A Glock on Temple Square

So awhile back I got to do a show with UPB where we got to play in the Assembly Hall on temple square. I ended up parking in the underground parking lot underneath the Conference Center and ended up having to carry my very heavy glockenspiel all the way across temple square. Seeing as I call it my glock, It struck me as funny (because this is what most people think of when they hear the word glock) that I was able to carry it openly across temple square. So I stopped and took a picture. Makes me giggle :) I took a few pictures of the temple, of the assembly hall, and of Chris and I in the assembly hall.

A Pet Peeve

As I sit here taking a break from the break I've been taking I thought I'd share with you a pet peeve of mine I've recently discovered. You see... it all goes back to about 7 or so years ago when I was taking a ballroom dance class in the WILK. (285 for those of you that are interested in which one) At the time the WILK was undergoing substantial renovations, especially down the hallway where my classroom was located. To complicate things, I had a class across campus just 10 minutes after the dance class, so every day was a frantic rush into the bathroom to change my clothes and shoes before sprinting to my next class. There was a bathroom door directly across the hall from the door of my class. Convienent yes? Well, not really seeing as this was a men's bathroom. For whatever reason, the construction people had taken down the signs normally making it obvious which gender would be welcomed to enter said restroom. The first time I mistakenly rushed into the bathroom, only to be met with a line of urinals (fortunately unoccupied) was quite a shock. Ditto for the second time. You'd think I would have learned my lesson at this point. But no... I was a little less fortunate the third (yes third) time. I guess as soon as the bell rang my brain went automatically out of my head and to the next class. So I push open the door (yes, to the same men's room) and see one of the guys from my dance class coming around the corner finishing zipping up his pants. Talk about embarrassment. I pretty much ran away. This was only half-way through the semester so I still had two months in this class. And I would have to dance with this guy! What's even worse is that he was one of a pair of identical twins that were in the class together and I couldn't tell them apart, so whenever I ended up paired with one of them I never knew whether or not the guy I was dancing with was the one that saw me burst into the men's restroom! Ugh...

Which leads me to my pet peeve. I hate it when women's restrooms are decorated blue. I speak of one I used recently in the law building. Tiles, stalls, everything blue. It really makes me anxious, as if I'm in the wrong one. Because traditionally blue = boy, right? I had to double check the tell-tale signs of a women's bathroom; notably the presence of the little stall trash cans, the wall vending machine, and the lack of urinals. I was in the right place, but did it really have to be so very blue? Really!? Ugh...

A Guilty Pleasure

Or maybe not so guilty. Well, maybe because I check it several times a day I should feel guilty. But it just makes me smile. I'm talking about getting my daily lolcat fix. Yes, I know it's old news to so many of you, but I've jumped on the bandwagon fairly recently. And I think it's hilarious.












And for all of you (cat) haters out there... It's not just about cats!

Not so Gourmet

So I started volunteering for a chef a little over a year ago. Chef Jim Light was teaching gourmet cooking classes at the Kimball showroom in Salt Lake City. Kimball recently decided to remodel, I don't have the whole story, but they talked it over with Jim and decided to remodel into a new Viking cooking school kitchen. It's a space that still functions as a showroom, but has five fully functional industrial gas ranges, convection ovens, a high-speed convection oven, a steam/convect oven, several large fridges and freezers, a few induction-style hotplates, and lots of fun Viking accessories. Somehow Jim got in contact with the Viking people and they've organized a cooking school out of the showroom. It's going to be a pretty great thing! I'm really excited about it. Jim has invited those of us who were his culinary assistants to assist in the new cooking school. There was a meeting in Salt Lake last week as sort of an introduction to the whole school thing. There was a cooking school guru lady from Viking cooking school headquarters there to give us the rundown.

Now, I met several of Jim's volunteers when he was doing his own thing, and several of them were experienced in the kithen, but didn't seem to have all that much formal training, as it were. I guess that's mostly what I was expecting when I showed up. Or at least a little bit of that. I mean, I know that the curriculum was being vastly expanded, and that Jim would need more staff to help teach, but I guess it hadn't really computed. So I show up and sit down at the table. There were about a dozen or so people. We start the training and after awhile someone suggests that we all introduce ourselves. People start giving their names and experience. One lady trained at the CIA and has taught at a cooking school for years, one guy has cooked in some pretty good restauraunts for 16 years, one guy had to leave in the middle to go do what I'm pretty sure was a cooking spot for a local news channel, and so on and so forth. I'd say I was a little intimidated. I know my way around my kitchen, but I haven't had any formal training at all, other than what I've obsrved from helping with Jim's classes.

So there was a snack break, with sandwich makings with some great sourdough bread, meat, and cheese platters. There was also some brie, but I couldn't remember whether or not you were supposed to eat the rind or not. So I waited until I saw someone else eat some before I did. Not that I mind looking like an idiot from time to time, but I do try to avoid it where possible. Turns out you do eat the rind, or as Wikipedia informed me when I looked it up later, "The white mouldy rind is edible, and is not intended to be separated from the cheese during consumption." It doesn't sound very appetizing, but is actual quite tasty. So I did end up getting to eat lots of cheezy goodness and keep up the appearance of non-idiocy as well.

Well, that is until I decided to munch on some purple grapes. I sure do love those purple grapes. They go well with cheese. Anyways, I was listening attentively to the Viking chef lady (that description brings a pretty funny picture to mind, btw) calmly popping grapes into my mouth, when one slipped right out of my fingers and down the front of my shirt. Not that my shirt had anywhere close to a low neckline, so I must have hit it at just the right angle. As it turns out, the grape was rather chilly and ended up nestling in an area that was rather warm. And I wasn't in a position to remove said chilly grape from it's warm resting place. There were people seated both to either side of me and across the table from me. I couldn't exactly commence a fishing expidition down the front of my shirt in the midst of a bunch of professionals, now could I? After about an hour or so I was able to angle my body in such a way so as to discreetly pull the grape out. It was, by now, a very warm grape. After a bit I was able to discreetly place it on my plate. After that there weren't any further distractions and I was able to pay attention to the rest of the meeting.

So even though I may be a little bit intimitdated by my whole lack of experience thing, I'm really excited to have this opportunity! I'm looking forward to learning all I can!

Quote of the Day 15 Jan 09

I keep running into all of these great quotes in random places. In an effort to share them with the world I'm going to post a few of them up here. Here's the first one:

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Willing is not enough; we must do."
--Goethe

I really need to be do-ing more, and finding new ways to apply the things that I know. I feel that I haven't been blessed with all of the wonderful learning opportunities in my life just so I know a lot of things. I need to find some way to go out and apply what I know to make the world a better place in a way that only I can. There is only one of me, after all. There are probably things that only I can do. And I do feel willing. But am I really doing all I can? Definitely not. There is so much more I can do. I just need the courage to take on the responsability of doing more.

50 Random Questions

I was recently berated for not having posted anything on my Blog for a month or so. So for your blog-reading pleasure, here's 50 random questions answered by me.

1. Where were you 3 hours ago?
Asleep in bed.
2. Who are you in love with?
I'm not telling.
3. Have you ever eaten a crayon?
no. What a weird question!!
4. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?
Yes. Part of the box of 'Reynolds Wrap Heavy Duty Aluminum foil' is pink.
5. When is the last time you went to the mall?
To pick up some sheet music.
6. Are you wearing socks right now?
yes.
7. Do you have a car worth over $2,000?
Only if you count sentimental value. He's been good to me.
8. When was the last time you drove out of town?
To go to band practice last Saturday.
9. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days?
I tried. It was sold out. I Redboxed Hellboy2 instead.
10. Are you hot?
I'm in the lab. I'm always cold in the lab.
11. What was the last thing you had to drink?
Hot Chocolate.
12. What are you wearing right now?
Green T-Shirt, leather belt with my name on it, dark jeans, green Chuck Taylors, Scorpio neclace.
13. Do you wash your car or let the car wash do it?
Car wash usually.
14. Last food that you ate?
Ladyfingers. Dipped in my Hot Chocolate.
15. Where were you last week at this time?
At my computer. Typing my dissertation. Where I should be right now.
16. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week?
Yes. I bought the most recent derby winner from shirt.woot
17. When is the last time you ran?
hmmmm.... That's a tough one. There hasn't been anything (or one) to run after these days.
18. What's the last sporting event you watched?
I saw part of the sugar bowl. You know... the one where Utah "seal-clubbed" Alabama...
19. What is your favorite animal?
I'm going to have to go with Toast on that one.
20. Your dream vacation?
I'd really like to go to India at some point in my life!
21. Last person's house you were in?
My own. Other than me? Adam's house watching '24'
22. Worst injury you've ever had?
I broke my brother's leg. With a van. I don't really get hurt all that much. I do have tendonitis right now from using the track pad of my laptop a little too much...
23. Have you been in love?
Nope. I'm pretty sure that takes two people, and most of what I thought was getting pretty close to that turned out to be pretty one-sided.
24. Do you miss anyone right now?
Yep.
25. Last play you saw?
'A Christmas Carol' My roomate was one of the carolers.
26. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
I don't have secret weapons. Weapons, yes. Secret, no. What you see is what you get.
27. What are your plans for tonight?
Potato Bar at Mary's, then probably American Idol at Kari and Robin's. Maybe.
28. Who is the last person you sent a Facebook message or comment?
The Major. He was up when I was getting ready to go to bed. I said hi.
29. Next trip you are going to take?
I'll probably go visit my mom at some point.
30. Ever go to camp?
Yep. Girl's Camp.
31. Were you an honor roll student in school?
Yep.
32. What do you want to know about the future?
Whether or not I'm going to get to work at ARUP.
33. Are you wearing any perfume or cologne?
nope.
34. Are you due sometime this year for a doctor's visit?
Yep.
35. Where is your best friend?
Probably at work.
36. How is your best friend?
Good as far as I know.
37. Do you have a tan?
Nope. Those are discouraged when you're being lasered.
38. What are you listening to right now?
The really loud fans and general loud background noise in the Mass Spec lab.
39. Do you collect anything?
Hobbies.
40. Who is the biggest gossiper you know?
Like I'm going to post the answer to that one on the internet... but did you hear about Michelle's weekend?
41. Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over?
I wanted to see if my beater car could do 100mph going down the hill outside of Beaver a few years ago. It can.
42. Have you ever drank your soda from a straw?
Yes.
43. What does your last text message say?
"Ward FHE Tonight at 7:30 in 3211 WSC (on campus). Pizza, Games etc. Bring an extra pair of socks."
44. Do you like hot sauce?
Sometimes. Not on ice cream though.
45. Last time you took a shower?
This morning.
46. Do you need to do laundry?
I've got a good 6 days before that becomes necessary.
47. What is your heritage?
Mostly English, with a little German, French, Norwegian, and Scottish thrown in.
48. Are you someone's best friend?
I'm not sure. I feel like I'm a really good friend to a lot of people, but I'm not sure if I'm in the 'best' category.
49. Are you rich?
Not in money. But in family definitely. An embarrasment of riches there. If you've met my family you understand. :-) I wouldn't trade them for anything!
50. What were you doing at 12AM last night?
Finishing watching '24' at Adam's house