No Hollywood. Manly imperfections are a GOOD thing.

Okay, Jacob from Twilight – needs some manly imperfections in the worst way. I just laughed so hard throughout the movie every time I saw him and ESPECIALLY at the end when he mysteriously emerges out of the woods and deeply says, “Bella”. Bah haha, his long flowing hair and perfectly symmetrical face with stereotypically good looking features. I just picture Indians being a little more natural in the non super model kind of way. It caught me off guard and I was the only one laughing out loud in the movie theater every time I saw Jacob. I just prefer a different look I guess. I did laugh at the extremely cheesy parts but I just ate up the romantic stuff too. Doing that giddy little hiss laugh through my teeth. And oh, to have a conversation in the tree tops with Edward Cullen who cannot resist me but does because he knows he cannot have his cake slash girlfriend and eat it too!
Give the guy a break. I’d draw blood like once a week if he were my vampire boyfriend. Serious Bella, why haven’t you thought of that?

If ya know what I mean?

I have a friend, Jennifer, that I met through a past roommate who used to go and help Jennifer with cleaning or odds and ends that Jen can’t do by herself. But now I’ve taken my old roommates place because she is getting married soon. So on Saturday mornings I go over to Jen’s and we make a list and try to plan out her week with meals and re-situate things in her room to make her daily routine as easy as possible on her and the disability that has always accompanied her. Sometimes after she’s given me some instruction on how to do something to help her, she will always end her instruction with “If you know what I mean?”

“If you could turn it like this and put it like that….If ya know what I mean?“

Not just once but usually after every time, she will say this.
She says this to me to make it sound less like an order. She wants to be nice and end her instruction or correction in a polite way, if ya know what I mean. And I reply,
"Yea, I understand." or "Yea, that ould be better."
And when I say goodbye and walk out the door, I realize that not once have I ever answered her question honestly because on my way to the car, I just feel compelled to say , “no” under my breath because THAT IS the honest truth.

‘No, I do not know what you mean.' And I’m going to try a little harder tomorrow to not allow myself to have any complaints about my life. Only gratitude. It is definitely always the cure for what’s wrong with all of us.’

Happy Thanksgiving.

Hepi Tane giv'n. Jah Blez

I liked this girl's post so much

I wanted yall to read it.

Real short.

click the link.

and Jah Blez.

http://fordpride.blogspot.com/2008/11/meet-howeezi.html

Mmmkay. That is neat.

The bridge (or should it be called tunnel) goes under water to allow movement of ships . In order for ships to pass, this bridge is half under the water. You drive down in the water and then come out on the other side. Truly a marvelous piece of engineering!? This bridge is between Sweden and Denmark. The picture was taken from the Sweden side.

(I'll post again later today)

Here all yall go!

Oh I am just giggling I tell you. This music ezgude foe Wha’smatchoo!
The titles to Mariah Carey’s songs – woe those are deep.

Butterfly. Dream. Emotion. Honey. Fantasy.

She is one philosophical song writer. But we ate it up didn’t we! It’s got a great beat.
I know its Monday but break out some cubicle dancing moves with the ALLYALL 1984 Playlist. Just enjoy it for what it is. Give Cold Play a break. I know I know! It was the greatest concert you’ve ever been too. I HEARD!

And the thing with dancing at your desk with 3 walls on each side of you.. MEANS… you’ve only got ONE wall that you’ve gotta worry about. That’s it. ONE wall! But even then, I still get caught. Huh Aaron from work? Thanks for hanging your head over my cubicle wall, trying to gain composure, while waiting for me to realize that you have a work related question. Whatever, I’m over it. I dance in my cubicle.

I’ll owe an Achy Breaky Heart routine. I can hardly stand it.

All Yall 1984

….or whoever reads this blog anyways.
Do certain songs seem to make you think, “Yea, that’s who I was then. I’m remembering now.’ Of course, I mean, I’m sure that isn’t unique to me.

I’m one of those 80’s toddlers that was greatly influenced by 5 older siblings who were 80’s teenagers. At least I think that’s what happened. Cuz Wilson Philips got embedded in my file of childhood memories. I never even bought any 90’s boy band cds cuz none of’em were hand-me-downs. But I still know all the words.

So a few days ago I went through some of my boxed up keepsakes and found some CD’s that made me remember my 10 year old self. I think I must have kifed these CD’s from one of the older siblings. So last night I listened to The Sundays, Wilson Philips, Erasure, and Duran Duran. I haven’t seen these tapes and Cd’s since my great move from Texas to Utah. Wow, a flood of memories. This is who I was then. And still a major part of me now. And to tell the absolute truth, - one of my FIRST musical loves was a tape of the Andrew Sisters. Yes, World War II Pop stars. But I was like 7 years. Oh and Billie Holiday. Maybe that explains my lil itch for Jazz music. Which I am going to tonight in Salt Lake!

So what were your first Cds, your first musical loves? Be honest now. Even if it’s painful. We’ll have a good time. I’ll even play the songs for you on the Smatchoo blog playlist… if it’s not toooo painful. And even if it’s country. Oh dear. I had a baton slash dance routine to Achy Breaky Heart in like second grade. It’s even on video, but I’m not gonna show it unless everyone else pitches in with their own stuff.

You can comment straight to the blog (preferred), with a made up name or anonymously by clicking on the comments link below and to the right. Or, feel free to facebook me or email at HannahMarieC@gmail.com
It’ll be fun ya’ll! And there will be much cubicle dancing on Monday! (got a story for ya later)
Or you could leave a big fat zero in the comments box so that when I check it again, I feel real stupid. But If you do that, I’ll know you’re just tryin to get me back cuz you’re a word décor lover. :)
All the songs I just mentioned are on the automatic playlist down at the bottom of archives in the far right column. Turn it off or listen to ”I Love Saturday” when you wake up tomorrow morning. That’s what I'm gonna do.

Word to the Decorator


All I know is the LIVE LOVE LAUGH Factory has made a lot of money. I do not wish to donate to the cause cuz THEY are the ones LIVIN, LOVIN, and LAUGHIN off the dollar amount some people spend on this paraphernalia. So please no letters on my wall trying to motivate me to do great things while I’m folding my laundry. Live Love Laugh is not profound. It’s alliteration. And because I don’t want roosters and geese in my kitchen doesn’t mean I’m cold and modern. I really am nice even though I haven’t painted that anywhere in my house.
It’s just that having my wall tell me to DANCE LIKE NO ONE IS WATCHING– is going to make it less fun because I already do. But there are some who need these reminders. Wall chatter gives them endorphins. And you have that right, but you don’t want people taking your idea in vain repetition do you?
When someone calls your wall “cute” and then calls you “cute” do you find it oddly condescending? (Condescending is talking down and in which telling you what that means might qualify as such). If you read Friday’s post, you’d know that “cute” is not the word I’m looking for these days.
Writing my favorite thoughts on my walls would be a mess. I prefer well thought out and not written on my wall. SEE IT. DREAM IT. DO IT. Who wants to read this while they’re vacuuming? It makes me feel like a failure.
The mantle was once a prestigious place in the home. In pride and prejudice as Elizabeth, Caroline, and Mr. Darcy walk by the mantle reciting intelligent banter, we don’t see thoughts like, I LOVE CHOCOLATE or LIVE TODAY LIKE YOU’LL DIE TOMORROW (that’s nice) plastered with odds and ends of figurines.
Block letters? Weren’t they first invented for babies to chew on and now they’re suitable for the family mantle? We like to arrange words like, BELIEVE or SPRING up there with blocks so we can switch the spelling to -? Predictive text had no other options for me so I have no idea. But at least we’ve covered all of our future word décor desires. Check.
Now, when we see these phrases in a home, we think, ‘These are nice people.’ But be careful! Spelling this out has become a trend, all in the name of style. And now the deep meaning they may have once portrayed is possibly fading. Since Lucifer seems to follow the crowd, I’m pretty sure he would have adopted the stencil, HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS by now while still rooting for Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs. I’m just sayin, ya gotta be careful making judgments by what people put on their walls these days because the sake of style and fashion has taken over the point... FOR SOME!
Wall sermons are a brave religion, second only to Bible body art.


Like, you can’t be yelling at each other when you’ve got BLESS OUR HAPPY HOME above every flipping door way. Or GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD right above the plasma TV – IN THE KITCHEN! Geez, life is rough.
It’s like the time that my roommate (and I love this girl) was about to lose her temper with someone ready to enter the front door and she looked down at the EFY shirt she was wearing with the scriptures and temple spires painted as the background; she ended up running down stairs to change and prepare for her premeditated sin. I mean, what a hassle right? And what shirt was she saving for this moment anyways? A Tim McGraw concert shirt. Now that’s better, country music is the devil. I agree.
What does your decorating bible say?

“That these things might not be written upon our hearts, but rather upon our walls.” 1 (footnote)

__________________

1. SMATCHOO?

To all word chatter and country music loving friends and family. May all my quirks come to my own remembrance. I’m glad you’re different than me and I never want you to change. Refer to If we Bloggers have Offended post in September’s archive. I too have a block that reads BELIEVE and I use it as a bookshelf holder. AND we bought my parents some word art that says, ALL BECAUSE TWO PEOPLE FELL IN LOVE to put above the wall of family pictures. I’m in on this too. I hope you LIS'd – Laughed InSide.

The Jokes On You, Boiyzzzz!
The Truth About An American Girl in Italy

The true story behind Ruth Orkin’s photo may disappoint some of you. But I think it makes my point in the American Girl in Argentina Post as true now as it was then. (Refer to Friday, November 14th post)

“Jinx” Allen Craig is the woman in this famous shot and was actually a model and friend of Ruth’s. She and Ruth saw the set up and Jinx offered to walk by and be the cat call bait.
What woman wouldn’t love to volunteer to be the damsel in distress whose loveliness creates urban havoc? That poor… smart American Girl. The jokes on you boys. Craig today admits,

“I was enjoying every minute of it. They were Italian and I love Italians.”

Ruth Orkin shot a series of urban lifestyle shots including pictures from her New York City window where she had a view of Central Park. The collection is in the book, A World Through My Window. Isn’t she great?!

Street Embrace and Boy Jumping into Hudson River

Boys Fight Rubbing Noses, White Stoops, Jewish Refugess and Tirza on Sinks

Couple in MG (I want an MG real bad.)

The automatic music?

HINT: When music starts automatically its just because it goes with the day's post. But if that bugs, you can stop it on the Auto Start Play list at the bottom right corner. Not the first playlist, but the second one farther down.

The Card Shark who stole Draper Mountain’s thunder.

My family took a ride up the mountain to see the new Draper Temple. A very wholesome thing to be doing, yes?
Well on the ride up we felt like the parade of homes had come to us and we need not even get out of our car. Elegant landscaping and decoratively cement cased windows. I preferred admiring the outside compared to going in because seeing the word art out of control may have discredited their unique taste for me. So I pretended that none of them had done such things. But we all had nice things to say about the development on Draper Mountain.

“Oh that’s nice.”
“Hm, yea, I like ... “
“Ooo, yea look at that.”

We turned the corner and began entering a new division of money. And upward. Downshifting 2nd gear,.. ok, upward and

"Shazam! Brotha can ya spare a dime?"

The last house which was strategically saved and placed at the farthest point of the street and covered the entire cul-de-sac area. I have no more words to describe to you the constructed labor and design of this house…hotel…palace. Other than,

'Somebody cheated in a poker game.'

And it was my niece, Tabitha.

“I’ll see your nickel and raise you this gum.”

No just kidding, but doesn’t she look like she’s about to play some poker?

Back to the story,
Battling the covetous thoughts we must have been having, we remembered our reason for making the trip. We drove closer to the temple, admired it and I decided that I would put the poker player’s name on the prayer list. And hope that a rather heaping percentage of his winnings went to some kind of charity.
On the way down, after my reconditioning of what is “nice”, I saw the same neighborhoods and same landscapes that I admired on the way up. But the poker player had carpet swiped us all. I looked out the window at the once thought beautiful houses and said,

“Trash. Just trash.”

Do I have to put J freeking K at the end of this or do yall know that I’m actually not the type to care about these things at all. And who knows, maybe the card shark is a helpless trustfund baby. I dunno.

What's the definition of coolly again?

Have you ever tried to coolly end a conversation with someone you’re not the most comfortable with and say what you hope will be the ending remark. And like turn your head as you sip out of your drink (that’s the I’m cool part) and then start hacking because the nervous swallow in your throat combined with the I’m cool while sipping my drink swallow does not mix! Ugh shoot me now.
And no it was not a crush, but I’m sure that has happened before too. Yea. It has.

Coolly: in a composed and unconcerned manner; In a cool, unpanicked or collected manner.

American Girl In Argentina

The song for this post is Girl from Ipanema. Click it on the Blog Archive Play list to listen and read.

I spent a part of my 2007 summer in Buenos Aires thinking that it would make me fluent in Castellano Spanish. But those bilingual Argentines accommodated me a little too much sometimes and all I came back with was an added confidence for walking down the street. And I owe it to one man whose name I do not know. But I have now decided he handed me the best compliment I think I could ever get from a man.
On my way down Rodriguez Pena Street to meet some friends for empanadas, a man looked at me waiting for some kind of acknowledgement. (As most of them do to obvious female foreigners)
His stare followed me as I walked by and just as he disappeared from my peripheral view; I heard a deadpanned yet dignified, “Damn.” (IN ENGLISH!)
Now I just need to find me a man who will speak such Rhett Butler profanity to me.
Wouldn’t this story be so embarrassing if Charlize Theron was really just walking behind me and I didn’t know it. Well, she wasn’t. I turned around to check. At which point I said, “Gracias.”
So no, Provo Peter Priesthoods, don’t tell us “You look nice today.” Say it with fewer words. With feeling. As the Argentines. Because we all want to be the girl from Ipanema.

Tall and tan and young and lovely

The girl from Ipanema goes walking

And when she passes, each one she passes goes "Damn.”

When she walks she's like a samba that Swings so cool and sways so gentle,

That when she passes, each one she passes goes "a-a-ah!"

American Girl in Italy by Ruth Orkin

She's just pretedning to not like it. But we really do.

Goodnight Hannah. Goodnight Holls.

Who remembers the “Goodnight Ralph Goodnight Sam Cartoons? The sheepdog and the sheep hungry wolf do such a good job of keeping their Nine to Five work life separate from their clocking out time.

Watch the 5 minute cartoon if you don‘t remember or keep reading if you do.



Holly and I should be in Looney Tunes.
We are friends and also happen to work for the same company. But you know work and personal life is just somewhat understandably divided at the office.
We’re just cubicles away from 9 to 5. But we have great conversations through yahoo’s Instant Messenger. Ones like,

“I’m getting my hair done today! Whew hoo!” (party face emoticon inserted
here )
-(gasp) "No way! You’re so popyalar!"(Valley girl emoticon inserted
here)

In which we use a lot of emoticons to show our suppressed emotion while at work. Who’d a thought those little characters would have been so good for one’s health.
So the typing chatter will continue on and off throughout a whole work day and we’ll not even see each other. Just the little pictures that are on the side of our instant messenger window. Pictures that aren’t even us. Like hers is a self created avatar cartoon and mine’s a chihuahua with glasses. Right, I know.
But at the end of the day, we type,

K, leaving

K, bye

And I’ll see her for the first time that day as she walks by my desk and we give a little wave and say,

“See ya
tomorrow.”

“See ya tomorrow.”

Then tomorrow comes. Expressionless, I walk pass the cubicles and go to my desk. Open instant messenger and say,

“So last night, I went out with this guy and….”

Smatchoo. As if I would kiss and blog

BTW – HollyLynn’s the new Dear Abby. Check out her blog at http://hollylynnsays.blogspot.com/

Do you kiss and Blog?

Lately after somebody has left something in my confidence they have a slight suddenly reserved and pensive look. You know, with raised eye brows and a turn of the head. They are asking themselves,

“Is she going to blog about this?”

mmmmmmmm…(sigh)…( deep breath) mmmmm…ya.

All those late night conversations with the roomies - will probably dwindle and I’m going to be getting more sleep. But tell me if you dare.

Cosby 2012!

Now That’s who I’m going for next time. Wouldn’t that be great? Now that the race barrier has been broken let’s at least bring in some wisdom, good humor ....

and some FAB-YOO-LOSS Sweater designs!

And we could just buy the full season of The Cosby Show to find out his ethical and political stance on good family values and education.

If elections are going to be based on suave trends we might as well do a better job next time. Wear 80's sweaters. Cosby 2012.

I still love all my friends who have their reasons for having voted for the next Prez. We don't take too many things seriously on the Smatchoo blog.

Sewing with Creed

Cozy 106.5 has adopted some new music into their archives lately. Does this mean our mom’s are going to start listening to what was wrestling champ music in the late 90’s? Well I have news for you, somebody’s grandma already has.
I went to a fabric and drapery store in Orem because I’m looking to reupholster my big arm chair and ottoman. And over the intercom, I hear…yes. Creed. So I smirked because I haven’t heard this song since sophomore – junior year of high school. But the part that gets me is the grey haired lady with dainty scissors around her neck who is humming along. And rather correctly too.

She’s one hip seamstress my friends. Sewing to Arms Wide Open by Creed. You know she added this Christian rock band to her Moe-Tab collection.
My hands were on my knees trying to hold myself up from laughing. Hiding in isles of drapery textiles and trying to laugh quietly – is a fun time.

Definitions of creed:

• any system of principles or beliefs
• religious doctrine: the written body of teachings of a religious group that are generally accepted by that group
• A creed is a statement or confession of belief — usually religious belief — or faith. The word derives from the credo for I believe and credimus for we believe. It is sometimes called symbol (σύμβολο[ν]), signifying a "token" by which persons of like beliefs might recognize each other.
• Creed was a christian rock band from Tallahassee, Florida that became popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The band won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song for the song "With Arms Wide Open" in 2001. The band broke up in 2004 after three multiplatinum albums.

How One gets to Walk in the Fast Lane

The designated lanes on the BYU track are:

1 & 2 – Sprinters only
3 Joggers
4 walkers
And 5….

Pregoes.

That’s what I learned tonight anyways. Okay , so maybe it wasn’t officially labeled that.
But seeing what I saw tonight, makes a single girl afraid to even step into lane 5 for fear of being magically with child and having no good explanation other than, “I crossed the line.” And THAT stiiiill isn’t gonna help you!
But what’s the difference really in the kind of activity that goes on in lane 4 compared to lane 5. Nothing really, both walking. It’s just another one of those slight reminders that those in lanes 1 through 4 are single. Thank BYU field house.
Oh and strollers are to the right of lane 5. And lane 5 girls talk to lane 6 girls about what to expect when you’re expecting. And lane 3 girls (that was me) listen to their music while dodging the dangers of lanes 1 & 2, wishing you hadn’t worn a t-shirt saying class of ’03 because now lane 5 girl with her class of ‘07 sweats is wondering why I’m not to the right of her with a stroller. Rambling.
Do you find the irony in that the slowest paced lanes are actually those who are in “the fast lane”?

*This really is meant to be funny by the way. i support those getting married younger or older than me. Jooooke joke joke. My friend heard me talking about this and she said very seriously, "Blog it now." so I did.

When the video doesn't work on the blog, go here.

Sorry that this video has been so flakey. It worked yesterday, but doesn't now. I'll fix it, try it later. But click on this link and it will play the video.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6726593207894925465&hl=en

My accent. Uncut and untouched by western linguistics.

1991. Longview, TX
My last words are "Be quie" for the two syllable word quiet. I just sound so smart, don't I.

'Click'

I’m slowly getting used to the idea that I’m allowed to buy things that I’ve wanted for a long time. One must ease themselves out of the hole they have been in since writing that first tuition check. Those days, waiting for that APPROVED to show up on the screen. Clinch the fist; bend the elbow, “Yes!”
But it’s slowly getting better now. and at the top of my list has been a camera. A real deal camera. So that I don’t have to kife so many photos from my photographer Dad. As a kid, I’d see a scene or moment that I wanted to catch in still frame, and I’d say, ‘click’ in my head. Hoping that in heaven, that picture would be waiting for me. I really thought this. But this is one of my childhood assumptions that will be left alone. Because I still believe it. I know they’re up there. I can even remember some of them. I did this the whole time when my parents took us to Yellowstone National Park. I still want to see those.
So this little mental camera of mine has been a secret for such a long time. I had even forgotten that I used to do this. But a few weeks ago, I was driving down my favorite street in Provo. The trees are big enough to shade the yards of small cottages and still hang over my head as I drive underneath them. The wind was blowing orange leaves down to the pavement, making specs of yellow catch the sun as I drove through it. Without really thinking about it, I thought ‘Click’. My childhood camera was back! How had I forgotten? When was the day that I decided to stop doing this? And how did I unintentionally remember at four and twenty years of age? It’s because I’ve been thinking about buying one for years and finally I feel allowed.
I bought one yesterday. On eBay. With the help of my eBay savvy parents of course. And now more than ever, have I been saying, ‘click’ that I should really just turn it to video. Needless to say, I’m excited about my grown up purchase.