used to being a fast learner and on top of things, that I can't handle being the dumb kid!) So, I've been showing up to work around 8:45 every day. Then on Monday, I didn't sleep well and I had cramps ... so I emailed one of my coworkers, saying I had a migraine and showed up to work around 2. Then, there's today. I woke up with an actual migraine, threw up my meds because I took them on an empty stomach and emailed in again. Woke up again about 11:30 and felt fine. Really should have gotten up and gone in again (show myself I have discipline) but I didn't, because apparently I don't have discipline. I'm lacking the peace of mind that comes with self-mastery. I need to exhibit self-mastery, and there's no one else that can do that for me. I need to study my scriptures better and pray more ... and put forth more effort in my job. But I hate it here and I can't. At least, I failed for today. I'm annoyed. I hate this feeling, and it makes me want to do better ... but I keep falling backwards again! Do I just forget how crappy it feels and decide to feel crappy all over again! AAAhhh!!!

First week in Salt Lake

To start out with ... I was born for much smaller things. Who wants to be big and corporate? Not me! I loved my time in the small town Rexburg newspaper where I could wear jeans and flip flops to work and crawl on the floor after my coworker's one year old daughter. I'd wander to the back and steal M&M's from Tyler to throw at Jim. I miss that. Now, I have to have a security card to even open the door into my department. We each have our own spotless cubicles with sterilyzed computers and our own telephone extensions. I have to wear slacks or a skirt to work everyday! i don't even think my khakis will cut it! It doesn't help that I've gained 15 pounds in the past few months and don't fit into any of my clothes as it is! So now I'm the fat corporate kid who sits at a computer going over tutorials learning software to log convicts. I hate convicts! All the ones I know are no good!

Then, there's this mess! In Rexburg, there's pretty much only one way to get anywhere! No wrong turns that loop you to Reno, no merging lanes or exits from the left lane, no belt routes blah blah blah blah ... I get off work and it takes me 30 minutes to drive the 10 miles to my apartment! Forget about driving to see friends or family or even going shopping! I'm just sitting in the middle of millions of other people who aren't going anywhere, listening to accident reports on the radio and driving 15 miles an hour! This is RIDICULOUS!!!

And let's not forget about this guy! He (or someone like him) stopped me in the parking lot of the grocery store to ask me on a date! THEN he (or someone like him) slowed down and winked at me in the Walmart parking lot! He (or someone like him) lives next door and across the way and just downstairs and he's everywhere I go! Creepy guys! I don't like it. I just really really don't like it!