Sunday, March 29, 2009

Festival of Colors

The local Hare Krishna temple hosted its annual Holi Festival of Colors yesterday and thousands of people flocked from all over Utah to attend. I have been looking forward to this festival all month and there was NO way I was going to miss it. The Holi Festival celebrates the arrival of spring and the passing of winter, and tradition dictates that all grudges and negative feelings must be abandoned for a day of merriment. According to the Hare Krishna website, people are supposed to “bury their hatchets with a warm embrace and throw their worries to the wind”…and those worries are apparently represented by enough colorful powder to bury us all.

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The festival began with singing and dancing, followed by a bonfire and ceremony in which an effigy of the evil demoness Holika was burned…and then we all counted down to the moment when we could throw around our multi-colored powder with reckless abandon. You would not believe the wonderful chaos that ensued! The air was so thick with powder that I couldn’t breathe…I had colors caked in my eyes, nose, and mouth…and the massive crowd trampled me like a herd of wild buffalo. It was fantastic!

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We may have been gagging on powder and unable to open our eyes for a while, but we had so much fun...and we definitely looked festive!Festival of Colors 04

We spent the next couple of hours dancing and singing along with the music (which wasn’t difficult to do, because apparently the Hare Krishnas just repeat the same words over and over to different tunes).

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Not so sure about this weird food on my plate…Festival of Colors 10

The Holi Festival of Colors was an unforgettable experience and I loved every minute of it! I was genuinely disappointed when the sun started to go down and the freezing temperatures forced us to leave…

…but I received quite a shock when I got home and saw this in the mirror:Festival of Colors 11

Yikes! I hadn’t realized how truly colorful I was! My hair is still kinda pink (even after four shampoos), my eyes are still burning, and my fingernails appear to be stained purple…but it was SO worth it.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Oh Happy Day!

I think that Robert Smith from The Cure was talking about me when he wrote the opening lyrics to the song Mint Car:

The sun is up, I’m so happy I could scream!

WHY am I so happy, you may ask? Because I just found out that I was accepted at the University of San Diego and Pepperdine University for my master’s program!

I must be honest…I was a little skeptical about getting accepted into these two schools. I mean…come on…USD and Pepperdine are hard to get into. I applied with high hopes, but I was grateful that I would have San Diego State or Cal State Long Beach waiting in the wings if I needed them. Yet somehow I was lucky enough to be accepted into my top two choices!

I feel so, SO blessed.

So now what do I do?! Which school do I choose? Both schools have amazing programs (and both are unfortunately really expensive). Do I pick USD, which is located in my beloved hometown, has an incredibly beautiful campus, and offers an impressive curriculum with a chance to study abroad? Or do I opt for Pepperdine, a school that also has a remarkable curriculum, a reputation that speaks for itself, and is located right by the beach in Malibu?

PLEASE give me your opinions!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Blog Visitors

Ever since I added the live traffic feed to my blog page, I have been wondering about the plethora of IP addresses from random locations that visit my blog on a regular basis. I mean…who ARE these people who take the time to type in my blog address and read about the happenings of my life? Family? Friends? Acquaintances? Complete strangers who spend their time blog-stalking? People from my past?

I’ve considered making my blog private many times, but I’m hesitant to block out the family members and friends who seem to be constantly popping up in the blogging world. My blog has therefore remained public, although I still don’t really like the idea of having my posts on display. I am fully aware that the world wide web is a public place where anyone in the world can gain access to your personal information…however, I can’t help but find it strange that I get visitors from places like Malaysia, Brazil, and Thailand. Who are these people?

And more importantly…who is the person in Fort Meyers, Florida who has apparently discovered my blog and keeps coming back on a regular basis? Strangely enough, this person also seems quite interested in my sister Courtney’s blog. I’m fairly certain that I know who this visitor is, and I must admit that I am intrigued. Despite the fact that my blog is extremely enticing and oh-so-delightful, I can’t imagine why this particular person would want to read about my life. I suppose the answer to this puzzle can be summed up by the wise words of Jim Morrison and the Doors when they aptly stated, “People are strange.”

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

2 Legit 2 Quit

February 27 was a historic night on which a phenomenon swept through Utah. This particular rarity had not occurred on the earth for nearly twenty years, and those of us who were lucky enough to witness it are not likely to forget the experience anytime soon.

The miracle I am referring to goes by a plethora of titles, the most recent of which is “Hammer Pants and Ice”…more commonly known as the MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice flashback concert!

All technicalities aside, these labels are simply euphemisms for “Two washed-up rappers from the early 90’s who must be a little low on funds and therefore want to earn some extra money by putting on a ridiculous concert in Utah.”

MC Hammer & Vanilla Ice

Yes, the concert was ludicrous. Totally absurd. It was also completely and utterly AWESOME! I mean, seriously, how many of you know every single word to “Ice Ice Baby”? I certainly do! And who has participated in a little booty-shaking to “U Can’t Touch This” on countless occasions? I have!

Be honest…at some point in our lives, haven’t we all wanted to roll in a 5.0 with the rag-top down so our hair can blow? And come on…you know you got to pray just to make it today. Oh the nostalgia.

Vanilla Ice MC Hammer

I'll be the first one to admit that the concert was pretty idiotic, but there is no way I would have missed it! We laughed through the whole thing, sang along to every song, and danced until we almost passed out from exhaustion. I quickly learned that just because I was surrounded by music from the early 90’s didn’t mean that I had the same level of endurance that I had in back in 1992.

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This is some of the priceless merchandise available at the concert.  Admit it, you are so lusting after the “Word to You Mutha” shirt.VanillaIce MCHammer 03

All in all, I give the concert two thumbs up. I think MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice have officially proven to the world that they really are too legit to quit!