The Wildcat's Den

I'm going to be traveling the next couple of days, so I wanted to get this up before I left - in celebration of the 4th of July, a video of two of my favorite movies about the American Revolution (okay, one's actually an HBO miniseries, but it's awesome and I don't care) -



I love the score for "John Adams," by the way.

Also from "John Adams" - Congress approving the Declaration of Independence and reading it out for the world in epic fashion -



Happy Independence Day, folks!

(x-posted to Blogspot)

A few days ago, I realized this week I would be celebrating one year since I've been home from my mission.  A year ago today I was in Orange Park, Florida having my exit interview with my mission president with a handful of other missionaries also heading home.  It's so weird that it's only been a year - I feel like I've done so much since then.

Also - yesterday I went with my mom and my sisters to get some stuff for youth conference and I met up with my last mission companion, who is now working and going to school in Provo (I forgive her for that - she's the biggest sweetheart in the whole world and I was very blessed to have her as my last companion).  It was so fun to reminisce about mission stuff and to hear how things went after I came home.

I'm also happy to report that the new mission president is going to keep the mission blog going - my mission president and his wife went home at the beginning of the month and I was afraid that the mission blog was going to go the way of the dodo (different mission presidents do different things).  I just like being able to see what's going on with all those wonderful people I got to serve around.  I recognize the missionaries less and less, but I know the places.  It's like when you've been out of high school or college for years and years, but you still get happy and squee-ful when you hear that their teams are having success (I can apply sports to pretty much anything).

Shifting gears for a moment - I bought my one textbook for fall semester and it was $30 and I am happy.  The syllabus for my other class doesn't list a textbook, so I'm thinking I'll only have one book to buy.  That makes me happy because I'm going to have some excess money coming from my student loan and I can use that for a new laptop and for travel expenses (now I'm waiting to hear back from the high school if I have that aide job - which, it looked good as of a week or so ago.  And I wouldn't have to move).

Beyond that - I have one more project to turn in that's due in two weeks.  It's an annotated bibliography, which feels more like busywork.  I'm trying to find one more article to annotate, but it's getting harder to find what I need for my topic.  Something will turn up, though.  I'm having too good a day to have that go down the tubes.

Oh - for something completely unrelated (but cool nonetheless), here's a video!  I found this when I was lurking about on HillBuzz.org's comment threads and I thought it was pretty good.  I've gotten to where I like to share fun videos on my blog because - well, because I can.  I feel like I have a backlog of stuff to share - I might do some kind of 30-day meme where I post a video each day that I find entertaining.  Hmm... I'll have to think about that. 

Even thought it's really Wednesday (snerk).

I found the video for Taylor Swift's song "You Belong With Me" and there was something that I picked up on that I quite liked (well, I could relate to it, anyway). The blonde character (played by Taylor Swift) looks a lot like me in high school - ratty blonde hair, glasses and a little nerdy (I wasn't a band nerd, but I was a yearbook geek. Cut from the same kind of mold). The bratty cheerleader (also played by Taylor Swift) has sleek brown hair and... well, she's a bitch (sorry - sometimes, you just have to say it).

You may think this is shallow or whatever - but I love that the sweet, geeky girl is blonde and curly-haired and the snotty girl has sleek brown hair. No offense meant to my many brunette friends, but there is this perception in movies and TV that blondes are these gorgeous supermodels that have all the hot guys and everything else you could possibly want (I'm exaggerating, but only slightly) and that brunettes are mousy and scroungy. Well, I was mousy and scroungy in high school (still am, to a degree) and I love my blonde hair. Some days, I even love my curls (when they aren't abjectly obnoxious and driving me nuts).  And I still wear old t-shirts to bed.  And yes, I even acted weird and loopy in my bedroom singing along to the radio and dressed up like various whatevers.  I did not, however, have a semi-cute neighbor boy that kept peeking in my window when I did that.  My room was in the basement and we didn't have neighbors.  Made that a little difficult.

Crap, where was I?  Oh yeah... So, I love this video. And I'm glad I found a version that would let me embed it. Happiness!!



Still doesn't mean I'm not jealous of girls who can get their hair slick and pretty and not have to worry about it poofing out. I look nice when I first straighten it, but then I go outside and I into Hermione in the first Harry Potter movie. The sad thing is, Emma Watson was wearing a wig in that movie. That fact does nothing for my self-image.

Per a discussion that took place at Jordan Commons last night, here is the video of "The Mysterious Ticking Noise." I didn't make it, I only laugh about it: