Oh the Places You'll Go

Isn't it lovely to be reminded of our biggest failures? Ok, perhaps not. The other day, however, I came face to face with a rather spectacular fiasco of my own, and found that I was actually happy for the experience.

I went to the place where I once thought that all of my dreams would come true. In fact, this often dreamt of place was considered to be the only location that could produce my perfect life. (Yes, I know, I put all of my eggs in one basket.) This fantasy of mine was nurtured from the time that I was very young; when I finally was able to embark upon what was sure to be the finest achievement of my life, I thought I had it made.

Reality often strikes such hopeful dreamers as harsh. As my dreams quickly turned to nightmares, I realized that the "perfect life" I wanted wasn't going to come neatly wrapped in the package I thought it would. And in truth, those prized dreams of mine weren't what I even wanted anymore.

Then all of the sudden I had such an exciting opportunity: being free from old expectations I could do whatever I wanted! So I did. And I found, and am still finding, new dreams. I'm still working on that perfect life, but I know it will happen as I make the most of each new possibility and overcome each setback in turn.

So when it came time to return to this magical place where my dreams didn't come true, I did so feeling like I had triumphed over the loss of those old fantasies.

What an achievement indeed.

The Trouble With Love

The good news: my friends don't need to run out and buy me wedding presents quite yet, but then again, silver linings are usually attached to a cloud. In this particular case, which I am about to share with you, the cloud is obsession.

It all started when I was in kindergarten. I remember the day clearly. My class had gone to the school library where we were all to take out two books to read. And that's where I stop remembering so clearly; either my books were about kitties or ballerinas. Perhaps both. At any rate, I went home with two books from my school library. Then some more things happened that day that I don't remember well, but then we get back to the point. I was sitting on my bed, snuggled up with the blankets, ready to take a leap and read a book all by myself. I picked up one of the books. It was small and square, fitting perfectly into my five-year-old hands. A minute or two later, I chucked the book across the room.

Don't ask me why. But as much as I can recall, that was the last time I ever threw a book away from me. Since then, it's been the exact opposite. While most kids spent their summer vacations playing outside all day, I read. I poured over library shelves, pulling out at least a dozen books to take home every week. I participated in every summer reading program there was, earning hundreds of coupons I didn't use. (I was too busy reading more books.) I was sucked in. Every page sang a sweet siren song. I had to read everything!

The fascination hasn't stopped, even now. The other day I decided to read the seven books of the Harry Potter series in seven days. Kinda crazy, I know, but that's why it's called obsession. So as I entrenched myself in the world of magic and Hogwarts, I found that I was slowly losing my grip with reality. By about day 5 of this undertaking, I wouldn't have been surprised to find people in this world claiming to be witches and wizards. I mean, really, they're all trying to blend in aren't they? (Something about that section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlock's Statute of Secrecy.) By day 6 I was wondering where I could get a wand of my own. And then, on day 7 after I had finished the series, I finally woke up from this "novel" dream I was living.

Seeing as how my time was now free from my Harry Potter craze, I turned to watching a movie, Pirates of the Caribbean. (And, just in case you were wondering, no, I didn't go crazy with this series... I just watched the first one.) But as I watched, I realized the magnitude of my obsession when losing myself in a novel's world. Not only was I seeing magical properties in my reality, I was putting them into other worlds as well. You know this scene from the movie, where Captain Jack Sparrow is locked in the jail? Well, the only thing I could think of at the moment was, "Come on, Jack! Alohomora!"

So then, we come to the words penned by J.K. Rowling for our favorite teacher, Professor Dumbledore: "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live..."

Lesson learned, professor.

5 Reasons Why I'll Never Give Myself a Haircut Again

You know how some kids just don't believe you when you tell them that the stove is hot? Well, I guess I've always been one of those kids. It should be common sense to not cut your own hair, but I did it anyway. At least now I have 5 reasons to never do it again.

1. It took forever Trust me, the time spent driving to and from, waiting your turn, paying for the cut, and the time the stylist actually spends with your head are nothing compared to how long I spent trying to get just the right angle in the mirror, not to mention positioning the mirrors themselves.


2. I snipped my fingers instead of my hair Since we humans don't have eyes in the back of our heads, I often found myself cutting something other than the unwanted tresses. When a professional cuts my hair, at least my hands are safely shielded where not even the falling hair can touch them.


3. There was no one to talk to Admit it, when you sit in the barber's chair you open up and tell your whole life story to the person with the scissors. It's ok, we all do it. Sometimes it's just easier to spill all of your problems to someone you don't even know. And since you're a paying customer, you can be sure that you'll have all the attention you need.


4. I had to do the clean up Part of the perks of shelling out cash for a new 'do- you don't have to deal with the leftovers.


5. My arms are really tired now!

So, with my lesson learned, I vow to not cut my hair again. Besides, in these times, shouldn't I be out there stimulating the economy by paying for the service?

Oh, and just in case you were curious, the haircut wasn't a disaster. It turned out rather nicely. But when it came to weighing the pros and cons... the cons survived the cut.

Nothing to Lose

There's no going back now. With the touch of a button (aka "publish post"), this blog will become part of that great unknown- the world wide web.


There are many reasons to start a blog. As I've considered this new adventure that I'm emarking on, I read dozens of blogs, found dozens of ideas, and boiled it all down to two reasons: 1) I like the idea of blogging as a potentially income-earning hobby, and 2) Why not make a record of the world around me?


Since I am a unique individual (I know, I know, just like everyone else), it's only logical to say that my point of view, and the way that I experience life is not quite the same as yours. So my goal in writing this blog is to take the every day experiences of life, and let you see just what an adventure these experiences can prove to be. After all, I've got nothing to lose.

In fact, just the other day I stumbled across a small adventure. While taking my usual time to peruse the web, I found a website for the book called The List. Author Gail Belsky encourages us to break out of the norm of life and really shake things up. So after reading through the ideas from her list, I decided to come up with my own. Here it goes!

• Start a blog (check!)


• Write a novel


• Enter a writing contest


• Learn to draw/paint


• Record a CD


• Go golfing


• Hike to the top of Mt. Timpanogos (and no more excuses... I'm really going to do it!)

Now there are plenty of other items I could add to this list. In fact, I hope it never stops growing. And don't worry, you'll hear about these adventures as they go along.

But now my question to you is: What's on your list? Oh, even better. Tell me about your adventures! Go on, get out there! Life's waiting!

Basically, my thought for today is: "Try to be one of those on whom nothing is lost." Thank you Henry James.