The Readiness Is All

No, I'm not finished with the Top 5 post yet, but I had an inspiration about my car's name. (I didn't even write about my car yet because of that post! I'll take a picture and write about it later.) I wish I had a picture right now to post so you could get the full effect, but you'll just have to imagine.
Clark pointed out that I can't name my car Gertrude because he named his snowboard that. I knew it sounded familiar, and not just because it was Hamlet's mother. I'm not really loving Beatrice or Ingrid for some reason, and I just can't quite love Wanda even though yelling "To Wanda!" would be fun, and Dulcinea seems presumptuous, which only works when your car is ugly. And it's definitely a girl car, so I can rule out Guildenstern and Claudius and Lennie. But I just had a really good idea.
I just saw A Streetcar Named Desire. You may know where I'm going with this already if you've seen it. What's the most famous line? "STELLA! HEY STELLA!" And just now I realized that my car is a Stella! And it's pretty perfect, because Stella also means "star" (was it Philip Sydney I learned that from? Astrophil and Stella? I think so.) and my car is currently shiny and silver and star like. Plus, I will never name a child Stella, and when I can't find my car I can yell, "STELLA! HEY STELLA!" And then I'll think of Marlon Brando, which will be pleasant. And it's still a literary reference - a good one - which is one of the things I kind of wanted.
I'm asking y'all what you think, but I'm not sure it matters. I think I'm pretty sold.

Sounds like the vote was nearly unanimous (sorry Katherine), so you know how I roll with big posts - I'll probably post it in pieces so that you don't have to wait until I make it through the whole thing. However - Katherine, I'll do a 100 things list soon. No worries. Also, you are all welcome to copy if you would like, but let it be known that it was my brilliant idea first. :)
Here goes.

Top 5 Things I Don't Miss About School (I'll have to think about your others, Matt)
5. Giant papers
4. Spending hundreds of dollars on books every semester
3. Springtime PDA
2. No time to read books for pleasure
1. Always feeling guilty because I should be doing homework

Top 5 Places in London
5. Westminster Abbey - nothing competes with standing on top of Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy at the same time
4. The National Gallery - I'll never forget the way my stomach dropped when I saw my first Van Gogh
3. Portobello Road
2. Regent's Park (Don't come Evans! Don't come!)
1. The Globe. Of course.

Top 5 WWI Poets (I'm appeasing Katherine up front here - hope you don't mind)
5. John Macrae
4. Saki (for "Carol," which I wrote a paper about along with Wilfred Owen's Abraham poem)
3. Edward Thomas (because of listening to Leslie Norris read his poems)
2. Siegfried Sassoon
1. Wilfred Owen (of course)

Top 5 Somewhat Non-Cheesy Love Songs
5. "Northern Sky" - Nick Drake
4. "Janet" - The Format
3. "The Luckiest" - Ben Folds (more cliche than it used to be, but still good, so I'm holding onto it.)
2. "I'll Follow You Into the Dark" - Death Cab for Cutie
1. "First Day of My Life" - Bright Eyes

Top 5 Movies I Saw at International Cinema
5. Autumn Sonata - one of the most recent, which I saw with Whitney. Amazing Ingmar Bergman film that left us both speechless.
4. Volver - is there anything to say? Ghosts, murder, rape, Penelope Cruz with a padded bum . . . this film had it all.
3. Amelie - saw it twice and loved it both times
2. Joyeux Noel - Complete with Dr. Tate's lecture. Fascinating and lovely.
1. Osama - Probably the most powerful cinematic experience I have ever had.
This doesn't discount the value of Rosenstrasse, The Passenger, Babette's Feast, or Twilight Samurai, nor am I forgetting the wonder of Picnic at Hanging Rock and the crazy French musical about umbrellas. (You remember those, right Miri?) But these are the ones I currently remember best.

Top 5 Playlists I've Made (for Lindsey)
5. This year's Halloween playlist. I was pretty proud of it.
4. Treb's and my collaborative "Lonely Hearts" playlist
3. My London playlist
2. I don't remember what I called it, but one that I made last fall with "Learn to Live With What You Are" and "What Light" and such. I listen to that one all the time.
1. The playlist I made last spring - "Let It All Out" or "Don't Go to Pieces" or something like that. I don't even have the CD anymore because Ty stole it, but I still have the playlist, and it was a good one. :)

Top 5 Ways to Leave Your Lover
5. Slip out the back, Jack
4. Make a new plan, Stan
3. Don't need to be coy, Roy - just listen to me.
2. Hop on the bus, Gus. You don't need to discuss much.
1. Just drop off the key, Lee, and get yourself free.

Top 5 Movies I Wish I'd Never Watched
5. The Lake House
4. The Notebook
3. Daredevil (and I didn't even see the whole movie)
2. Van Helsing
1. The Book of Mormon Movie ("Don't you understand? The city is going to be destroyed! The city is going to be destroyed! Don't you understand?")
Picnic at Hanging Rock gets honorable mention.

Top 5 People I Thought Were Overrated and Decided Weren't
5. David Bowie
4. Joni Mitchell
3. Carrie Vail
2. James Dean
1. Bob Dylan

Top 5 Top 5 List Ideas I'd Like To Use But Probably Won't (thanks Nate)
5. Top 5 ways to cure the hiccups
4. Top 5 your mom jokes
3. Top 5 talk show moments
2. Top 5 UFO sightings
1. Top 5 villain monologues

Top 5 Adolescent Novels
5. Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
4. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
3. The Only Alien on the Planet by Kristen D. Randle
2. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Top 5 Books I Never Finished and Should Have
5. Invisible Man
4. Jacob's Room (seriously. This book is so short.Why didn't I finished it before I'd have to start over again?)
3. Heart of Darkness
2. Crime and Punishment
1. Les Miserables

Top 5 Concerts I've Seen
5. U2, December 2005
4. Billy Joel, November 2007
3. The Arcade Fire or Damien Rice, Sept. 2007 (Yeah, this is cheating. I couldn't decide)
2. The Format, August 2006
1. Simon and Garfunkle, June 2004
(This one was hard! What about The Shins and Ben Folds and Ben Kweller and The Swell Season and Snow Patrol and Jason Mraz and Death Cab and The Fray and so many other good shows? U2's spot there is a little precarious, but it really was an incredible performance - but was it better than Ben Folds?. . . sigh.)

Top 5 Concerts I Want to See
5. Coldplay (November, baby!)
4. Band of Horses OR Rogue Wave
3. Brandi Carlile
2. Muse (I still regret not seeing them when they were here before, but missing them did result in my being able to go to Damien Rice and The Arcade Fire, and you can see where those are ranked.)
1. The Postal Service (if they ever do concerts)

Top 5 Heavyweight Books On My Current Reading List
5. Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
4. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
3. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
2.East of Eden by John Steinbeck
1. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Top 5 Fictional Crushes
5. Keith Mallory, The Guns of Navarone
4. Sherlock Holmes (weird, I know. I have always loved him.)
3. Mr. Darcy, Pride and Prejudice
2. Edward Cullen, Twilight
1. Edward Rochester, Jane Eyre

Top 5 Actor Crushes
5. Matthew Fox (or Josh Holloway - I just finished Season 3 of Lost, so Jack and Sawyer have to be on here somewhere)
4. Peter O'Toole (think How to Steal a Million)
3. Richard Armitage
2. James McAvoy
1. Gregory Peck

Top 5 Subjects I'd Rather Not Speak On in Church
5. Pornography/ The Law of Chastity
4. Genealogy
3. Marriage (until I'm married, and then dating)
2. Finances
1. Physical Heath and Wellbeing (which is my subject for this Sunday, which may be why it seems so horrifying)

Top 5 T.V. Shows
5. The West Wing
4. Lost
3. Gilmore Girls
2. The Office
1. M*A*S*H

Top 5 Emoticons I Have on IM
5. The one where the stick figures kick each other off the cliff
4. Snoop shaking his head
3. Dancing Milk
2. Pelvic Thrust Storm Trooper
1. I Need More Cowbell
(The hopping Ninja Turtle would have been on here, but it doesn't work with the new version of IM I have. Tragic.)

Top 5 Made-Up Words
5. Gigantenormous
4. Pooptacular
3. Vike
2. Scandalicious
1. Fan-freaking-awkward-tastic

Top 5 Words Of Which I Have an Irrational Hatred
5. Bodice
4. Supple
3. Throat
2. Urn
1. Virile

Top 5 Best Things Said at Work This Week
5. Marilyn (who is at least 50 and also awesome) (singing while doing laundry): "Suddenly Seymour is standing beside me . . ."
4. Lyndi: "I almost dropped like seven forks just now, but I'm amazing and I caught them with my armpit."
3. Lyndi: "So I'm friends with the guy on facebook. I told my mom and she said, 'Lyndi! That's flirting with danger!'"
2. on a sign by the time clock: If you can't make it to you're a signed shift, call me.
1. Marilyn: "Hey Jim, what are you doing?" Jim (who is at least 70 and maybe older): "Everyone I can and the easy ones twice."

Top 5 Most Uncomfortable Items of Clothing I've Worn
5. Miri's boots - the ones I wore to be a pirate
4. Lili's boots - the ones I wore to be a superhero
3. My very cute but head-crushing tan striped headband
2. The horrible khaki pants from the Madrigal casual outfit my junior year. (As I recall, Carmen Rasmussen picked them out and I hated them with a passion.)
1. My first pair of high heels - peach ones from Payless for Ty and Becca's wedding. I still have nightmares about them.

Top 5 Superhero Movies
5. Original Superman
4. Spiderman
3. Batman (Tim Burton)
2. Ironman
1. Batman Begins

Top 5 Things Said/Done By My Niece and Nephews
5. Savy: (sings the Ariel song from The Little Mermaid and also the "Scales and Arpeggios song from The Aristocats)
4. Jake: Wished for powers on a dandelion.
3. Cooper (when Spence told him that to distinguish between Grandmas by calling my mom "Gram."): "I don't like it. Gram is a cracker."
2. Cooper on a ride at Lagoon: "Daddy, my tummy is dizzy."
1. Zach or Cole - can't remember which one said it - holding a seashell to his ear: (shakes seashell, looks inside) "Ocean . . . come out . . ."

Top 5 Names I'm Considering for My New Car
5. Gertrude
4. Ingrid
3. Beatrice
2. Dulcinea (in the tradition of Treb, who also had a car with a Quixotean name - Rocinante, foremost among nags)
1. Wanda

Top 5 Female Singers (that I listen to on a regular basis - don't get mad that Billie Holiday isn't here)
5. Fiona Apple
4. Ingrid Michaelson
3. Rachael Yamagata
2. Brandi Carlile
1. Ella Fitzgerald

Top 5 Male Singers (same deal)
5. Ben Folds
4.Win Butler (Arcade Fire)
3. Damien Rice
2. Nate Ruess (The Format)
1. Paul Simon (first in my heart, always and forever)

Top 5 Movies I've Rented This Summer
5. A Streetcar Named Desire
4. Giant
3. Amazing Grace
2. On the Waterfront
1. East of Eden

Top 5 Actors (Classic)
5. Orson Welles
4. Marlon Brando
3. Jimmy Stewart
2. Peter O'Toole
1. Gregory Peck
(It's really hard not to put James Dean or Cary Grant on this list. Really. Hard.)

Top 5 Dressup Moments in College
5. Ghosts of Dickens's Past, Present and Future (Dr. Walker's class)
4. Harry Potter Night
3. FHEmo
2. Halloween Costume '07 - creepy rag doll
1. Superhero Night

Top 5 Items of Clothing I Miss from my Roommates' Closets
5. Miri's gray skirt (except that today I bought one almost just like it!)
4. Magic pants - Jennie's or Miri's
3. Miri's red shirt with black polka dots - also known as the "liberation shirt"
2. Marci's magic dress
1. Krissie's blue and tan striped shirt



Possibles for the still coming attractions:

Top 5 Cheesiest Movie Deaths

Top 5 Things I Like About Myself

Top 5 Quotes (Categories of some kind)





and of course I'm contemplating all of your entries. Keep them coming!


More to come. I promise.

...is that Miri has been texting me from her honeymoon.

Also, I started my new job as a server tonight. Lovely. I folded a lot of napkins and gave rolls to old people.

My next post will be my 200th, so I'm trying to cook up something special. I'm sure you'll all wait with schoolgirl anticipation. And it will be worth it. As soon as I think of something.

So the thing I love about the concerts of Irish bands is the stories and the talking in amazing accents. Not to mention the amazingness of the music, of which there was plenty, but Glen Hansard pretty much rocked my socks the other night with his crazy-long but always interesting stories and tangents. I wish I remembered more of them, but since I was weddinging all weekend, you'll have to make due with just a bit.
I swear that every song had a story, or at least an explanation of the metaphor behind the story. I think my favorite moment was when Glen said they went to see the big hoo-ha down the street (Temple Square) and when they asked if they could go in they were told to go to the visitor's center where they could see pictures of the inside. "But the door is open!" And then a sister missionary latched onto them and started telling them the whole history, and Marketa finally asked her if she could please stop talking. Ah, the joy. We are funny people.
I also loved when Glen said they got off the plane and ended up in some sort of mall for about a mile. "We've been here before and we were going, this isn't it, it's cool! But you can't really get food in a mall and we were hungry. Someone told us we could go to the food court and we said, 'Airport food from every country? No tanks." (I love that they say tanks instead of thanks. Love. It.) Then he said, "You realize that malls are ruining your country, right? You need to resist." (I'm editing a little there - this is an American blog, so certain words, which Glen explained are not meant to be offensive, but are merely a result of centuries of the English trying to pound their language out of them and them feeling it's their job to pervert the English language.)
And just by the way, Glen started the concert with "Say It To Me Now," which just absolutely blows me away whenever I hear it. He played many of the really fabulous songs from Once, and lots of other songs that were pretty amazing. Marketa was quiet, but she was beautiful and played and sang beautifully.
In other news, the opening guy was crazy. He started out his set with some weird chant-like things that I assume were in Gaelic or something, and then he play some normal sounding stuff and ended up with penny whistles. We figured out toward the end of the show that it was the lead singer for the Hothouse Flowers! He was a super star in Ireland and with at least Treb and Ty, but no one had any idea who he was here. Out of control. I'm not exactly sure why he thought chants and penny whistles would be a good idea, but it was pretty cool - even if the audience didn't know how to respond to him.
The encore went on for about an hour I think, and it ended with the entire band hopping on one foot through "Fitzcarraldo." It was a very serious song and it was so weird to have them teetering through the end, but the song was still so amazing that it didn't detract. I must say, The Frames band members were uber talented, especially the violinist. Holy cow.
I'm pretty sure there was more amazing wisdom, like the story about how ACDC fans only want to date other ACDC fans just like Jews want to marry Jews, so it's true love when one falls for a fan of David Bowie and the Cure, but I can't remember it all, so we'll stop there with the fact that I love them more than ever. Hurray for crazy Irish guys and their passion and humor. The Swell Season = amazing times 10.

I really like this secret from this week. Yay PostSecret.

So the last few days have been CRAZY. On Wednesday, Jennie and I went and spent the night at Miri's apartment. We saw Penelope (and fell in love with James McAvoy all over again) and then watched Gilmore Girls and cuddled on Miri's couch. It was very strange to be in the apartment where she will very shortly be living with Mike, but we had fun and it was happy.
On Thursday, we watched What Not to Wear together for the last time, and then I went and picked up Krissie and together we went to the airport to get Lindsey. It was a lovely reunion, with running into each other's arms and so forth. We went back to Miri's and ate Cafe Rio, then just goofed around for a little while until Jennie got out of class and we could go to Jamba. Miri had to go and get her family from the airport, so I took Lindsey to see Curt and then went to movie night in good old 36. We watched The Scarlet Pimpernel, which made me happy, as did seeing the old movie night group together still (a whole week after graduation). Lindsey and I slept over at Jennie's, and the next morning (after What Not to Wear), we helped Jennie a little with the cake and then went on a hunt for stuff for Miri's wedding - garter, something borrowed, blue, old, new, etc., and also for things for a basket o' memories that we decided to make for the happy couple. We got what we could, and then I let Jennie and Lindsey finish up while I drove back home and then hit the Swell Season concert (more about that later - can't put it in this particular post) which was FANTASTIC and WONDERFUL and EXHAUSTING all at once.
I got up super early (but not early enough!) on Saturday morning and went to Lili's sister's house in Lehi so she could curl my hair and Jennie's. We put on makeup and our lovely dresses and directed Bishop McGee to the wedding, and then we went there ourselves and got there just in time to help with some of the final touches when Miri got there. The whole thing was very nice, and we followed it up with pizza and got to present the new couple with our basket o' goodness. Mike and Miri even posed with the viking hat - amazing pictures to come.
There wasn't much time to sit around - Jennie had a cake to transport and finish, so we took off and grabbed all four layers and tried very hard not to let them die in the car. We went to Mike's brother's backyard and started helping with the setup - mostly to speed along the process of getting Jennie a table where she could assemble her cake! I think Lindsey and Jennie and I did most of the flower arrangements on the tables, and we generally ran around being useful until people started arriving, and then we went about the task of getting sunburned. I had my cell phone stylishly clipped to the ribbon on my dress, and I directed people who got lost (and saved Nate Kartchner's butt - he didn't read the invitation and didn't realize how early reception was. He showed up just in time to refuse to participate in the garter toss/flip/hurl.)
The post-wedding festivities included Village Inn and old friends (and crepes!) and then Martian Child at Jennie's place. Lindsey and I stopped and grabbed Subzero on our way out of town.
Today I dropped Lindsey off at the airport, and the whole thing is starting to set in, rather unpleasantly. I was terrifically pleased about the way the whole weekend came off, and I got to do everything I wanted to do as far as goodbyes and involvement and picture taking go, but now that I'm settling, I'm feeling the twinge that comes when anything big changes, and since Miri has been such an integral part of my life for the past three years, it's an adjustment thinking about my shift in role. We will always be friends I hope, but we won't be roommates anymore. The things that I'm facing now will be different than the things she faces - more so than ever before. Add that to the already sad prospect of not living with Jennie and Whitney to the still looming task of job hunting . . . the happy weekend is settling into a bit of a downer Monday. I'm sure things will look up on Tuesday, though, and I'm very happy for Mike and Miri. We have some amazing pictures, and I'll add them as soon as I get them from Lindsey or Jennie, since I just enjoyed the day and let them take the pictures.
Goodbye to my other half, who is now part of a different M&M.

A hug.