Pancakes in the morning

I love home movies.

Like this one.

Becky Breakfast In The Morning. from travispitcher on Vimeo.

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

is not our strong suit in Africa.
But, family, before you become upset please know that if we hadn’t gone shopping all day yesterday then you would not get any of the sweet presents that we’re bringing home to you.
Think about that when you receive them.
Or don’t. That might make you appreciate them less.

Anyway, our schedule yesterday was this:
In the morning we got up bright and early and put on some Sunday-type clothes. (We seriously looked like homeless people compared to the Kenyans in their white shirts and ties.)
And we drove the hour and a half to Mombassa to go to church. We were joined by three friends who left with Books of Mormon (of course). The Mombasa LDS branch was wonderful. It was comprised mainly by relatively newly-converted Africans and like three white people from Utah.
The talks were very sweet and powerful, and everyone excitedly asked us, “Will you be here next week? Are you here to stay?”
It was disappointing to say no. I like those small tight-knit groups of Mormons. It’s more like what I’m used to.
Afterwards we went to lunch and then out for some mmmmm! authentic and delicious Italian Gelati. It was JUST the thing in all that heat. I got strawberry and coconut and it tasted so fruity and sweet.
We spent a few hours after that exploring Mombasa, since it was our only chance (tomorrow is our last day in Kenya! WHAT?!) and bought some really cool things for our family, and (need I say it?) ourselves. I am the best at talking people down from the high prices they ask of us, if I do say so myself.
The trick, as our friend Rajiv so nicely put it: “Do not want the things you are trying to buy.”
Most conversations go like this:
Me: What is the price of this necklace?
Kenyan: 1,500 shillings. (that’s almost 20 US dollars!)
Me: Oh. [put the necklace back]
Kenyan: You do not want it?
Me: No, it costs too much.
Kenyan: It is Sunday, so I give it to you for 1,200 shillings.
Me: No, I can’t pay so much. I can only pay 500.
Kenyan: No, no! 800.
Me: Two for 800?
Kenyan: No, no. One for 800.
Me: That’s okay. I will not buy it. I will look elsewhere.
Kenyan: No, no. 500 shillings.

SCORE!
But 500 shillings for a necklace is still absurd. People were literally giving things away to Peter, saying “Thank you for bringing me customers, rafiki.”
When he asked the price for a necklace like the one I had to fight for they said 300 shillings and he could then fight them down to 200.
That’s less than three times what I paid.
I’m sick of the mzungu-price. Peter often explains (in Swahili) “These are my friends, they are not rich tourists, they are students. They are making a movie for Komaza.” He’s really the best bargainer we have. He can often get them to accept the “Local price,” reserved for Kenyans only.

After a long hot day of haggling (all while wearing clothes, despite my awful sunburn) I got very sick driving home. I went straight to bed, at about 5:30, but had to get up to babysit soon after.
Travis was recording a demo CD for another of our Kenyan drivers, Osito. His whole band was there, including a couple with two small girls. Beatrice, 5 and Abigail whom Beatrice said was 3, but whom I suspect was only 1 or 2.
At first they were very shy and Abigail would cry whenever I or another mzungu looked at or spoke to her. Neither of them spoke English. I haltingly told them my name, and asked theirs. And soon we were playing like with any 5 year-old.
I would chase Beatrice and tickle her and then let her escape and she would laugh and squeal. Then I turned on some music and we danced until I nearly collapsed from exhaustion. (she loved Abba and Beyonce) She sat me down and sang to me in Swahili. She would raise her arms above her head and close her eyes dramatically. Then open them and march and dance around the room singing. It was so much like my own 5 year-old sister Kathryn.
It’s easy to think that I’m different from the Kenyans, but when we play with the kids its SO clear that they’re all just kids, even if they grew up in a mud hut. The kids here are the same as the kids anywhere.
Beatrice also LOVED ice and we had a freezer full. I got myself a cup of ice water and plunked a cube into her glass and after that she was hooked. She pulled out an entire tray of half-frozen ice and (with a spoon) quickly ate every piece.
After that, she would walk sneakily to the freezer every few minutes and pull open the freezer. If I didn’t come help her get a piece of ice she would spend a few minutes touching every cube, trying to pry it out.
I showed her we could take her picture and she was quick to figure out how to use photobooth on my laptop. (Amazing, right? It was like nothing she’d ever seen, but even she totally understood it. Kids blow my mind.)
Later Eve joined us. She is a Kenyan and good friend of Osito’s, but she works for the Government and has very good English and a WAY nicer car than any of our American friends. She stuck a DVD of gospel music videos into my computer and it was hilarious to see Beatrice and Abigail’s reactions. They both knew every single line in every song and stared at the computer screen, singing along and dancing.
They could not be distracted.
It was great. After a while our other roommates came home and our friend Leah came over and we all talked and played. Leah brought some warm, freshly made banana bread and it was delicious! I may or may not have eaten half of it myself.
The Kenyan girls didn’t like it very much, but they were more than happy to eat a bowlful of the spaghetti noodles and lentils that we had for dinner.
And by the end of the evening, Abigail still didn’t want me to hold her, but she happily held my hand when we went to find her Mama after the recording and waved saying “Bye, Bye, Bye!” when they left.
All in all, I was exhausted when I went to bed…
but happy.
It was definitely our best weekend in a long time.

Destiny's Child

It's getting down to the wire and I've been going crazy. I'm in a hectic state of terrified, unprepared list-making.
Lots and lots of To Do, To Buy, To Remember, To Pack, To Bake For the Plane lists.

And of course, it helps to listen to some Beyonce while going through all of this, since she and Ma Ingalls combined would create the world's most super woman ever.
And I seriously love them both.
And I can't sit down and read so I have to listen to music...

See what I mean? I'm definatly going a little crazy.
Anyway, on a totally non-Africa related tangent (since I don't want to talk about Africa just now, it is the cause of all my stress) I like to watch Destiny's Child music videos, followed by Beyonce music videos.
Because in one she looks and acts like a kid, and some of her videos will give you a seizure.
And in the other she's a super kick-ass woman who could kill your whole family with awesomeness.






Travis, thank you for putting up with so much girl music.
Kanye, we might have more in common than you thought.
Beyonce, my two favorite parts of Diva are when you say "What yo' boss say?" and also, "This is a stick up, stick up. I need them bags, all that money. See the mask? all that money."
Love Becky

p.s. Family and friends, I love that you could all contribute such nerdy comments on the post below. We are not alone.

p.p.s Do Kiesha music videos terrify you like they terrify me?
Well watch this instead.
LOVE it.

I woke up to loon calls.

"Impossible!" you say. "That cheery and eerie Minnesotan bird could never live in Utah's desert climate!"

Yeah, well I think one of our neighbors has a loon call.
I said to Travis "That's a loon! Someone must have a loon call!" and he looked skeptical.
"Have you ever heard a bird like that?" he shook his head no.

However, after a half hour of loon calls I became confused.

Maybe there is another bird around here that kind of sounds like a loon.

Or maybe they had a loon sound on their alarm clock or computer.

Last night we had a conversation that began with Travis filling out a form. It asked the question "If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you most want to go?"

He wrote Minnesota.

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just have been thinking about it so much lately."

"Because it's spring and Minnesota is beautiful in the spring?"

"No. I just have this longing. It's calling me back. The cool deep waters. That little neighborhood outside Minneapolis. The people. The people there are really nice."

And I thought, "Congratulations, Becky. Taking Travis there last summer was so wise because it's impossible for anyone to go to Minnesota, really go there, and not long for it later. Maybe someday we'll live there after all."

Because Minnesota is the best kept secret in the United States.

People think of Minnesota and they're like "Those backwards lumberjack hicks without electricity must have such crappy lives."

And we say YES.

Except for me, because I love it so much I can't keep it a secret.

Here's a secret: Whoever made up the rumor that California, especially SoCal (hehe) is awesome was LYING.

Apparently it's warm there, not HOT. The water is SUPER cold as well as being dirty and filled with a billion people. The cities are dirty and crowded and it's a dessert so... it automatically sucks for that reason.

Minnesota gets hot in the summer, and gets snow in the winter and is secret and pretty.

And filled with lakes.

Filled with Loons.

Filled with Loon calls.

Travis was reading over my shoulder as I wrote and said "Why did you write "hehe" after SoCal?"
I responded, "I thought the phrase SoCal was a joke."
He only laughed, so now I think, Is it NOT a joke? Do people call it SoCal for real?

How confusing.
And also stupid.

clap your hands

I am trying to reconcile my beliefs.
More specifically, my religious beliefs and my Peter Pan beliefs.

Here's the problem: I may believe in the evolution of animals, but I think God created man as MAN. Now, If god created Adam and Eve as adults then the first baby ever born was Cain.
When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and THAT was the beginning of fairies.

Oh dear goodness. Was Cain, the first murderer and son of perdition also the creator of those wonderful little creatures?
How can this beeee?!
I hope God created Adam and Eve as babies. Then Adam's laugh could have been the beginning of fairies.
Come on Bible and Jame Barrie, BE MORE SPECIFIC IN YOUR RECORD KEEPING.

This is something I will have to ponder for a long time.
Probably while listening to Pogo's mashup of Hook, because it's awesome.

Kelsey N; I hope you read this

I loved my elementary school music teacher.
Worshiped. He was the coolest teacher ever, except (surprisingly) my gym teacher Mr. Kline who had a red beard and sometimes subbed for music class.
The two of them were equally amazing to me.

But my music teacher's name I don't remember. I do remember though that the name of his band was Waking Virginia. Which, as a 9 year-old was the best band name ever. I even remember that they called it Waking Virginia because they practiced late at night in the a garage and the street they lived on was Virginia Road (or street, lane, avenue, you know...)
I remember he LOVED the Beatles and he had us watch Yellow Submarine in class. I told myself I loved it because I loved him.
But really I thought it was confusing.

Now I think that it's not really for children, even if it's a cartoon.

But I never ever got caught reading in music class. That was the only class that I never got caught reading in.
Until reading week, that is, of fifth grade. (DUM DUM DUUUUUM)

It began like this, and my family will tell you that I tell lies or make things up and maybe as a nine year-old I exaggerated things (something I've outgrown) and have remembered wrong, but if I lie, I don't think I do. I remember the story like this, and it begins with one of the two Kelseys.

There were two girls named Kelsey in my grade. They were, of course, best friends for no reason other than their matching names.
One day, Kelsey N. said to me, "What do you do so that so many people like you?"
I said, always very self-righteous, "Nothing, I just do what I like. I like to read and I'm very good at it. Maybe people like me because I'm so good at reading."
This is the sort of thing that you think when teachers make you take a test and then go "Oh my! You read at a twelfth grade level!"
"Of course I do," you think to yourself, "I should be starting college next year I'm so smart."
Then you think that's probably why you have friends.

But Kelsey took that to heart. The next Monday was the beginning of Reading Week. You got to bring in a book and blanket and lie on the floor and read instead of work. It was the best week of the year.
Kelsey came in wearing a pin that said "I love to read." I thought, "that's stupid. Everyone loves to read."
Then she wrote on the white board with a red marker (I can still picture it exactly!) "It's I love to read week, so READ!!"
And I thought, "You're stealing my thing that I do, which is read all the time."

Throughout the week she carried around big looking books (that I had already read before, of course) and said things to people like "I love to read SO much," or "all I do all day is read," or "My mom has to ground me from books I like to read because I don't do other work."
and I thought "I will kill you, Kelsey N."
She got in trouble for reading under her desk.
Which was also MY thing.

Then one day, Scooter (a boy who I remember was named Scott) said to me, "Have you read the Harry Potter books?"
"Yeah," I said, "I read all three in just one day each over Christmas break" (back when there were only three).

"Wow," said Scooter, "You're almost as bad as Kelsey N."
And I blew my top.
Everytime Kelsey said, "I like to read" I would yell "I LOVE to read MORE THAN KELSEY N."
If Kelsey stayed in to read books instead of go to recess, so did I.
And when Kelsey pulled out her book secretly in the back of music class
so did I.

I remember how embarrassed I was when I was caught.
It wasn't like being caught reading in a normal class, because in a normal class I always felt secretly proud that I was reading under my desk.
But in music class I wanted to die. I wanted to curl up in a hole and die.
It was mortifying.
Because I loved my music teacher so very much.

And yet....
I wanted to be caught so that everyone would know, I was not almost as bad as Kelsey N.
Kelsey N. was almost as bad as me.

I think she outgrew that "reading" thing.
Sadly, I did not.
My mother often complains that she is the only woman in America who has to take books away from her children as punishment.
Jack has to get reading glasses because he'll read for so long that when he looks up he can't see anything far away.

The doctor said, "If you just take a break from reading every 20 or 30 minutes you wouldn't need glasses." But Jack said no.
Because in our family we read for 5-6 HOURS before taking a break.
Every twenty minutes?

How would you know what's happening in your book if you take a break every 20 minutes?

Beach Blanket Bingo

Have you seen this 60s movie? Besides being completly absurd and often hard to follow, it's also pretty catchy. Last year I spent part of the summer at my grandparent's house and taught them ho to watch movies and stuff online.

The first movie my grandpa wanted to watch was his old favorite, Beach Blanket Bingo. This is the opening clip, but you can watch the whole thing on Hulu, if you feel so inclined.

Oh, and check it out, the old man with the fishing pole is Buster Keaton!

This second scene is my other favorite, but mostly because of the dancing. For any of you who have ever seen me at a dance party, it probably looks familiar. See I'm not a bad dancer, I just should have been a teen in the 60s.

Then my flailing would seem commonplace.

Whitney is funny

This is my friend Whitney, she is in Divine Comedy.

Today I was listening to Beyonce and I kept chuckling and thinking of this Divine Comedy video.

Watch it. Besides beyond being just as addicting as any Beyonce song, it is much funnier.

I really love her crazy faces. Her face is so pretty, but she can seriously look crazed.

And that, I suppose, is a compliment.

Also, Whitney is one of the many people who inspired me to have short hair.

She just rocks the pixie cut too much to not envy.

Shout out loud

Before I got my pixie all I saw were girls with super long hair. I thought to myself, "I'm going to stand out, above the crowd" (come on, sing it! Even if I gotta shout out loud!) But now that my hair's short, I see girls with pixie's everywhere.

Anyway, that post was an excuse to post this vid, which I've watched three times today, because its stuck in my head AND I love the Goofy Movie.





Favorite: How about SCIENCE SLUMBER PARTIES!?
Good suggestion, Principal.

Also, I work in AV just like these hip dorks. Let's think about all the greats who worked in AV... just think, okay? We're everywhere and we're SUPER cool in a very nerdy way.

Also, am I the only one who thinks Max's red-haired friend looks a bit like cartoon Eli? Maybe it's just the red hair, and long skinny legs in shorts and sandles... hmmm...

Week in Pictures: Blackberry Tarts and Free Audiobooks on iTunes!

I swore off writing, but I just can't help myself. There are literally 200 free audio books on iTunesU. All the classics and so many of my favorites! My sister in-law turned me on to them and now I'm filling up my hard drive with them.

My Fair Lady

Many weeks ago, I woke up with a song in my head.
That in itself is not uncommon.

But it was from an old musical, My Fair Lady. You know the one with Audrey Hepburn learning how to speak properly?
I added it to my netflix queue, because I hadn't seen it since probably middle school, then I forgot about it.
But on Saturday it came, and last night we curled up on our ugly couch to watch it on our new giant tv. (Not really, we watched it on our new imac, which by TV standards is small, but by our standards is large.)

I was surprised by how much I loved the film, and how I still knew the words to most of the songs.
But mostly I was surprised by how quickly the film went by! We had barely started watching before Eliza was correctly saying "The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain" (As I child, I thought she was saying plane, like an airplane. didn't you?)
Then it was just a few short minutes until they were leaving for "The grand ball," as I thought it was.

"It was really only the length of a regular movie" I kept saying to myself. "I wonder why it seemed so long as a kid."
THEN,
there was an intermission.
and we looked and saw that there were two hours left.
TWO MORE hours.

No wonder it always seemed so long to me as a kid. It's a four hour long movie.

"What could possibly happen after the ball?" Travis and I wondered.
"I don't think I've ever seen past the intermission," Travis admitted.
and I think that I can picture Eliza at the ball, and I thought last night, as I fell asleep, "What songs are there after the intermission?"

The only I can think of is the dad singing "I'm getting married in the mornin'!"

Because, I'll admit, when we realized there were two hours left we went to bed.
I'll try to finish it later tonight or tomorrow, but who has two hours?

Gaaahhhhhoooon.




What a transformation!

Pandora.

I am only now experiencing the joy of Pandora.
Like eight years after everyone else.

But when I heard about Pandora (was it high school or middle school?) I was not impressed. If I wanted to listen to N'Sync why would I listen to a radio station of music like N'sync?
Why wouldn't I just make myself a mix cd? :)
Oh, the 2000s... (I can say that now that it's 2010. In ten years we can say, "oh the 2010s... back before flying electric cars.")
Anyway, a few days ago at work I was itching for some Iron and Wine and I finally swallowed my pride and went to Pandora.
I was midly satisfied. I hear more of the Weepies and Jose Gonzalas than Iron and Wine, but it was oookay.
But today I found something great.

I was really in the mood for R-E-S-P-E-C-T. You know, on repeat. Over and over again.
And after watching Aretha sing it many times in a row on youtube (She's got some moves!) I went to Pandora again.
And created a station based on the song, not on Aretha Franklin.

I keep finding myself eyes closed, swaying a little, ignoring the people staring.
I don't know if you call it R&B or Soul or what, (Brooke, give me a hand, what is it?) but I just can't get enough of it today.


Right now, Midnight Train to Georgia is playing on my Pandora and all I can think of is that 30s Rock clip.
So great.
I can't figure out how to embed it here, but this is the link. It's great.

Midnight Train To Georgia - 30 ROCK - watch more funny videos

I'm Yours

This was on Lana's blog.
And I am crazy about it.

rap music?

I want to listen to rap music.

It's never been a big thing for me, but lately Trav and I are really into rapping whenever we're in the car, as in one of us lays down a crappy beat (usually I do this by clapping, not very rap-like) and then the other one tries to speak fast and rhyme all their phrases.
After every few lines we trade and try to keep going.

It's very strange and super entertaining. But now I want to listen to real rap music, at least kind of.
But I don't know anything about rap, and the only rap Trav listens to is Jurassic and the Beastie Boys.

If you happen to know the names or songs of a rap-maker or two (rap-singer sounds wrong) let us know.
and I know which of you will leave comments telling me rap is stupid and worthless so save your fingers-- you don't need to type it.

Today I listened to Les Choristes.

I haven’t listened to it since last year, round Thanksgiving Times.

Oh, it made me want to wear my boots with tights and knee-high socks

To walk over leaves crinkly with frost

To breathe in wet, frozen air. It stings my lungs, but at least I know that I’m breathing (Utah's air is too thin!)

It made me want to make ginger cookies

To snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie about goodwill towards men, or Harry Potter, in fact I'm heading home for the first movie now

To wear a hat, a strange desire indeed, for me

It made me yearn to see my family

And it made me crazy to see my friends, but not just see them, because I see them all the time, but to lie with them on the couch, wrapped on a blanket, or listen to Jim Dale while we all knit

To have Lauren read the Wind and the Willows, or a letter from Elder Dixon, aloud to us all

It made me excited for fall, not school, but friends, food, and weather

I am sad that I won’t be living with them again this fall, but I am happy to be living in my new home, and I am happy to soon be living with the love of my life

I’m guessing this fall will be just as good as the last, even if it is a bit different.

p.s. Here's what last fall looked like, can you blame me for feeling nostalgic?

Do you love Sigur Ros like I do?

If you knew Sigur Ros like I do, then you would love them. It's impossible not to.

We have discovered Sigur Ros's love child, or it's tumor, or its fraternal twin.
Or something like that.

Jonsi and Alex.


Jonsi and Alex are two members of the Icelandic band Sigur Ros, and they have formed their own second band.

It's instrumental and calm, like listening to those cds of waves on the shore, or bird sounds. You hardly notice it, and when you do you'll be amazed by the beauty and fragility of each song.

Here's my favorite part of their website:
a flash recipe book, of handwritten recipes that include ingredients like "a few handfuls of any dark leaf, like spinach, or something."


Oh, and what's that, a movie of them blending? Here you go!

Jónsi & Alex Recipe Show - Macadamia Monster Mash from Jónsi & Alex on Vimeo.

» BBC Music: “Riceboy Sleeps operates at a heady level of beauty”
» Dusted Magazine: “Everything happens slowly, easily, inevitably. Each song fades to white, not black.”
» The Economist: “…an idyllic labour of love that’s rich in glistening detail”
» musicOMH: “…one of the most beautifully arresting and emotionally redolent albums of 2009″
» The Guardian: “…a delicate, sad, little record, but one that ripples with beauty”
» The Observer: “…beautifully fragile music, not disposable but built to last”
» The Times: “Go back to Jonsi’s “proper” band afterwards and they almost seem brash by comparison”

Sam Beam = Beautiful

Sam Beam is the main singer for Iron and Wine.

What do you want to talk about first, when discussing the best concert I've ever been to? Do you want to talk about waiting in front of the stage for 4 hours in the heat of the day, or do want to talk about the rewards that we reaped from that long wait?
Let's talk about the rewards. We were ten feet from the stage. Ten short feet from Iron and Wine. He made eye contact with us, waved at us, played songs that we requested, and air-fived our neighbor.


You know when people say that artists are better live than on their albums? I always think to myself, "No way, josé, their albums are edited to make them sound better. Any mistakes are hidden." Well, maybe there is sometimes truth to that.
Because Sam Beam was better live.

Sam Beam is AMAZING live. They cleared the stage from the people that played before him, and instead they brought out a stool, and one single microphone. Travis started freaking out. It was just him, JUST SAM. No back up guitar, no drummer, no nothing, and he sang songs in different keys so that he could sing louder. He even did that sweet harmonizing thing with his voice, where you sing two notes at once.

Freaking brilliant.


Iron and Wine first dance at the reception anyone?

On other concert notes that AREN'T about how great Iron and Wine is, the whole area smelled like pot, and once, I got a good strong whiff, and coughed, and Trav leaned forward and said, "If you're wondering where the smell is coming from, look behind you."
Behind me was a dancing, flailing tie-dyed man, holding a dictionary and screaming "I MADE IT. I'M HERE! I'M HERE! I'M HERE!"
Then the man on stage (the main singer from Okkervil River) said, "Something smells like a church, like church incense. Is that you with the incense, buddy?" to which the freaking out and screaming only increased. I tried to capture a picture and got this gem.



Speaking of Okkervil River, here are some pictures of their band.



I love the Twilight Concert Series. Free Concerts make the world go round.

I almost wrote, free concerts make world peace, but then I remembered that an angry girl not only tried to kill Lauren, but I was shoved several times, and when I finally shoved back (Stop touching me!) I had a bottle of beer poured on my foot.

Maybe free concerts just make world peace + shoving.

Wouldn't it be nice?

Wouldn't it be nice if we were older? Then we wouldn't have to wait so long And wouldn't it be nice to live together In the kind of world where we belong? You know its gonna make it that much better When we can say goodnight and stay together Wouldnt it be nice if we could wake up In the morning when the day is new And after having spent the day together? Hold each other close the whole night through? Happy times together we've been spending I wish that every kiss was never ending Wouldn't it be nice? Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true Baby then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do We could be married (We could be married!) And then we'd be happy Wouldn't it be nice You know it seems the more we talk about it It only makes it worse to live without it But lets talk about it Wouldn't it be nice?
You rarely expect the Beach Boys to know what you're thinking, but this time they hit it on the nose.

{picture via}

Colour my life with the chaos of trouble

(Spoiler alert, maybe.)



I loooooooved 500 days of summer. I've heard reviews that didn't like it, but please ignore those reviews, and go to see it.
I like movies about romance that don't end like they "ought to."
I thought it very unique. I thought it beautifully done. I thought it heartbreakingly realistic.
Similar to he's just not that into you, this movie didn't end with a perfect happily ever after, but even then, it wasn't that sad, it was okay.
The movie had feeling of continuation. Moving on.

Most chick flicks end with the couple getting together. They don't begin with that, and show you a real relationship. I guess (500) days of Summer wasn't really a chick flick.
Just a flick.

BUT one thing I loved was that their "getting to know you," "we are kind of flirting" banter was realistic. It was full of pauses, and nervousness. It didn't sound like a script, it sounding like two people getting to know each other, and kind of flirting.


And the games that people play, and the lies that people don't have to tell, because they let things be assumed, and all the strings we pull and hints that we drop.
It felt like a real, true story about falling in and out, and in and out of (and back into) love.

That's all. I loved it.

I think they stole my ipod for the soundtrack.

p.s. I adore Zooey Deschanel, and do you recognize Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the young Norman Maclean from A River Runs Through It?

Band Practice

So last night I met several new cousins (I've been meeting first cousins once removed all the time lately,) Liz's kids, over at Renn and Keira's place. It was fun, but unfortunately, we had to leave early due to band practice.
I know what you're thinking, "Why Becky," you're saying, "that is a fake excuse since we all know that you are not musically talented."
Well, guess what. They let me be in the band anyway.
So these are the band members:
Maude, who writes (or selects song for us to cover) and is the lead singer, and plays the guitar.
Travis, who plays the guitar, mostly, and tells everyone else what and how to play, because he has crazy musical skillz.
Sophie, (who is sisters with Maude) is also crazy talented, and plays the violin.
Lana, who may or may not actually be in the band, but I think she is, because we haven't given her the option of NOT being in the band. But Lana and I get to sing back up, and find other instruments to play.
and Me, who sings backup a little, and sometimes plays the harmonium, and sometimes plays the bells, and sometimes tries to keep rhythm on the drum.
I get to be in the band because I brought together my boyfriend, and my best friends, and am the link that makes it cool to practice together. (I think.)

So, after two hours of practice/goofing off, and bellowing at Gunther (that beast of a dog) we had the basic outline of what we want two songs to sound like.
So we recorded them. We spent about 40 minutes on each. The first song only Sophie and I had heard before last night (besides Maude, who wrote it) the second song, none of us had heard, and is a cover of an R&B song.
So, I think we did okay. We certainly felt proud of it, and decided to have Sophie's parents record us. Voila!