Friday, May 28, 2010

Stephen Fry

I adore Stephen Fry. I want to be his friend. This is Stephen receiving an award for his achievements in television, it's long, but I wanted to post it, so I could have it for myself.

SLC Weekend

I'm a little late on this, but a couple of weeks ago I went up to Utah for two days. A little wham, bam, thank you, fam? Sure, why not.

I went up Saturday morning. I had breakfast with the folks, saw the ol' homestead and then headed down to Sandy to hang out with my sister, bro in law and nephew. It's always so much fun hanging out with the Nighs. We picked up Cafe Rio (yum to the sweet pork salad), played dominoes, chatted, tv'd.

That night was really the main object of the trip. My dear friend from high school, Liz, got sealed in the Salt Lake City temple. I felt very honored to be invited and to witness something so special. I've known Liz since 7th grade, but we didn't really become close until 9th grade. We went through the highs and lows of high school together and somehow came out on the other side. We don't see each other very often these days, but our concern and regard for one another still remains. That Saturday night after most of the guests had left her home and we were in the kitchen with her husband, mom and sister, was really special. We were able to just chat like old times, except not like old times. Sometimes when you have friends from the past, conversations can just turn to "remember when...", but this night felt like we were friends now, as two adults. It was comfortable and we remain the same as we were in high school in many ways (me being boy crazy, her giving me a hard time about it), but we were also able to share in very adult trials and triumphs. I love Liz's family. Her mom is just great, so loving and cool and I loved hanging out with her again as well. Liz looked beautiful, her home is fantastic, her community there seems great. I'm so happy her life is going so well.

That night I slept over at the Nighs. In the morning Jerad cooked up a fantastic breakfast and Jerad, Alex and I created our hot chick band called "Harlot" on rock band. Then my parents and Elizabeth came over for lunch. I was very happy to see Elizabeth and spend time with her after her recent health problems. We actually had a really fun afternoon. Miracle of miracles, my parents played Wii! It was so funny to see them get their competitive natures out on wii bowling. They did really well. Here are a couple short videos of them at work (just to prove they really played video games):





Then I flew out Sunday night. So, it was a super short trip, but really worth it. I wish I could have seen more of my Utah friends, but for two days, it was pretty full and fun. The mountains looked beautiful. I drove up to the UofU to see my old theatre building, PAB - it was the same, dirty building I know and love. I actually got a little emotional walking through one of the studios and remembering the hard work I put in on those wood floors - all the scene work and baring of my soul that went on in that dirty old room.

It's Memorial day weekend. I got out of work at 1:00 today. Tomorrow we barbecue with friends. Then just taking it sleazy the rest of the weekend. As the Summer months start I hope to catch up at work (as it will HOPEFULLY slow down at some point), I hope to be super healthy - I've started working out again and it's really nice. I've been working on building up my running skills. I've always hated running, but I want to love it, and I have been doing better and better and enjoying it more the last couple of weeks. I want to try to stay committed to getting in shape over the next few months. The weather is so beautiful now that there is just no excuse. And I'd like to try, as always, to get my creative juices flowing again.

So that's my life right now. See ya.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Happy Mother's Day

I remember my mom always crying at this scene. It is ridiculously sad and will forever make me weep too.



A few more things that make me think of my mom:

So much music makes me think of her, but one of the biggies was Roy Orbison. My mom will get a song in her head and sing the same line over and over again as she moves through the house or makes dinner. Of course, I now do this too.



One of my favorite things about my mom is her crazy hysterical laugh. I remember it most when we would sit together and watch movies; movies like It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World or The Blues Brothers or Nuns on the Run or The Producers.



And of course, I think of the Swiss yodeling records my mom would play, usually on holidays or when we were going to have people over to dinner.



My mom always put up with a lot of crap from us kids - we loved to tease her - like when on road trips, always handing her our trash and calling her "trash lady" or going on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland and after my sister and I claimed Indiana and Marion for ourselves telling her she had to be Sallah - she still gets upset when we call her Sallah and of course, it still amuses us to do so. We still might pick on her, but I want to think it's only because we do feel so safe with her and we know she has a sense of humor and that our little mommy will still love us.

My mom has sacrificed a lot for us kids, for me, and I appreciate all she's done. I loved my childhood. A lot of my posts on this blog, actually, are me walking down memory lane and that is because I loved my childhood. My mom made me feel safe, loved, respected, listened to and happy. I love you, Mom.