Wisdom from Ira Glass

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

I've been doing research on goal setting and how to maintain the drive to work hard. This was very inspiring to me, both as a hard-working college student and an aspiring artist.

Back into the Fray

This summer has been a marvelous experience for me. I took Spring and Summer terms at BYU which kept me delightfully busy. I now have a Latin Ballroom competition partner, and we've been having fun practicing, competing, and having various adventures (like breaking down in Vegas). My family got to visit Utah last week, and it was so wonderful to see and be with them! We went to Bear Lake and went tubing and soaked up some sunshine. I also got to go to several fantastic concerts this summer (Owl City, We the Kings, Ludo among others). Lots of my friends from freshman year just got back from their missions. Just so much awesome packed in to four months.

I have made some rather exciting personal discoveries. My mom brought me my copy of 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens from when I was in high school. I love that book. Maybe someday I'll read the grown-up version that Sean Covey's dad wrote. But it has so much good advice and uplifting, motivational stories. The friends that I have surrounded myself with this summer have been amazing; just being with them and watching them live their lives encourages me to be more than I am, that I can be more.I am living for the pure joy of life. It's hard work, but that makes it better. I have more confidence in myself and my ability to accomplish what I set out to do. It is such an empowering feeling.

First day of classes at BYU went well. I'm a Microbiology major for good. I had my first MMBio class today and Pearl of Great Price, as well as plenty of ballroom class auditions. I'll know tomorrow at 4 which ones I got into (crosses fingers). Probably doing Betsy's team again this year. Can't wait for homecoming! The Lindy Hop routine we do around campus is so much fun.

And here's a crazy, beautiful song by Imogen Heap that just makes me want to skip around

Propeller Seeds by imogenheap

Better-Than-Sex Cupcakes

So my very good friend Mike Dymond who I've known since I started dancing blues gave me a link to the Best Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting Ever. The blog it's from is called Cupcake Project. On perusing the blog, I found this epic recipe for BTS cupcakes. They're very similar to the raspberry chocolate ones I like to make, so I decided to try it.

I adapted the recipe to my own taste and available ingredients. The batter was deadly rich - chocolatey batter with mini semi-sweet chips. I didn't like the recipe provided, so I improvised my own - heavy whipping cream infused with some nutella and cocoa powder, squirted into the center of the cupcake. Then normal dark chocolate ganache and some white chocolate drizzles. They are so adorable, and all three dozen were eaten by the end of the night.

Critique: I don't know how to compensate for the dryness of Utah, so they came out a little dry and crunchy. Best eaten with a sip of milk. But Mike said that it was a nice texture contrast; the inside was moist and fluffy but the outside had a nice crunch. It also probably had to do with the fact that I made mini ones instead of full size ones.

Mile High Blues Extravaganza!

This weekend was absolutely wonderful! To preface, I have had this planned since the end of January. I am allowed three absences in my classes. I planned on using two for this trip, but since I got the flu, I could only afford one. It was like a fake spring vacation (since we at BYU don't get one, we get out early in April). It was just for fun, but it was also hard work. The workshops were extremely educational, and I learned a lot about lead-follow technique. I've found that since doing blues, I am so much better at following and maintaining my connection in ballroom. About 25 of us from the Salt Lake City and Provo areas of Utah went over. Everything was meticulously organized. We had vans and switched off driving, and no one got lost. It all went perfectly smoothly. We had schedules written up with the car piles, stops, who needed to be where and when.

Thursday, we left around 2. It's an 8 hour drive, and it was me, Laura, Scott and Josh. We were totally prepared with road-trip-worthy snacks, an excellent music selection, and conversations all about dancing. We got to Kat's house around midnight. Kat's parents were amazing, and let us all stay at their gorgeous mansion about an hour from Denver. They are a lovely Mormon family, and had a big old golden retriever. They even made us french toast and eggs for breakfast and sloppy joe's for dinner. Mmmmm :3

So the next day we had some time before registration, so a van of us went adventuring. We saw the sculpture garden, ate at a hippy-organic place called the Rainbow Cafe at CSU (had a dish just like the Big Fresh Special mmmm) and went shopping in downtown Fort Collins. We tried on old fashioned clothes at an antique store, perused the White Balcony, looked around a thrift store, and ran around a puppet-and-games kids store (I bought a mini art kit complete with a mannequin). We finished off by trying on dresses at Cira and getting the boys' opinions. I loved this one flowy black Monroe-style dress, and I would have bought it but it was $100.

Friday night was the first dance - everyone is in casual clothes. It was really fun having a live band, but they tended to do longer, faster songs, which wore me out quick. We all had a marvelous time. The finals for the social dance competition were held. A few of us left around 2 because we were tired.

Saturday - we got up early to go to the workshops. Next year I'm definitely auditioning for the advanced level. We had lessons with Dexter about how to dance with anyone, tips on social conduct etc. Chris and Campbell (so much loooove, saw them when they came to Boston) did a lesson on "Flomentum." They talked about how to match the momentum of your partner and how to control it, and flowing from one figure to another (lots of fun spins and turns, and elastic connections). They are my favorite by far. Another reason why I love Chris and Campbell: Campbell went to Stanford, and Chris studied Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech. Nerdy dancers are the best. Here's a clip of their beautiful dancing.

Then Scott organized a group private with Joe and Nell, and we worked on drag blues. It's a different connection that's more based on copying your partner rather than following, and it looks like you're dragging each other around, resulting in a very grounded effect. I consider Scott an excellent dancer, and I felt really proud that he was complimenting me on my dancing. I used to be really intimidated by him. I haven't danced with him since September. Kat is a gorgeous blues dancer and I love watching and learning from her. Mike, Laura and Josh were also in the group, members of the Provo Blues Ambassadors. Then we ordered lunch from Noodles & Co, rested for a bit, went to dinner, and then got ready for the next dance.

We all gussied up in our very best. It was amazing because we had met so many fabulous dancers earlier at the workshops, and I had fantastic dances, every single one. The two guys that posted on my wall were a couple of my favorite leads at the dance. Erik goes to the Air Force Academy, apparently there's a sweet blues scene there. He was super fun to dance with, we played off the music really well. There were a lot of people from Boston, which made me happy. I miss the Blues Union group from the summer. I didn't get to dance with everyone I wanted to though... I couldn't make it through to the end of the Late Night dance. I left at 3.
And then Sunday we got up, most people went to church, and those who wanted to went to more workshops and dances, but about six of us took a nap and then drove home through the sun and snow.

It was a truly inspiring weekend, and now I'm back in Provo with a body aching to dance.

MirrorMask

I watched MirrorMask on Valentine's day - rather appropriate considering one of the main characters is named Valentine. :P A beautifully artistic, kindof trippy in an Alice In Wonderland kind of way. It's a collaboration between Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean and Jim Henson. The story is about a girl whose parents run a circus. She hates her life and spends her free time drawing and making up fanciful stories. She gets into a fight with her mom, who then falls ill. After visiting her one night, she falls asleep and seems to be transported to a world where everyone wears masks. The world is a compilation of all the drawings and creations she's ever dreamed up. Throughout her journey, she realizes that a darker, more vicious version of her has stolen her place in the real world. Throughout her adventures, she meets many of her creations, the good and the very very bad. The movie is filled with incredible creatures. My favorites were the creepy, slightly evil sphinxes.

they like to eat books

King's Speech

Saturday night on February 12th, I saw The King's Speech. It has an amazing cast: Colin Firth as Bertie aka King George VI (Mr. Darcy from the BBC Pride & Prejudice), Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth (Bellatrix in Harry Potter and Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd), Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue the speech therapist (Captain Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean), Jennifer Ehle as Mrs. Logue (Elizabeth Bennett from the BBC Pride & Prejudice), Michael Gambon as King George V (Dumbledore in Harry Potter), Guy Pearce as King Edward VIII (Count Mondego in The Count of Monte Cristo), and Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill (Wormtail in Harry Potter and countless other roles in my favorite movies). The reason why I listed all those actors is because they're wonderful actors from some of my very favorite movies. And King's Speech was also an amazing film. The first part builds up a lot of pressure and then you're taken completely off-guard by Logue's humor. Helena Bonham Carter is amazing as the queen; she is usually cast as a super crazy lady (ex: Bellatrix, the Red Queen, Mrs. Lovett) so this was a much different role for her.

The film as a whole was very well done - the cinematography and script were presented in such a way that it emphasized the little comedic moments in a time of great stress and seriousness. You could also see very clearly the contrast of English class and how each of them attempts to alleviate the pressures of responsibility and respectability.

It was rated R, not for sexuality or violence, but for language. Which was hilarious. The king stammers, a huge problem when you are an important public figure. In his therapy sessions, he discovers that he doesn't stammer when he is angry and/or swearing, so he goes on a cussing rampage. It's kindof refreshing for him (just going off and not having to be restrained to respectability) and for the viewer (seeing him let go of his tension and gain confidence).

It's also a great glimpse into history. King George V dies, and Bertie's brother is next in line, but he marries a divorced woman and steps down. This leaves Bertie to become the next King - right before World War II. He is thrown into the responsibility of kingship with a serious speech impediment. It's a really inspiring and heartwarming movie. I love the dry British humor and the personal look at history.

Also, I still love Colin Firth.

On Dreams and Sleep Deprivation

Haven't been sleeping well for the past couple of weeks. Having young, spunky roommates who like to party late, get up early for jobs, and can still get by on a few hours of sleep can do that to ya. But other than being really anxious and fatigued, I've gotten some crazy dreams.

I was in our old house in Plymouth. We were in my parents' bedroom packing everything up to move. I picked up a broken umbrella. i was handing it to my dad when the umbrella got struck by lightning. Apparently this is how zombies are made. So, zombies started crawling all over our house and swarming us. But the zombies were celebrities and characters from movies. Either way, they still wanted our brains. So, my dad was being epic and using an ax to chop down any that came in the room. My mom had a rifle, Sasha had a pistol, and Lise had a mini chainsaw. But I couldn't find a weapon. After I tried in vain to keep the doors and windows closed, I found the broken umbrella again. I picked it up and tried stabbing the closest zombie. Amazingly, all the zombies collapsed and disintegrated. It sounds like a fast and unimpressive dream, but I was terrified for what seemed like hours as we struggled to keep from being brain-burritos.

The second dream was even more terrifying. I was walking around some sort of dance studio with two other girls. At the end of a hallway was this creepy little girl in a blue frilly dress, collapsed on the floor, the dress billowing out around her. We felt funny leaving her all alone in the studio. As we approached, her eyes unfocused, her smile got toothy and lopsided, and she ripped off the dress to reveal a tattered, yellowed dress and two saw-like appendages for arms. She used them like a pair of insect jaws, and the sawblade-like teeth were like shark teeth, jagged and overlapping. So she started running at us and we screamed and ran around the studio. One of my friends got sliced by one of her "arms," and my friend's arm started getting similar spines coming out of her arm. We all ran into a dance classroom and shut the doors. The injured girl started shaking and screaming and transforming. I struggled to hold the door closed, but the creepy jaw-armed girl was so much stronger (even though she didn't have hands...?). As she started chopping at the door, one of my fingers got cut off and my arm burned as it started changing. I struggled to keep her out, but the pain got so overwhelming that I stumbled back. I battled her with my one saw-arm and somehow got her to fall. As she/it hissed and spat, I pinned her down with my foot and tried to chop her head off with my arm. It only left little dents in her scaly skin. I fainted before I saw any other effect. When I came to, my friends and my arm were normal again and the saw-armed creature was grey and dead.

Freaky stuff.