The Tumble Gym

Wednesday night I was over at Autumn's and suddenly the craving to jump on tramplines and do flips arose in several of the people that were over. I personally don't have a lot of experience in doing flips unless it's under water, nor much in jumping on trampolines, since I've only done it a few times. I'm also definitely not a gymnast. I can't even do a cartwheel.

We decided against the popular trampoline place Jump On It and opted for Progressive Power Tumble because it was both cheaper and closer. Anyway, because people started falling asleep shortly after we decided to go on Wednesday night, we didn't end up going and decided to go yesterday instead. Unfortunately, while we had planned on at least ten people going, only four actually were able to make it Thursday night at 10:30, but it turned out to be better with less people anyway, because we didn't have to share (there were other people in the gym with us, but still). So we went and jumped on the trampolines and dove through rings and swung on the rope into the foam pit and tried our best to get out without getting sucked deeper into the depths. Let me tell you, that pit did not want to let you out.

After jumping and diving for a while we discovered an empty back room with a bungee harness in it. So we went up to the front desk and asked if we could use it and they said Sure! So we went back there and my companions all got hooked up and did flips and fancy things, and then it was my turn and I was terrified, but knew I'd never forgive myself if I passed up the opportunity to fly. So they hooked me up and I flew! It was almost like the doorway jumping things for babies.

These pictures are obviously not ours. None of us had a camera.

I jumped and bounced and they slingshotted me across the room and I pretended I was Superman and it was amazing. The harness hurt really, really bad though, so none of us used it for very long, and we moved on to the Sumo Suits after a few minutes. We sumoed for a while and that was hysterical, and then my companions moved on to doing flips and cartwheels again and I just stood around wishing I was more flexible and significantly braver.

All in all: great fun! I think it's fantastic that they allow just anybody to come there and play around for a while. It's a great workout and a great way to let adults play, because I don't think adults do enough playing nowadays. It was $6 for an hour and a half (per person).Next time I want to go to Jump On It-- though it is more expensive ($8/hr) and further away (in Lindon)-- to compare, and also because there are more than two trampolines, which I thought a grave oversight. But then again, it is a tumble gym, and not a trampoline house.

Wishes

Lying awake dead of night and eyes that never close
flowers decay - a still life calls for a change

I can’t wait, forever

Miles away dead of night and it’s quiet as the grave
when there’s more in your head than you find in your life
calls for a change

I can’t wait, forever

And the days and the hours and the years
keep turning in my mind
I’ve been waiting forever
-"I Can't Wait" The Sundays

I want to be in nature
I want a Holga to take purposefully bad pictures
I want to release 99 red balloons
I want a date
I want to go barefoot
I want a beautiful place to live in
I want a wedding for me
And I want my hair longer again.
[I can't take credit for any of these pictures except the barefoot one. It is mine.]

Day Dreaming

"Let me go home, let me go home
I wanna go home, let me go home
Why dont you let me go home...

...I feel so broke up

I wanna go home"

-Beach Boys "Sloop John B"

Sometimes when I'm sitting here slapping mailing stickers onto FedEx envelopes or typing in addresses for a million packages, I wonder what these places are like that they'll be going to. Then it makes me think of home, but especially the summertime (since I wish it was summer already). Like sitting on the porch in a t-shirt and jeans just as the dry heat of the Friday sun is evaporating with the coastal chill of the evening, the marine layer starting to roll in. Of course, it helps if there are oldies playing on the dusty radio in the workshop, or if a friend calls up and tells you it'd be great to go to the beach tomorrow, and do you want to come? You could stop at Pedro's or In-N-Out for lunch and spend the rest of the day sitting on the sand or swimming in the almost-warm Pacific waters. There could be a bonfire that night, which you sit near, playing cards in the dark sand, your salty hair tied back and sunburned arms disapproving of the sweater you had to pull on when the sun went down. Or you could go back home and swim in the pool to get all the salt and sand off, then go for a walk down the dark empty road, the coyotes howling their haunting song and the birds that refuse to go to sleep the only sounds.

The sun rises early and sets late. There's not much to do all day but sit around, take walks, swim, and eat when it isn't too hot. The cats lie around in the only cool places left-- shadows in the garage, the shady spot under the kitchen table, or when the windows are open in the evening, on the sills, straining the screens near to the point of bursting.

It's refreshing in the evening to go out and stand in the grass for a minute, feel the cool blades beneath your feet, or dangle your feet in the pool slurping a homemade milkshake and thinking about nothing but the sun and the air, and longing slightly for February when it might rain, but not wanting anything but these moments of nothing to do and nothing to worry about.

Happy...

...Blog Reader Appreciation Day!!!
I truly appreciate all you (three) regular readers I have out there :)
I am incredibly hungry right now. No joke. I get hungry pretty easily. Anyway, I subscribe to like fifty food blogs, and I think I'll share something tasty with you. I stole this from Smitten Kitchen, a Rosemary Flatbread that I can totally see going really well with a roast chicken, like from the grocery store (because I know not many of you want to take the time to roast one yourself, but if you do, I have a recipe for that too. Actually it's from Smitten Kitchen too, so...)

Crisp Rosemary Flatbread
From: Gourmet, July 2008

You could easily swap the rosemary for other herbs, such as thyme or tarragon, or punch it up with black pepper or other spices.
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary plus 2 (6-inch) sprigs
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup olive oil plus more for brushing
Flaky sea salt such as Maldon

-Preheat oven to 450°F with a heavy baking sheet on rack in middle.
Stir together flour, chopped rosemary, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in center, then add water and oil and gradually stir into flour with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Knead dough gently on a work surface 4 or 5 times.
-Divide dough into 3 pieces and roll out 1 piece (keep remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap) on a sheet of parchment paper into a 10-inch round (shape can be rustic; dough should be thin).
-Lightly brush top with additional oil and scatter small clusters of rosemary leaves on top, pressing in slightly. Sprinkle with sea salt. Slide round (still on parchment) onto preheated baking sheet and bake until pale golden and browned in spots, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer flatbread (discard parchment) to a rack to cool, then make 2 more rounds (1 at a time) on fresh parchment (do not oil or salt until just before baking). Break into pieces.

I guess technically I could get in trouble or something for using this picture without permission, since I've used a couple pictures from Smitten's site before and they mysteriously deleted themselves, so take your fill of looking before it goes too!

When O When Will It Stop Snowing?

Am I the only one who marks this similarity?

Squaw Peak:
Grizzly Peak:
By the way, this is an interesting article regarding the (re?)naming of Squaw Peak.

Abbey Road

Everybody knows about Abbey Road. But did you know that there was a musical/technological breakthrough at Abbey Road a couple weeks ago, and that Keane was the subject? Okay, I'm sorry I keep bringing Keane into so many of my blog posts, but Hey! I like them. And I promise they aren't the only band I listen to.
Anyway, back to this breakthrough thing. So Keane was the first band to make a live world-wide webcast in 3D. They chose Abbey Road for their "historic" event because it's already historic. Or something. Personally I think it's kind of a weird thing to be the first person to do, like holding the record for most marshmallows eaten in a minute or something like that. But in any case, it was kind of cool, although it probably would've been cooler if I'd actually had some 3D glasses.
They made a short (about 4 minutes...and not in 3D) documentary of the event, which you can watch right here!

KEANE - 3D Documentary from keaneofficial on Vimeo.
And while you're at it, if you're in the mood, listen to this great song (ignore the video, it's just a silly slideshow). It's sort of an ironic look at war.
"The Happy Soldier"

Ke Kumu - Kau Mua

I am officially registered for BYU Hawaii as of a few moments ago! These are my classes for the fall:

Pacific Natural History
Surfing
First Semester Hawaiian
Book of Mormon 2
Lifestyle Management

It's 12 units. Also, my day starts around 7:30AM everyday (even Saturday, which is when the surfing class is) but I'm okay with that. I'll just have to go to bed earlier.
Come the end of August I'll be trading the Rocky Mountain desert for this:
P.S. The title of the post is the title of my Hawaiian Class. I have no idea what it means. Ask me in December.

Summer Lovin'

Today felt summery. I went the whole day without a jacket of any kind. Even though the next few days have a rainy forecast, after that it's supposed to be sunny and in the high 60s. It's like Earth is saying "Hang in there, this is what's coming next!" I'm feeling pretty excited about warmer weather coming in summer. Warm weather, the sun not going down until 8:30pm, oldies, and vintage surf videos make me think of summer. Here are some fun things to get you in the summer mood. What makes you think of Summer?

These guys look like cavemen, don't they?

Vintage Surf videos make life seem idyllic.

And Elvis is just silly.

Old Poetry

Yesterday I found these two old poems I wrote in my Creative Writing class in High School. I'm not so great at poetry in general, but these are two of my better ones, and I thought they were kind of fun. The first is based off the painting "The Walk" by Marc Chagall...
...and the second I think was based off a Native-American-style painting by a guy whose last name was Lomahaftewa, but I misinterpreted it as the title of the picture.

The Walk (9/11/06)

My dear, this is quite unconventional
It’s difficult to see you up there.
This smile on my face is a guise—
I’ve had better than this kind of walk.

With my head by your feet it’s harder to talk
As you float like balloons in the skies.
I feel I may lift soon, like you, to the air
But that would be all but intentional.



Rainbow Maker (2/27/07)

Lomahaftewa, the miracle man
Changing the sky
With a bow in his hand
His head in the sky
And his feet on the land.

Looking around with a light in his eye
He raises his arms
And his bow to the sky
Pulling the bowstring
He aims very high.

Lomahaftewa aims for the mark
Releases an arrow
That soars like a lark
Trailing behind it
A colorful arc.

Keane?

Today I found someone had finally put up some really old Keane songs up on Youtube. I'm talking pre-Tom Chaplin here (well, I guess these 3 songs are after Tom joined the band playing guitar, but before original vocalist & bassist Dominic Scott left). Back when they had just changed their name to Keane from The Lotus Eaters. It was like discovering a whole new band. It's definitely more guitar-oriented, and the drum sound is different too. Here're a couple songs:



So. What do you think?

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Aside from the incredible amount of repition my job requires, there is rarely a dull moment (except for moments like these when all the work is done, I have an hour left in my shift, I've just finished my book, and I have no new emails). Some rather interesting things occur.

Yesterday we took another girl with us on our rounds, and she needed to make a stop at the Press Building. The Press Building is basically a paper manual factory. I think the proper term for this particular building is Cougar Press or something. Anyway, I've never seen anything like it in real life. It was incredibly loud with the whirring and clunking and (almost) screaming of machinery. I wouldn't want to work there. Although all the workers get to wear whatever they want, they also have to deal with the noise (everyone had either earplugs or headphones in) and the permeating dustiness probably resultant from paper being cut in massive quantities. But it was interesting to watch the machinery go at it, and I saw Preach My Gospel manuals being made, which was interesting.

Today (actually, only about twenty minutes ago) a girl from Customer Service came in for help finding a student's CD. Guess who this student with the missing CD was? Bristol Palin, daughter of Sarah Palin. You all know who Sarah Palin is. It was only an interesting situation because of who the student was, and because no matter how hard we looked we couldn't find the CD, but in any case, it was interesting to learn what kind of people enroll in BYU Independent Study. Only yesterday I packaged a lesson for someone who lives in Fallbrook (not necessarily interesting, but gives me a sense of hometown pride). There are prisoners, military, child prodigies graduating at the age of 12 (I haven't seen any, but I'm sure there are), people in random foreign countries, and also yesterday we mailed something to Harrison Ford. Of course, this Harrison Ford was enrolled in High School English and living in rural Alaska, but still...

My Thoughts Exactly

I'm in the midst of reading this book:
And last night Amory, the main character, is listening to his friend Tom at Princeton talking about how to deal with ghosts when they're in your bedroom ("If you use any direction, a ghost can never get you in a bedroom") and I was very surprised to discover that the theories of dealing with ghosts under your bed in 1920 are exactly the same as mine today!
While you can get rid of a ghost in your bedroom by closing your eyes, turning on all the lights, and waving a stick around, "the bed requires different tactics... Of course you never look. You stand in the middle of the floor and before he knows what you're going to do make a sudden leap for the bed-- never walk near the bed; to a ghost your ankle is your most vulnerable part-- once in bed, you're safe; he may lie around under the bed all night, but you're safe as daylight. If you still have doubts pull the blanket over your head."
Very wise advice indeed.

There's Gold in Them Hills

And I'm finally mining some. Okay, that's a weird analogy, but I'm listening to that song right now by Ron Sexmith, so it seemed fitting. Anyway, what is this gold I'm finally mining? I moved out to Utah at the end of December with the intention of attending culinary school in the fall. After much of what can only be described as a less serious kind of soul searching, I didn't really have a reason to be here. But my life is getting all sorted out now (the gold, for those who didn't catch it).
Today was my first day at my new job. I'm working at BYU Independent Study in Materials Processing. Basically I'll be sending mail out. So far it's pretty boring because I just watch people work in a department that isn't my own (the idea of this "training" is that I can get to understand how the other departments work...whatever, just train me in my job and I'm good to go). But once things get going, it should be a pretty good job. I'm working about 20 hours a week until Spring Term starts, when I'll work like...more than that. I get paid $7.50 an hour. I'm pretty excited about that.
Starting in Spring Term, which begins end of April, I'll be taking the Advanced SCUBA course through BYU. I'm pretty excited about this too, since this is like an actual, physical skill I'm learning. Kind of. Anyway. The point is, I want to go on to Instructor/Rescue/whatever status so I can teach it if I need/want to. Which I kind of do. Anyway, then in Summer term I'll be taking a Greek and Roman Mythology class, as well as a Book of Mormon course with Ian! I'm so glad he's coming out here while I'm still here, and that we get to take a class together. It's going to be so much fun.
On April 27th I'm moving out of this apartment! I'm also pretty excited about this. First of all, I'm moving to a house, which is really awesome in my book. And it has wood floors. What I hate most about where I'm living now is that it's on the third floor. It's hard enough to get up all the stairs without dying from exhaustion without adding the super-heat of summer to the equation. I'll miss my roommates a little, but we never got very close, something I think we all regret. At least I do. Anyway, I'm super excited about the house. It's blue.
Probably the thing I'm most excited for is that I'm moving to Oahu to attend BYU Hawaii in the fall!!! This probably isn't news to any of you, but I am SO incredibly excited it's not even funny. Well maybe it is. I'll be majoring in Hawaiian Studies, which is like History/Culture/stuff. Surfing and mastering the Outrigger canoe are part of the curriculum for the major. Now how sweet is that? Anyway, I'll be staying in a house (it's yellow! and looks like it has a dirt driveway, which I think is really cool) with three other girls. If you look up that address on Google Maps, you can see how close it is to the ocean and the mountains and campus and everything else. Gah! I can't wait. I hope this is something that will make me happy, if not just long enough to graduate, since right now in that department I'm a little behind.
Life is becoming fun, especially since I'm finally establishing myself. I have a stack of 8 books to read (for now!) and watch a lot of movies. I love it all right now. I love these moments when I feel so great.
Okay, and I just really think this is funny: