A Surfeit of Music

In my undergraduate Shakespeare class I was introduced to the word surfeit, which was used much more in the English Renaissance to describe excess and abundance. This has become one of my favorite words, and I use it casually without ever really thinking of it. I suppose it's my equivalent to Miss Lydia Bennett falling into a chair after running around and saying, "Oh, I'm so fat."

So my new surfeitting is music: Lately I've become interested in jazz. I'm by no means a hard-core fan yet, but I tune to KUER, my local public radio station, more during the jazz program and have purchased several jazz CDs in the last year (I never owned any before).

There's something soothing about the beats, and when I've come home from a busy day at work where I've spent the whole day talking and listening, I enjoy hearing something that doesn't have any words. It calms the savage beast inside me.

How this relates to surfeit? Well, last week I was at Costco to purchase some cast-iron chairs to match my new outdoor bistro table, and I was overcome with the feeling to consume music. I bought on the fly three jazz CDs that contain remakes of popular songs. I've spent all of last week listening to these CDs.

I've had a revelation. Do any of you Utahns remember how FM100 was during the 80's, and how they played nothing but instrumental versions of popular songs? My mother loved this station, and that was always what she listened to as she carted me around to the grocery store, the post office, or wherever she had to go. I never understood why she didn't want to listen to the words. And here I am now, doing the same thing.

Reincarnation

When Kevin and I are driving, we sometimes like to ask each other hypothetical questions. The one that’s been on my mind lately is, If you were to be reincarnated, what animal would you choose?

Here’s some criteria that makes sense to me:
1. Assume gender stays the same
2. Assume that you have no choice over geographical placement (in other words, you may be born in the wild, a zoo, etc.)

My first response was to be a cat because, hey, Aja and Phoebe have it pretty good in my home. But then I got to thinking about all the abused cats in the world. A cat can’t even defend herself very well against a determined five-year-old child. And that’s if you even get a home.

I then started thinking that the following were important factors in my decision:
1. I’d like to be at the top of the food chain
2. I’d like to not have to be a predator who is always striving for the next meal
3. I’d like to have a high chance of making it to adulthood
4. I’d like to have plentiful food sources, allowing for occasional recreation
5. I don’t like the water, so marine life is completely out

So given the above, I’ve made the decision that I’d like to be an elephant or a bear. I’d be an African elephant because they’re smart, social, get to eat a lot, and they take long walks.

I’d be a bear because they always seem to be recreating in the woods and meadows, plus they are so cute. I’d even be a big, fat polar bear. I bet they don't even get to feel the cold.

What about you?

Home Again (from Business)

Well, I got home last night from my first Michigan trip around midnight. That's two Midwestern business trips two weeks in a row. I enjoyed it so much, and I love my new client, but my head is still reeling from losing one our in Daylight Savings and then two more for the time zone. The good news is that I had a great view from my hotel room of the Grand River, which I got to walk across at night.

I also have been inducted into Chef Wolfgang Puck's dining experience at dinner last night (butternut squash soup--I need more of this!). This morning I rose early to come into the office, but as I backed up out of the driveway, I saw my little friend Phoebe and snapped this picture on my mobile phone. Can you see her?

Interior Design Week: Bedroom Shelves

For my last interior design post, I'd like to announce that Kevin and I have completed the last touches on our bedroom remodel! We put up the ceiling fan, we bought the rugs, I found the baskets for our bedside tables, and, my favorite, we found wall shelves that match our look.

You've seen the cats, the vases, and the nature pictures, but here they are all together.

Of course, I never feel like a project is completely finished. I have an open closet I'd like to put doors on. We inherited some original doors that match the rest of the house from our neighbor, and we might try to see if those fit.

My new passion is gardening. This is the summer to design flowerbeds, so I'll post on that in the near future.

Interior Design Week: Mosaic Bistro Table

OK, this is not really interior design, but it's not really garden design either. Last week, Kevin and I spotted an inexpensive mosaic bistro table, and since then we've been trying to see the best value we can get at a low price, as patio furniture was an unplanned expense. We love the French bistro style, and we love eating out on our patio in our current worn-out lawn chairs and looking at our backyard during the summer. We can very much imagine these two things (French bistro and patio eating) combined to make a great outdoor experience.

Here is the table I think I want from Pottery Barn. They only have the blue left, but I like it. I originally wanted something with more pizazz, many colors, etc., but with this one I don't have to sacrifice price or quality. I just have to find chairs to match.

Interior Design Week: Wall Art

Kevin and I have finally put the finishing touches on our bedroom. One new design is that we've placed our own nature photography in frames around our bedroom. Here's a preview.

Interior Design Week: WPA Posters

Sometimes it's embarrassing to splurge. I had just decided not to buy a swimsuit for my upcoming Hawaii trip (yes, I'm going back) because it was too expensive when I ran across these WPA posters from the 1940s. I immediately loved this retro art look, and thought it would be a nice departure in our house from the photographs we have displayed. The Internet buying bug bit me.

The funny thing is that I knew I really admired these Colorado Plateau posters, but I didn't just buy one: I bought three. The price was OK--$40 per poster, but once I saw that $120 added up, I couldn't believe I was forking over that much on a whim.

These posters came last week, and they are gorgeous and wonderful! I am planning to put them up in the study/library of our house. The biggest problem is that they are 13.5" x 19". I searched all over town last Saturday for a frame or mat that would fit, but it was no use. I really hope I find something soon, and I hope I don't have to pay for custom framing. If any of you have suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them!

P.S. Sorry that these sizes aren't all the same. That's pretty lazy of me for design week, isn't it?

Interior Design Week: Cats and Vases

I don't think I've bought cat-shaped decor since I was a little girl. It just seemed so old lady-ish to me (the older woman we bought our house from had these stuffed animals of cats lying around her home in the online pictures--so strange). But when I was at the import store, I knew that these soapstone figures from Kenya were right for me. I liked their different patterns and colors. And they're just funky. I like that. Like they're doing a groovy dance or something.

I'm placing these on the new shelving we have in our bedroom. I also wanted some polished sandstone to put up there with our cats and some nature pictures we've taken, but finding the right decorative rock is turning out to be a harder process. In desperation, I picked up these two vases at the English Garden at the Salt Lake City Library. I like their vibrant colors, and I think they can do until I find some worthy replacement.

There's still more to come for design week. I am on the road for business, but I'll get back as soon as I can.

Interior Design Week: Retro Tablecloth

This last week the snow started melting, and it's just about time. The snow gets so dirty after sitting around for a few months. There's a snowbank outside my office that is entirely black with bits of trash in it. I hope it's gone when I go back. Well, enough of that.

Before I get to thinking about all the things I can do outdoors in the lovely weather, I feel I need to put the finishing touches on some things at home. I've decided to devote a week here to interior design. Yea! Won't that be fun? Come on, you know it will be.

This first post is about the Williams Sonoma tablecloth I had been dying to purchase since I first laid eyes on it. I found it when Kevin went to buy some dipping oil, and I got to roam around the store (dangerous habit of mine). I held off for over a week to make sure I really wanted it, but here it is, in my kitchen.

I just love this retro look. My kitchen "color" is green (all the linens, etc.), and I think in my older house it fits just perfectly.

Pie Month

Happy Leap Day, everyone! Today marks a celebrated day for me. It's one out of every four years that Pie Month is extended by one day at Marie Calendar's. This is a good thing. Without this extra day, I would have missed out on one more pie.

Kevin and I have always loved Marie Calendar's pies. That was one of the worst things about living in Utah County for years--they don't have a single Marie Calendar's location, and we were constantly tortured every Pie Month when we saw the TV commercials. Now Pie Month is a celebration of living in wonderful Salt Lake County.

I love pie. For many years, I've requested a pie instead of a birthday cake. In his family tradition, Kevin makes a wonderful pastry pie crust, and a deliciously stunning key lime pie. And the list of my favorite pies has grown. It's almost embarrassing, but Kevin and I have had eight, yes eight pies in this, the shortest month of the year. And each one has been so memorable. In order:

• Lemon cream cheese
  
• Kahlua cream cheese
  
• Razzleberry
  
• Double lemon cream
  
• German chocolate
  
• Cherry
  
• Razzleberry
  
• Kahlua cream cheese (tonight's pie of choice)

This is our last pie until a new Pie Month rolls around in October. By then we'll have saved up enough tins to get our own free pie. Here are all the official Marie Calendar's pie tins we've saved, which we can cash in for 50 cents each:

It may look crazy, but there are worse pie lovers out there. The woman behind us tonight had what looked like 30 pie tins. That's hard core. I just admired her pie-eating skills so much. So next Pie Month, if you see me rummaging through your trash to salvage your discarded pie tin, you'll know why.

Exponent II: My Guest Post on Authenticity

I have a guest post up at the group blog Exponent II on "The Work of Authenticity." This is a blog meant to honor the Exponent II publication started by great female LDS minds such as Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and Claudia Bushman (wife of Joseph Smith biographer Richard L. Bushman). I consider this post a follow-up to my earlier post on Existentialism and Absurdism. Check it out, if you like.

Independent Film Review

I've been diving into the 1990s animated series The Critic this last month. I never saw the show when it was running, but watching it on DVD has been a hilarious experience. Like Homer Simpson, Jay Sherman is a big, fat loser. Unlike Homer, Jay is extremely intelligent, a film critic with a PhD. As a result, it the comedy is geared more toward the educated with its remarks on literature, philosophy, and culture.

In one scene, Jay chaperons his son Marty on a date to the movie theater. Jay is looking at the posters on the wall, horrified at spending two hours with some Hollywood kitch. Finally he spots a poster for a French film and cries out loud enough for everyone to hear, "A foreign film! At last! We're saved!"

I'm not a huge movie buff, to be honest. I'll be watching a Jane Austen flick this Sunday night instead of the Oscars. But the way it's worked out is that Kevin and I have seen four independent films this month, which is usually how many times we go to the theater in a year. It's been a great cultural experience, and I am proud to support the Salt Lake Film Society in its efforts.

The first independent film we saw was U23D, which showed at Sundance this January. I've made the last two concerts in Salt Lake, and I can testify that this movie, on the IMAX screen in 3D, is the next best thing. They played four songs from their latest album, plus some good standbys. The camera shots were amazing, and the 3D additions were worth it. What made this funny was the age group of those in attendance. Seventy percent of the audience was between 35 and 42. One of the guys who sat on our row took a look at Kevin and me and said, "Wow! Look at all the 30-somethings in this theater!" That made Kevin pretty mad until I reminded him that 30 is really not all that far away. Yeah, way for me to break it to him gently.

We saw The Savages with Christina and Dave. It was pretty good, both a drama and a comedy. It's about a brother and sister who put their father in a nursing home. The brother is a theater professor, and the sister is a temp who has an MFA in creative writing. Basically, they remind me of the crazy English majors I know, and they were totally neurotic. That's what provides the comedy, but made me cringe because sometimes it was just a little too close to home.

We saw The Diving Bell and the Butterfly this Friday with Jen and her partner Brian. It's definitely the most creative of the films we saw, as it is told from the point of view of a man who has suffered a stroke and is paralyzed except in one eye. This is based on a true story and the memoir he wrote by blinking his eye. Man, it was hard to watch at times. I guess you could say it was very French, with a healthy dose of morbidity, and it leaves you with a little hole inside your heart.

Tonight we saw the WWII drama Atonement. This one amazed me. It's funny, it's much more "Hollywood" than the other independent films we saw. I loved this romance, and this is the best I have seen Keira Knightley. I also thought the child star was magnificent. This movie entrapped me and brought me in from the beginning, entertaining me throughout with its bright colors and English landscapes. I was a little startled by the leap ahead in years, but it worked out for me in the end. I definitely wouldn't mind seeing this again.

Dreaming of Red Rock

I've been aching to get down to Southern Utah. Yesterday I found out that my backcountry reservation for a backpacking site in Chesler Park was approved for this spring. Yea! Chesler Park, which is in the Needles District of the enormous Canyonlands National Park, is one of my top three spots. My brother Matt was wonderful enough to print and frame this picture he took in Chesler Park and give it to me as a birthday present. It now has a spot on the most looked-at wall in our house:

One more thing, Matt and Brooke went down to St. George last weekend and were awesome enough to go to Zion National Park. Here's my favorite photo from their trip:

I'll get there, eventually.

Camus can do, but Sartre is smartre

After posting on what I want in life with more clarity than I expected, I'd like to do a post on obfuscation, taking a chance that a few of you will bear with me.

I didn't enjoy literature until my senior year of high school, when I was introduced to existential theory with Crime and Punishment and The Stranger. This is very late for a person like me who is willing to devote her life to literature if she can. Never before had fiction been taught to me through a philosophical lens that I could pick up or put down to apply another philosophy. At the time, my English teacher kept asking the class if any of us were converts to existentialism, but I think she was disappointed that not one of us raised his/her hand. Probably because we didn't really get it. It took me a few years to feel existentialism deeply. Maybe it takes moving into adulthood to really experience true ennui and dread (*smiling slyly*).

Critical theory was my favorite part of graduate school. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it's essentially where philosophy goes to die. We English majors pick up a struggling theory and coddle it, keep breathing into it to keep it alive in its semi-vegetative state. In grad school, I added to my favorite philosophies phenomenology and its relativism. I then dove deeper into the most wonderful postmodern ethics of Emmanuel Levinas (my favorite philosopher), who would reject the existential idea that we're all alone, saying we're completely tied to the other, and places the needs of other human beings above that of the individual. However, my love for his ideas didn't shake off my pull towards existentialism; It just layered it.

Lately I've realized that I've been wrong about calling myself an existentialist. I'm an absurdist. Camus states in "The Myth of Sisyphus":

"Thus I draw from the absurd three consequences, which are my revolt, my freedom, and my passion. By the mere activity of consciousness I transform into a rule of life what was an invitation to death..."

While this has a grim tone to it, Camus is describing why the only way to cope with the world is through the acceptance of our absurd existence, with acceptance that there may be meaning, and we might find it, but it's not essential, and basically most of us drift along (the unacceptable alternatives are the leap or faith or death). Kinda sad, right? But to me, the ever-questioning individual, possessing relativism and somewhat devoid of absolutes, this makes sense. This is an aspect of Western philosophy that grabs me and says, "Yes! this is what I think sometimes." But then we have Eastern philosophy to explore. Did I mention that I keep the Tao Te Ching with me at work? *Sigh* But that will take even more posts to explain or obfuscate, depending on how you see things.

Valentine's Day

I had probably the best Valentine's Day ever yesterday. Kevin and I decided to grab some bacon-wrapped filets mignon and cook them up at home. Add sparkling cider, my favorite cranberry feta Costco salad, twice-baked potatoes, shrimp cocktail, camembert cheese and double lemon cream pie, and it was a candlelit dinner in heaven. We both dressed up, and listened to my new Jack Johnson CD, who reminds us of Hawaii and relaxation. It was an evening where we never had to look at the clock.

And, Kevin gave me what will likely end up being one of the best gifts I've ever received. This is a gift that says Kevin really knows me.

I hope you all had a great day too!

What do you want out of life?

Have you ever been asked this question, point blank? Have you ever answered it with equal frankness? I think that in any culture—not just in Utah—people easily fall into the expectations and demands of others. And that’s not always a bad thing. Selfless acts are important. Conforming to society to some extent is a necessary part of the human condition.

But ultimately, shouldn’t we at least ask this question of ourselves? In my opinion, the question is more important than the answer, which may shift depending on our circumstances.

In the last couple of months, a coworker and I compiled a list of things we’d each like to do before we die. My list, in part, contained the following: Climb King’s Peak and Lone Peak, run a half marathon, rent a beach house for one month, and write a collection of short stories.

But what do I want to do before I die is a bit different than what I want most out of life. Setting aside what everyone else might want from me, what do I want for myself? Here is the answer:

• To continue academic involvement, whether teaching classes, taking classes, attending conferences, or writing on my own time
  
• To enable Kevin to be very happy in life, including career, home life, and personal development
  
• To decide on my own terms when or whether I become a mother
  
• To maintain long-term, fulfilling, peaceful, and mutually-beneficial friendships
  
• To increase my connection to Nature and develop my own personal spirituality
  

What about you? I’d love to know if you’re willing to share it.

Two Kitties

It's been over a week since I've posted an update to the kitty situation at our house. Video footage speaks for itself, so feel free to take a look.

Here are the two girls, sitting so stately on the humans' bed.

And here is a film representment of the two different personalities.

Here's Phoebe after we gave her a bath Saturday morning. "What the heck is that rat tail that keeps following me around?"

Masterpiece Theatre Addiction

Those who know me well know that I hardly ever watch television, especially on a schedule. My life is already so scheduled, that I just can't really fit in another commitment to be in my living room at a certain time on a certain day to watch a show. What's more, I don't have cable (yes, we have rabbit ears), so how much out there is really worth planning for?

But for the last few weeks, I've made an exception for Masterpiece Theatre on PBS Sunday nights. By chance, I was flipping channels and found Northanger Abbey. I then found out they were doing "The Complete Jane Austen," and the next day at work that's pretty much all I could talk about. Rachel printed off a schedule for me and brought it to my desk, saying, "Here's your Sunday night for the next couple of months." And I know that she's right.

There's something wonderful about reading Austen or watching an adaptation. It's soothing, it's familiar. It's got insight. I've watched Mansfield Park and Miss Austen Regrets (a semi-biographical piece). I missed Persuasion the first week, but my mom has recorded them all, giving her the luxury of having her Sunday nights open (she called me during the last five minutes of Mansfield Park to tell me Gordon B. Hinckley passed away--I wouldn't come to the phone!). I really enjoyed the Miss Austen Regrets, as it was fun to see a new story, and I like how Austen was portrayed.

The next three weeks are the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, the real authoritative adaptation. I like the Keira Knightely version, but it falls far short of this production. Since I have it on DVD, I'll probably work on some other stuff while it's on.

Bedroom Remodel

Because we're in our first house, Kevin and I know relatively little about home improvement projects. That was actually one of our criteria when buying a home--that it didn't need any immediate updates. But after only a short while spent in our pale-green bedroom with smoky blue/teal carpet and yellow curtains, I knew that we needed a change.

The first update we made was to get rid of all the curtains in our bedroom and throughout the rest of the upstairs. In our bedroom we put Hunter Douglas blinds, and I love the pulley system to change the direction (versus a wand that is twisted).

That was over a year ago, and we have slowly been moving toward a completed goal. Earlier this fall, we moved our bedroom out into the living room area so we could paint the room a lovely "toasted wheat" color with a white matte ceiling. We ripped up the carpet, padding, and floorboards, and we hired someone to come and sand and seal our floors. We chose to not stain the oak boards because we knew we were going to buy a dark pine wood bedroom set from Ikea, and wanted our floors to have a light, natural feel to contrast. We then purchased said bedroom set, and I spent the weekend after Thanksgiving putting it all together (the two six-drawer dressers were definitely the most time consuming). Just last week, we finally picked up the quilt cover and lamps for our bedside tables, and the picture is almost complete.

Update: Here is a picture of our bedroom as it was decorated under the previous owner of our home:

And here's our bedroom now:

There are still a few touches left to do:

• Replace the light fixture with new ceiling fan
• Find desirable area rug
• Find small baskets or canvas boxes for bottom shelf of bedside tables
• Find dark wood wall shelves to place our nature photography on

What can I say? I'm glad that even though it's taken time, Kevin and I have actually finished a project (well, almost). It's a lot of work. I can see why there's a business for interior decorators.

Good, Happy Things

It's a new month, and I've been wanting to post on a few random, very happy things in my life. The first is my dear Aunt Voni and Uncle Len. I received this picture from Voni in the last week or so, and I have been keeping it on my desktop because it makes me so happy. They live out of state, and I hardly ever get to see them. In fact, they have yet to "meet" Kevin in real life. They are two amazing people, he with a PhD, a love for bears (bears always remind me of him), and an interesting resume as researcher, academic professor/dean, and entrepreneur. Voni has the bio to match: master's degree, English teacher, social worker, massage therapist and energy worker. They enjoy ideas, good food, and great discussion, three things that I also love, and I feel like despite the generation gap, we connect on a multitude of levels. I miss them terribly, but I want them to know I'm thinking of them and love them.

On a lighter note, yesterday I received a package containing the dress for which I've been searching for a couple of years. I know that a nice black dress is the staple of every woman's wardrobe, but despite all my attempts, I could never find the one that had the versatile mix of casual and formal, as well as sexy and modest that I needed. I have always loved the jersey dress look, and I finally found this dress on BlueFly by designer BCBGMAXAZRIA. I tried it on first thing last night and have success!

The last item I wanted to post on were these flowers. I love this picture from Brooke. There's something about the photography that makes my soul a little warmer. And today I have a special reason to celebrate. Pink is the color for breast cancer, and after a breast cancer scare this week following my annual checkup, everything has checked out completely normal. I had great support from Kevin and coworkers. I just want to tell all the wonderful women in my life to stay healthy and take care of yourselves.