Salt Lake City Film Festival Celebration

I once volunteered with the Salt Lake City Film Festival.

Then I was fired.

Okay, I was not fired.

I just did my main job, and then was out of town too much.

I like to think of it as not being needed any longer.

As the film festival was underway there was a celebration.

Soul night dancing.

Only the best kind of dancing.

It happened to land on the first day of me eating raw foods.

I was not feeling great, but I powered through, because I love my friends.

Nate called me to go to dinner pre-dancing.

I said, "I am raw. I am not a good dinner partner now."

He replied, "You are boring."

Ha. Leave it to him to tell me like it is.

He may think I am boring, but when I showed up to his house this raw dessert was waiting for me.

No really.

This is what incredible friends do.

He is a creative little shit in the kitchen.

Peaches, balsamic vinegar, and pistachios.

It was divine.

This is how I was greeted by Justin when I walked in.

Nice fake smile.

Even better since I have not seen you in awhile.

Have you met Matt?

Non-stop entertainment in that guy.

I love how his wife wants nothing to do with his face in this picture.

Jared killed it on the dance floor.

All that was missing is his dog Fancy Pants.

Craft Town

I found this dress at a thrift store in New York.

It was a thousand times too big and long.

So I altered it to fit me.

That is only one of my most favorite things to do.

I almost made it shorter, but then I realized I would not be able to wear it at work like I am here.

Are work bathroom photos classy?

I believe they are.

Shades

When Ron and I were taking his Dad to the airport he said,

"Wait, I need to get my shades."

Um, okay adult.

I approve.

When he said goodbye to his Dad he said,

"Bye bye Pops!"

Brilliant.

I love this little guy that is full of personality.

Nighttiming

This night may go down as one of the the most entertaining and random nights of 2010.

I was sitting on my balcony thinking about going to sleep.

Then I received a call from my friends telling me that I should REALLY come to a GOOD show with them.

I hesitated for a second.

I was over everything in my life, so I said yes.

It was like the old days of saying yes to fun at 2200.

Responsible adult me went right at the door at that moment.

I went to get my bike at my brother's house.

Outside on his neighbor's porch was a lone girl having a smoke.

She seemed sad.

The conversation went like this:

Me: Hello. Is everything okay?

Mandy: Guy trouble.

Me: That is a real bummer. Maybe something fun will cheer you up.

Mandy: Do you need someone to go out with?

Me: Um, no....but you can come with us.

Mandy: Let me get my Rollerblades.

Yes. She said Rollerblades.

Apparently Mandy, my new friend, is an avid Rollerblader. Even Jordan asked if she was "bladin'" when I told him Mandy was now coming out on the town with me.

Mandy is the most talented Rollerblader I have ever seen.

She kept up with us that were on bikes, in a dress, whilst smoking.

It was the greatest thing I have ever seen.

When we arrived at the show she took off her Rollerblades and put on her heels like a lady.

Awesome.

Unfortunately this is the ONE night I was sans camera.

I thought it would be a boring night.

It was not.

Good thing I am really good at stealing Moriah's photos.

In this photo Corigan and I were instructed, or maybe yelled at (tee hee and true!), to make better mustaches.

Pat obviously did not care about the yelling, because he failed.

Then there was the time when we ate an entire pizza while talking to three cops. They were lovingly named Baby Gap, Medium Gap, and Adult Gap due to their sizes.

Moriah suggested we go on a CV ride along.

Yes, she spit that sentence out, using CV like it is nothing.

Or like she was all the sudden a cop.

We tried to go for a ride along, but there was paperwork that needed to be filled out.

One day maybe it will happen.

Most awkward photo award.

Adult Gap really did not want a photo taken, because it is against the rules or something.

Maybe they were his own rules.

I was scared of him so I could not decide if I should get in the photo or not.

This is clearly obvious by my killer stance.

Medium Gap was all sorts of excited about the photo, and told Adult Gap it would be just fine.

This was the result.

Reading Rainbow.

Chuck Klosterman is the king of pop culture writing.

There is no one better.

Plus, he is comical.

If you have not read this one, and you love music and pop culture, you should pick it up.

His writing is beautiful in a simple unexplainable way.

It is like talking to your best friend.

Quote from his book that prove his simple brilliance:

"We all have the potential to fall in love a thousand times in our lifetime. It's easy. The first girl I ever loved was someone I knew in sixth grade. Her name Missy; we talked about horses. The last girl I love will be someone I haven't met yet, probably. They all count. But there are certain people you love who do something else; they define how you classify what love is supposed to feel like. These are the most important people in your life, and you'll meet maybe four or five of these over the span of 80 years. But their is still one more tier to all of this; there is always one person you love who becomes that definition. It usually happens retrospectively, but it happens eventually. This is the person that unknowingly sets the template for what you will always love about other people, even if some of these lovable qualities are self-destructive and unreasonable. The person who defines your understanding of love is not inherently different than anyone else, and their often just the person you happen to meet the first time you really , really, want to love someone. But that person still wins. They win, and you lose. Because for the rest of your life, they will control how you feel about everyone else."

Oh. And. If you like T. Rex there is a great chapter on that genius.

Grandpa Time

I received a text from the best cousin ever that my Grandfather was not doing well.

I did not hesitate to go visit.

When you see this building you know you are on your way to peace and happiness in Idaho.

How rad is their airport? I remember flying there as a child with my Dad.

Sometimes I would have the controls.

My Mom and brother did not have that option.

They were too busy puking in the back.

That is what happens in small planes.

I love this hotel for so many reasons.
But.
Let's start with how it has a sign that says Mastercharge.
You do not see that kind of sign anymore.

I stayed in Albion.
I found this sign on my run.
An American flag, an RV, and $11?
Sign me up.

I was kind of wondering why they took so much time with the vinyl lettering, but then penciled in their phone number.

Kind of a half-assed job eleven dollar RV park.

I had a lesson on watering the flowers by Addie.
My favorite was when I said, "Do you remember my name?"
Addie said, "No, but I like your shoes."
I would like it if we were all that simple.

I knew I was in Idaho when I woke up to cookies and muffins.
Very reminiscent of my Grandma's house.
I miss her.
Probably more than most.
That is one serious connection.

The first night I was there Gramps and I watched Celebrity Bowling with the Brady Bunch.

True.

I have also watched the A-Team with him.

My Grandpa is kind of hip.
There was a lot of yelling and laughing.
Things like, "Come on. Get it together man. We DO NOT want them on our team."
Bowling is very relaxing...even if there was some yelling.

ESPN Classics is great. I need TV for that only.

The next day when I visited we started out with organ playing.
This is what organ playing looks like.

I used to play this organ as a kid.
We discussed the financial planning of purchasing an organ.

I did not do that as a kid.

Oh, adulthood.

You suck.

Back to being a kid please.

I said, "Gramps, teach me something new on the organ. Something fancy with the pedals."

When I asked him how I was doing he said, "It is alright, but keep on trying."

Thanks for the honest words.

Then we argued over cords.

He got the book out to try and prove me wrong.

Touche Bill.

Always right.

I had several one-on-one hours with my Grandfather.

I learned about his life.

He gave me Grandfatherly advice.

It went something like this,

"Stay as sweet as you are and marry a good man."

Oh, okay Gramps, both very complicated.

You better believe I challenged him on both of those ideas.

I might have even asked him if he slipped my Grandma the tongue on the first kiss.

His reply?

"She was a cold fish."

Hahahahaha. Priceless.

I love you Grandpa.

Lastly, I found these rad shot glasses for Jordan and I.

Fish parts on both sides.

Perf.

The New Pornographers

I will say I am not a fan of The New Pornographers; however, I do love to listen to music outside.

This is when Josedo was a cat condo at the show.

Once again my old life met my new life.

I was beyond surprised to run into these two.

Thank you universe.

They were always two of my favorites, and they embraced my differences.

Love them, and their entire family.

I miss them, and was lucky to be able to spend part of the night with them.
We had THE best time.

Oh. And. Aren't they beautiful all grown up?

Birthday

The gathering started with this:

This is what Ron thought of his Dad's creepiness:
Large and spacious tower? Check.

The garden gnome is trying to steal my Mom's thunder.
What a jerk.

Beirut

I think it was 2007 that I first heard Beirut.

I fell in love.

I had a plan to go to Europe to see them a few years ago, but that fell through.

I was beyond excited when I found out they were in the Twilight lineup.

I sent an immediate text to my best friend/sibling in May.

We could not wait.

They played my favorite song (below).

Do not worry. I did not cry, but I should have.

That would have been a classic Tiger Beat moment.

Now I wish the waterworks would have happened so I could have been in said magazine.

I do not know what this was all about, but I do love the series of terrible pictures we have been taking.

They make me laugh.

P.S. I think this is the first time we did not show up in matching outfits. We have a habit of randomly doing this.

That also makes me laugh.

Beirut was so important the Goonies necklace came off the wall for an appearance.
Love these two. So glad I was able to keep them in my life.
Talk about lucky.

This guy is hilarious.

I would say he is one of the most hilarious people I have met in my life.

Quirky and eclectic hilarious.

Making me laugh since 1996.

Habe brought his hatred of hipsters and Beirut to the show.

Also hilarious.

He asked me if Revenge of the Nerds were the ones playing on stage.

So excited.

This is when Habe said, "If I could name this song I would call it the Ugly Lindsey Lohan."

I was so happy to run into Ricky or Ricky Spirit Fingers if you look in my phone.

That comes from his incredible dance moves.

He was clearly happy to see me too.

We should be happy, because it has been about a year since we have gotten everyone together to do something.

Over the last year he turned into a mountain man, and now weighs about 15 pounds.

I keep running into Mags at these weekly shows.

She has also hopped on the gaunt train.

Nice work Mags.

You look like a babe.

This is when I could not figure out how to use my camera.

Someone broke it and sometimes it does not work correctly.

Love this photo.

So happy on this crazy night.

This is when someone was emo about broken glasses.

Bad news bears.

Turns out broken glasses are awesome for pictures, and not bad news bears.

Craft Town

My friends seem to be getting knocked up like crazy.

Babies!

This means I have been embroidering bibs.

Embroidering forces me to stop....plus it is fun.

Try it. You'll like it.

I love that there are now great patterns out there that are hip(ster) and not just grandma style.

Quintron and Miss Pussycat

This was one of those nights when I received a late night classic phone call from my brother that went something like this:

J: We should do something fun tonight.

M: Like what?

J: I don't know. Do you know of anything?

M: Ariel Pink is playing tonight and they are good. I also heard the opening band is pretty good.

J: I like them. Let's go.

So we hopped on our bikes and made our way to the show.

Guess what?

Ariel Pink sucks live. Quintron and Miss Pussycat is only the most entertaining band on the planet. One of my favorites. I love unexpected nights like this.

Quintron began with a puppet show.

Then played their hearts out with interesting instruments.

The can in the left corner is used to create beats or something fancy like that.

I need to research that. I could be wrong, but I was told it is hard to play.

The man in the band is genius.

Of course this guy was there.

He hates photos the most.

This is his Shazam face.

Serious concentration happening right there.

Shazam is the best iPhone app around.

I need it in my life.

Good thing everyone is attached to their iPhones so I never have to buy it.

Birthquake

My friends were playing at the library.

I almost did not want to ride bikes that night.

I was LIKE, "I don't want to ride my bike. It is too hot."

Then MOriah was LIKE, "You are dumb."

Okay....she did not say that.

I was being lame though.

Do not worry...I rode my bike.

So glad I did.

Love them.
Kate decided to make an appearance.
She was totally into it.

Lots of friends were present.

Kate tried to buy a C.D. with what was in her purse.

A few dollar bills, coins, raisins, and probably crayons.

Scott was puzzled by the offer.

There was a guard there.

He could probably save us all from way up there.

Hawk-eyed MOriah spotted this sticker.

Awes.