While I'm Waiting for my Nail Polish to Dry...

So its fairly late at night and I found this to be the perfect time to paint my nails red like J.K. Rowling on her Oprah interview. Sadly it is not the exact shade of red she had on, but fire engine red will have to do. I have quite the OCD when it comes to painting nails. I hate for there to be any sort of chip or imperfection in my nails. So I find I paint them quite often. Which leads me to my current pickle. My plan was to paint my nails and write the 15 missionaries I have promised myself I'd write. But I found that writing missionaries poses a threat to the perfection of my recently painted red nails. Which is why I am writing on my blog, rather than to poor missionaries who want nothing more than to receive a letter from me I'm sure :)

Thoughts as of Late:

I loved beach camping with my family in California. Seriously, loved it. I love San Diego. I love meeting Sister Missionaries. I love visiting old Jewish Temples. I love seeing crazy people dressed up for Halloween even when they aren't kids anymore. I love eating s'mores with my big family late at night. I love being accused of being on crack by my family. I love listening to ELO with my family. I love actually getting in the water for the first time in years at the beach. I love watching the sunset every night. I love yelling "Hazah!" in unison with my siblings and cousins. I love sea cave exploring. I love help with photography. I love dance parties in the car with my "sister" Raquel. I love driving from Carlsbad to Las Vegas all by myself. Basically....this trip was AWESOME.

I feel like Las Vegas is very similar to ancient Egypt...except for we aren't as cool...From the perceptive of the Old Testament, Las Vegas is worldly and deserty and an Oasis of sorts! Its just very strange to me to have this massive city in the middle of nowhere. Its kind of unreal to me. Especially after coming home from California where the majority of towns touch other towns. Nevada in and of itself is weird to me. Definitely not my favorite state...

And speaking of Nevada...I am seriously bummed I couldn't vote this election...I can't believe the guy I registered with didn't put in my application...

I have been very scatterbrained lately...Work was killer because of it. DSW only gave me 8 hours this week. Kill-er.

Well I think my nails are very nearly dried now. So I guess I can go to bed! Goodnight dear readers.

Finally! I know when I want to live!

So after much thought, I have officially decided on when I would have loved to have lived!!!

Born 1800, in England or Germany. Hello Queen Victoria yoooo. Hello Beethoven, Paganini, Liszt, and Chopin just to name a few! The renaissance and ancient Greece has already happened so wont miss anything there! And philosophy is all the rage at the time! The Romantic era brought the world some of the finest art, literature, philosophy, and music that in my opinion has never and may never be match again. I wouldn't be in France so I can avoid the whole mess of the revolution. And who knows, maybe I would meet a missionary and get the best of both worlds! Religion and art! Wow sometimes my mind is just blown by how awesome this era was.

Second choice would be ancient Greece :)

Whats The!?

There are just some events in history that make me stand back in ah and say to myself "What the!?" So I've been thinking about those things and wanted to share some of those thoughts with you, my beloved blog followers...

John Lennon's Murder: All I can say is why? I mean it breaks my heart that this happened. Sometimes I'll be enjoying me some nice Sargent Pepper or Abbey Road and the thought will strike like a lightning bolt in my mind that one of The Beatles was murdered by an emotional out of wack individual.  It seriously is shocking to me. Here he is doing his thing. Supporting "peace" and what not. Trying to be a better father and make a difference (despite some of our political differences, I still admire him). And then he's shot. Its awful and still makes me sad every time I think of it.

Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Genghis Khan: Wow. These guys rock. I know they killed a lot of people and were a bit controlling. But holy smokes.

First of all "What the!?" Alexander the Great died in a drinking contest in his twenties after having conquered most of the known world. Nice one Alex.

Napoleon Bonaparte, hello! The French Revolution left France in such state of chaos. Killing royalty seemed to be the only unifying aspect of their government. Then Napoleon comes in like a stud and takes control! I know he made himself a dictator and definitely had his faults. But it makes me laugh a little that he just goes in there, creates order, and most of the French loved him!

And Genghis Khan! Speaking of order! This guys was organized! I know he killed a lot. But he did more for women's rights than anyone for the entire duration of the dark ages. His respect of women spread around all the lands he conquered. To this day in Mongolia the word "Mother" is never associated with any curse word of any kind, like it often is here in America.

Chopin. When I see Chopin in Heaven I want to thank him personally for the beautiful work he contributed to the world. The poet of the piano changed my opinion of classical music more than anyone. Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach all amaze, impress, and make me cry. But Chopin takes me heart and cradles it in every key. He takes me on an emotional journey more than Mozart ever could (no offence Mozart). Both French and Polish, he was buried in France. But his loved one's knew he would want to be burried in Poland. So they unburied his body, cut out his heart, dangled it on the fish skeleton wiring of his sister's (I believe) skirt, snuck across the border with it, and buried it in Poland. Can you say Romantic!?

Whats Up With That

Hey Friends,

So its been forever since my last post but I just wanted to share some brief thoughts...

I've started a photography blog which I'm very nearly content with. Just a couple more things to fix and I'll be happy haha. Photography has taken off like a rocket. I love it and I'm very busy with it. But I sort of wish I could fast forward through the beginning stages and get on to being a well established photographer. The feelings of self-doubt are really exhausting and I'm doing my best to stop feeling that way and just do what I need to do.

http://taylorjphotography.blogspot.com/
I started work at DSW! I love it a lot. I've been working on the register quite a bit and its wonderful. I feel so blessed to have this job. The people I work with a super nice to me. Its weird how much they swear though. I'm definitely not used to that. And we wear these sweet headsets that make me feel like a werewolf from Twilight cause only we can hear each other. So I'll be talking to a customer and be hearing something else at the same time. Its actually sort of overwhelming sometimes and I have to take it out if I'm talking to someone and they are talking to me at the same time.

New Calling! I got called to be a Ward Missionary! I am STOKED! I love how the Lord really knows what you need to improve on and gives you a calling accordingly. So with this calling I need to find investigators and even get to teach investigaters with the Sister missionaries!

Speaking of Missionaries! I LOVE MISSIONARY LETTERS! I heard from my good friend Matt Doxey in South Africa yesterday after waiting two weeks for a reply! I also heard from Brock Nordstrom in Oklahoma! He drew and colored all over the letter and sent me pictures with expired film of trees...needless to say I loved it.

I recently read a post in Mr. Huston's blog about the worst word in the English language: the N word. If your friends with me, you'll know how much I despise that word. I really appreciated Mr. Huston's accurate explanation for why that word is truly disgusting. I hate how lax the youth of America are with that word. I have friends who use it in joking and it frankly is gross. In High School's across America teenagers use it just without even a second thought. It drives me crazy when people think its OK if black people say that word to each other, because its not. It is still disgusting in every context. If your interested to read his thoughts on the matter, here is his blog: http://gentlyhewstone.wordpress.com./

Well that's all for now. I know that was a random string of thoughts, but that's my life!

 

PS I'm pretty sure this is my new favorite picture I have ever taken...

This American Life

Recently I've begun to develop a terrible habit, I watch too much TV (as made apparent by my recent posts). So when it came time for me to choose what to watch in a moment of boredom, I decided against yet another episode of the always funny The Office or Arrested Development and went with something I had heard my Mom praise before: This American Life. What I then encountered was much more than I could have imagined. After the first episode I resolved to finish the six episode season that day. After I watched the first five episodes of the second season, I waited a couple days to prepare myself for the last episode.

This is a documentary based program where each week they chose a theme and then tell a story on that theme. Theme's of escape, religion, stubbornness, and Pandora's box set up the stage for always remarkable stories. They can take the most simple of stories like the condition of a lawn and make it seem intriguing and beautiful. And they take large stories such as all the stages of life from beginning to end, narrating the delicacies of an individual's story. This show has made me cry, laugh, and consume my thoughts for days. Watching it has made me seriously reconsider my position on the war in Iraq.  It has made me look at non-religious people in a new light. It has made me cry at the power of hate, but even more so cry at the awesome power of faith. It has made me sit in awe at the power of film. And it has made me honestly want to pursue my dreams.

Above all else, after watching This American Life I learned that literally every American has a story to tell. Sometimes when I think of my desire to create documentaries I wonder how I will ever find worth while material, a story worth telling. This American Life shows those stories are literally everywhere. We all have a different story to tell. And that gives me hope.

You can watch this show on Netfilx if you have an account. And if you'd like, I could recommend my favorite episodes to you. I highly recommend it for the sake of content and execution. This show is the best documentary based show I have ever seen. I'm sad to say it only lasted two seasons. Luckily there is a This American Life podcast that I will surely be listening to soon.

Photography Passion

Ever since I can remember I have loved art. I dabbled in different types of art: drawing, guitar, even some singing. But I was never able to find something I was even exceptional at...
   For the last year I've developed a deep passion for photography and film, especially dealing with weddings. Perhaps its related to my fascination I've had since I was a kid with fantasy. Weddings are real magic to me. They are beautiful, romantic, and real...
   Yet I digress...So all my life I've told myself I wasn't good enough. I honestly have always thought that what I loved and enjoyed most, I could never do. Countless times I've looked at photography and watched short films that moved me to tears. And it would break my heart to think I could never achieve that. My thoughts were "I don't have the time, money, and especially not that talent."
   Then last year I went to an art exhibit at BYU-Idaho. There was a piece that sent the message across that self-motivation and perseverance could rule out negativity, doubt, and excuses. I guess it took nearly eight months for that seed of a thought to bloom. But bloom it has! I've decided I'm going to go for it! I love photography and film. It is art. It is magic. And it is my passion!

My digital photography class begins Saturday and I look forward to sharing my work with you!

Thank you so much for the support of my family, friends, and photographers I look up to. I can't explain how much your support means to me. Thank you a thousand times.

Period Pieces

It's definitely no secret (to those who hear me rant) that lately my favorite movies seem to be royalty pieces. My last week in Rexburg my good friends Rachel and Becca and I watched two of my new favorite movies: Young Victoria and Marie Antoinette. Ever since, I can't seem to escape my new love of this genre.

Young Victoria is simply one of my new favorite movies ever. I've seen in three times in little over a month. The acting is spot on. Visually its incredible. The costumes, amazing. And the stories pulls at my heart strings every time. The sincerity of Prince Albert has left me with only one conclusion, I must find and marry someone exactly like him! (I can't help it)  And Queen Victoria's grace and nobility is more than inspiring.  But, moments of insecurity make her real...Please, I implore you to watch this film...and then let me know what you think!
  
Marie Antoinette is delightful. While not as kid appropriate as Young Victoria, I still enjoyed this long frilly Rococo film immensely.  It showed clearly the pressure of an inexperienced and ignorant Queen. I loved that the entire movie is spent exaggerating the hyperbole that was French royal life of the 17th century, while devoting a mere 5 minutes or so to the French Revolution. It shows the utter disassociation between the royal leaders and the French people.

Whats even more interesting, is to watch these movies one right after the other. Marie Antionette compared to Queen Victoria is quite the contrast. Queen Victoria grew up sheltered and manipulated, but when it came time to have responsibility while still a teenager, she walked up to the task with pride and honor. Marie Antionette seemingly found herself married off to the King of France while still a teenager.  She found her responsibilities to redecorating the palace and throwing lavish parties....Well anyways, I think its interesting :)