Peace!

Peace Day was on September 24th. In July/August, I was contacted by a certain Averyl Dietering to see about performing for BYU's celebration of the holiday on campus. She had heard the song that I blogged about back in April or May (Lilies), and wanted me to perform it. She actually left a comment about it under that post.

I ended up being the person in charge of Music and Entertainment for BYU's Peace Day. It turned out really well. I recruited my dad and brother to help me out. They are both incredible musicians and it went really well. I was kind of sad when it was over, except for the fact that I never want to work with BYUSA again. :) But that's a whole nutha thang.



I hadn't known then that the sound guy, who is a good family friend, had been recording the whole performance. He just brought over a CD of some of the songs he mixed, and I was so surprised at the quality of the recording. It's probably the first time I've enjoyed listening to myself. Here's the link to a sample of one of the songs:

Waiting in Vain- Guy and Em


Anyway, check it out and see what you think. I'm a fan. :) Also, a really good song about Peace is called Peace Tonight, by the Indigo Girls. So much good.

Doi!...Confound it all!

I'm so mad.

I hate microsoft and their products. I hate that I can't even copy and paste anything out of my microsoft word documents until I buy Microsoft word (I've been using a trial edition). That is so stupid.

I sound like a child. I feel like a child that's been given a cool toy to play with and then gets it torn away. But I won't cry. I'm angry I've been manipulated to get to the point where I'm dependent on Microsoft Word. I've never had withdrawals from anything before.

I had a great post coming, and now I can't even copy and paste it in.

But I won't leave you stranded for long. Here's something to tide you (and me)over.

Last night, I had a dream that I was Batman, or someone like that. A superhero. And there was this velociraptor villain. He wasn't a velociraptor all the time, but only at night time, when his form was changed biologically to be that of a huge, black velociraptor. Now, I didn't know this (but I did), until he started to change into the velociraptor right in front of my eyes. Before then, I believed he was merely one of my schoolmates. We were friends. But he was conniving, and had stolen a chemical recipe and chemicals from our professor so he could use it on himself to feel powerful and accomplish some greedy aim(s). And then he turned into a velociraptor and started wreaking havoc on my metropolis. I was scared for a while, but then I realized that as a superhero (which he didn't know I was), I had to fight for the city's freedom, and my friend's freedom, because it's not freedom to be trapped inside a velociraptor. I felt the most brave I've ever felt, walking out into the moonlight to meet my destiny, who had now transformed (in the way which dreams are wont to transform things sans explanation)into a two or three story velociraptor looking machine, tearing in slow motion through the buildings on either side.

And then the dream ended and I woke up to sunshine.

So, I want to know... Knowing me, how do you you think Batman (as me) would have defeated his velociraptor-villain-friend? Freudian interpretations? Accompanying scores that seem appropriate?

(P.S. Yes, I would like some comments now)

What Freedom Means to Me... and the little ones.

For the English Society Closing Social tonight, we read and judged public school entries for Provo's Freedom Festival Essay Contest, based on the perennial theme of "American Values: Family, Freedom, God, and Country." Which is about as broad as a contest prompt can be. Gotta start synthesis training early, I guess. We had a grand old time eating pizza and looking through the essays to score them. My category of judging was the 4-6 grade level. Here are just a few excerpts from the best of the the best, in all their astute, ambiguous, didactic, and totally "wha--?" glory...

"How cool is it that I can say my grandfather is one of the people who gave me my freedom. Proud. That is what everyone I know says. We are proud to be Americans."

"About 200 years ago, many African-Americans were slaves. They all went through tough times by being punished for not doing their job, not listening to their masters, reading and writing, the possibilities are endless."

"Policemen guard the roads, stop people from speeding, stop thieves, and protect us. Doctors heal us, help us, save us, and help us survive. America is the best place I could ever dream of living."

"If you're upset with your family, don't be. They are the only family you've got. Love and care for them. They're the best."

"My country is so cool. We are free, smart, and much more. We were the first ones to the moon, we invented tons of things and we can be so proud of so many things we do."

"We have medicine for pets and other objects."

"There are so many things that need an explanation that science won't suffice for. God is that explanation."

"The Constitution gives us rights... No other country can say that and really mean it."

"America is a land of values. We value many things that mixed with other personal values, can brighten a life. Many countries do not possess these values, such as East Germany, parts of China, and other countries around the world."

"America is the greatest place in the history of the world."

"Peace comes from minding your own business."


Ain't that great? My favorite is the third from last. I'm guessing this contestant used a pre-1989 encyclopedia to conduct his research. But anyways. Ya. America is great. Even though I am getting incredibly antsy to see beyond its borders, I'm grateful for my freedom. My freedom which allows me to go to school, and study Shakespeare, and write papers for my Shakespeare teacher, 10-page papers which have deadlines, one of which is due Monday and not started, which I must attend to now. Hasta!