living in a winter wonderland

When I was growing up, icicles were one of the wonders of the world to me. I rarely got to see them, and they conjure up memories of magical mountainside lodges. Snow was such a novelty, and there are several scenarios from ski trips as a kid that bring back those warm fuzzies. One is driving along curvy, hilly roads and seeing the snow gradually increase along the roadside and trees as we get closer to the mountains; another would be slip-sliding across snowy/icy parking lots of small-town grocery stores to stock up on provisions for the trip: donuts, pb&j for mountainside lunches, and of course those wonderful ten-packs of assorted mini cereal boxes; and then there was the joy of seeing huge icicles hanging off roof overhangs and having Dad reach up and break a huge one off for me - my very own icicle!

Well, I can now say that I am the proud owner of several huge icicles, all across the front of my house, and this time I took pictures before Corey could break them all off on acount of their 'dangerousness'. Here, let me show you my treasures!

my new lenovo

What's a lenovo, you ask? I had the very same question just earlier today, when Corey and I were browsing Circuit City's selection of laptops during their going out of business sale. What? You already figured it out then? My, aren't you smart! Yes, you're right, lenovo is the name of my new laptop, but we call him lenny for short (as of now). AND, he comes fully equipped with Windows Vista, a 2.17 GHz Intel Pentium dual processor, 3GB of memory, AND a built-in microphone and webcam (capable of using retina-scanning security features!). While not quite top of the line, it's a heck of a lot better than the old, dying laptop (no offense, old laptop...sorry), and I'll be very excited to actually have a laptop that doesn't need to be plugged in to work (yay, I can take him upstairs!) So, everyone please help me in welcoming lenny into the family by commenting on his inagural blog post!

Piano lessons!

I had my first (since I was a kid anyway) piano lesson today! The teacher is Craig Allen at Encore Music Studios. He was recommended by a friend, and he seems to be a really great guy (and teacher from what I hear). We discussed what I want to get out of lessons, what styles I'm interested in, etc., and also what sort of experience and knowledge I already have. And he had me play the one song I know, Fur Elise, for him so he could see where I am in my technical ability. He was really encouraging, and pointed out that my finger dexterity and technique is pretty good, so we basically just need to start out by getting my intellectual knowledge (reading music and such) up to match what my hands are able to do. So my homework for this week is to practice scales (C, G, and D) and to bring in whatever music I've been using or playing around with next week so that he can try to better understand what I know and where I need help. I'm pretty excited, and I'll keep you posted about how they're going.

Mrs. Compton (a poem)

a cow heart sat on her desk
soaking in brine
or was it her heart
or could it be mine?

other teachers were smiles and hugs
but she was bricks and stone
did she know how she made me feel
embarrassed and alone
here was I, a tender heart
shy and gentle to a fault
but what did she see? a kid
unworthy of notice
or needing to be taken down a notch

why did she treat me the way she did
this I'll never know
but these memories rip my heart
until I can let them go

here's my heart, soaking in brine
can I give it to God for the 1,000th time?
I must, and I will
but Mrs. Compton, know:
your memory haunts me still

(a reminder to be nice to children) :)

and on a happier note...

wherever you go
go with singing
whomever you meet
meet with a smile
when you need to cry
find a strong shoulder
and be that shoulder when you can

when you see good in others
rejoice; don't envy
and when you see faults
choose not to judge, but help

embrace being you
whatever that means
at any given moment

teach, and be taught
help, and be helped
love, and be loved

and truly live