Laughing

My favorite quote was in an article in BYU magazine! I feel like I'm famous or something! Stardom achieved! It's even my quote on Facebook! Though, I guess W.H. Auden could be as well known an author as they come.

The article on laughter is an excellent one. You can find it here. It was written by an English professor at the Y. Every once in awhile I really just wish I had stuck with my English major.

So, the other night I was reading a book with my niece, Juliette, that she had to read for school. She's in Kindergarten, so it was a beginning reader. The text of the book goes something like this:

Clifford bakes a cake.
KC will help bake the cake.
Amy will help bake the cake.

KC has the milk.
Amy has the sugar.

and etc. etc.

I was joking with her the whole time about how it was the MOST EXCITING BOOK I HAD EVER READ. She, of course, knew I being sarcastic, and we were struggling to get through this page turner because we were laughing so hard. I even told her to tell her teacher that her aunt said it was a page turner. The next day I asked her if she told her teacher what I had said about it, she said yes, and that her teacher had laughed. Oh, how I love to make people laugh.

While we were reading (I don't know how we even decided to do this, because it wasn't discussed; however, I think I've talked with her before about how I think it's fun to fake laugh) we started to have a contest to see who could fake laugh the longest. So, we are laughing and laughing and laughing. The reason this all started was that Juliette was lying on top of me trying to get through this heart stoppingly (not a word, I realize) exciting book and she was taking forever to do so because she was laughing so much. So, when our laughing finally dies down she says to me, "I won. You know why? Because I was laughing for real." Oh, how I love her.

Juliette is just about the cutest girl in the world. You should see the girl hula hoop. She is AMAZING! I've never seen anyone as good as she is. She can go on and on forever. It's so cute to see her little body move back and forth. And, of course, she is laughing the whole time. Her laugh is the most contagious thing in the world.

And why are my people and my blog archive all the way down at the bottom? Can anybody help me out with this? I can't change it in the layout. I don't know how it ended up down there. The appearance of my blog (as you know) is of utmost importance; therefore, this needs to be corrected.

How does one become famous?

I was contemplating the other day how people really get places in life and become famous (of course, I realize those two ideas are very possibly not synonymous with one another), and then I decided that maybe it all boils down to people being completely outrageous and voicing strong opinions.

So, I've decided to become famous. Though, I struggle to have strong opinions on many political matters, just because I frequently feel I don't know enough on the subject to form them, maybe I know a lot of ridiculous people. Making fun of these ridiculous people could make me famous.

Along similar lines, my brother-in-law was debating with me the other day about whether or not weird people have friends. And his argument was that weird people definitely have friends because they marry each other. I had to stop him right there, because I wasn't talking about marriage at all, but rather that the higher people are on the weird scale they have fewer and fewer friends. While they may find someone to marry, that doesn't mean they have friends.

Grocery Lists, To Do Lists, Men List...

I've been reading this quick read by Alexander McCall Smith and I've found some noteworthy quotations.

Some of you might remember this post. While I was not the one to create my "list of potentials" it seems there are others who support the notion.

"This is a good number to choose from," said Mma Romtswe. "Not too large a list of men, but not too small."

Mma Holonga looked at Mma Romtswe uncertainly. "You do not think it strange to have a list, Mma? Some of my friends..."

"I'm not sure if you should worry too much about what your friends think, Mma," she said. "I think that it is a good idea to have a list. What is the difference between a list of things to buy at a shop, or a list of things to do, and a list of men? I do not see the difference."

and later...

"There would be something to worry about with each of them, she thought pessimistically, but then she corrected herself, reminding herself that it was no use giving up on a case before one even started."

Please be aware, I do not have a list. Come on, people. Though, I know people that make lists for every aspect of their lives (hint --- I'm related to them, of course). However, I agree that the matter of finding a husband seems to be a pragmatic one and one that could be simplified down to making a list. I also (of course, you all know this) tend to be pretty pessimistic when it comes to finding a match with whom you can't find something overtly annoying about (I love that "match" has now become a part of my vocab since I've been on the site). However, maybe I'm wrong and love, falling in love, and accepting people as they are is really possible.

I guess I could always just have a friend do the following for me, which just seems so incredibly weird, but whatever. I heard about some people who bought a billboard along I-15 in Utah to put up their sibling's picture to advertise him as being available.

Oh, I'm so sick of this post. An annoying topic. I know!

I really do love this city.

When I left for UNLV I didn't rule out moving back to the D.C. area at all, especially since I knew I didn't fit in in Vegas pretty much immediately, and felt maybe D.C. wasn't such a bad place after all. However, I certainly didn't ever imagine being back in my parent's house. My parents are on a mission in Ukraine and their absence is the only reason I am inhabiting their house for the time being, in addition to the facts that I'm saving money and I have absolutely no commute to where I am working presently. It just makes sense to be here.

My parents rented out the upstairs floors and put in a kitchen in the basement. It seems like our house isn't big enough to have a second kitchen, which is true, but it's tiny and doesn't have a dish washer. Hunter is living with me in the basement. He was anxious to get out of his apartment in Bethesda. Life is becoming more normal with my parents gone, and the stress of my thesis eradicated. However, I don't know if I feel like I've taken ownership over my life. I don't know if it'll be possible living in the house I grew up in. But maybe that just doesn't matter. I'm doing okay/am happy, I guess. There are so many wonderful things about the house I grew up in and I'll elaborate a bit. I love that I live right on the Potomac with a running trail for easy access (and it's fun to go over to the Maryland side sometimes too). I love that there are so many beautiful (and huge) homes in the neighborhood. I live right off the beltway, which makes getting around really easy.

Before my parents left we had a little outing to the tidal basin on the Sunday of General Conference. We were there at just the right time. It was beautiful and it was fun to go out on the paddleboats with all the kids.

And of course I was asked to speak in the Langley ward in a couple weeks. Will I ever get away from being S. and L. Swift's daughter? Probably not. That's okay. It's just now I have to speak in church because of them.