The _______ Life of Brent and Erika

So in case you missed it (I know that at least one person read it!) I'm planning on going meatless in July. Not permanently, just for July. I'm doing this (much to the chagrin (or maybe just eye-rolling) of my mother) for a few reasons: 1. Something bizarre within me thinks it will be fun. I think it's the same desire that makes me want to have children without medication (okay, it's a different desire, but the reasoning is slightly the same): I want to prove to myself that I can do it. People have had babies without medication for centuries; I am as strong as they are. People have probably also been vegetarians for centuries; I am as disciplined as they are. Vegetarianism has always been a little bit exciting to me, maybe because it seems a little counter-cultural without actually doing anyone any harm (other than some meat/poultry farmers, but let's face it: when a sandwich like the KFC Double Down can even EXIST in this country, my going meatless isn't puttin...

...the church! Not like you were really in suspense about the matter. I do find it hilarious that "cleaning the church" seems like a plausible explanation for that random assortment. I'm doing the last of my grading for last semester. I finished my 12 (well, it ended up being 14) page paper this morning. New classes start tomorrow! I'm not teaching this term, which is nice. However, I'm taking two classes and it's spring term so the workload will be like four classes. I'm nervous and excited. This time next year I'll (hopefully) be getting ready to defend my thesis! In sad news, the Chadder's in Provo just closed, which makes me sad, because I used to like to get their "Meatless Wonder". Imagine a great hamburger with cucumber slices instead of the meat patty. It's surprisingly refreshing! It gave me hope of fast food when I go meatless in July!

Today I put on a jacket that I haven't worn in a while. Here's what I found in the pocket: 1. A pink paperclip 2. Some strangely hard piece of rolled up packing tape 3. A gum wrapper 4. One piece of Cookie Crisp cereal. So, what was I doing the last time I wore this jacket? I think this calls for a poll! A. Cleaning out the junk drawer B. Cleaning the church C. Assembling the pieces of a trap, possibly for a dog. Or maybe a gerbil. Also, the last time I ate Cookie Crisp, the mascots looked like this: Since then they first decriminalized the dog (which made the cereal less appealing, which is why I sort of feel like they should do the same to marijuana. Just saying), and then they changed him into a wolf, which makes no sense to me; a wolf doesn't want Cookie Crisp unless by "cookie" we mean "raw elk meat". A wolf would probably take Raw Elk Meat Crisp (patent pending) over Cookie Crisp any day. If you, like me, are interested in mutations of the Cookie C...

I figure that if people can post movies of their kids, I can post one of my dogs. Enjoy (or don't. Whatever. It's kind of boring.).

Well, I don't know if it's really a month of firsts. Here are three firsts this month though: 1. We've started our first landscaping project on our own. We did the garden last year, but let's be honest: my dad did about 85% of that work. This time, we're going it alone (though my dad did lend us some landscaping fabric and his sod cutter, which has not broken yet, Dad). We're doing a rose garden in the backyard along the back of the fence, and we're painting the fence white. I'll post pictures periodically so you can see the transformation. 2. I cleaned out a clogged drain for the first time. As in, screwdriver meets clump of hair cleaned out. Ick. Ick, ick, ick. Those sorts of things (particularly involving hair) usually make me puke, but since I've been doing that anyway lately (well, just the once. It's not recurring.), I figured, what the heck? 3. For the first time in my life, I constantly find myself distracted from homework by housework. A...

I promise that I don't only post on my blog to get sympathy. In an ideal world I'd have thoughtful and/or amusing anecdotes to share with you about twice weekly, but lately there doesn't seem to be that much amusing in our lives. Last night at about midnight, I threw up everything I ate yesterday. No warning. I felt fine all day. We laid down in bed to read some Jesus the Christ (which simultaneously educates me, uplifts me, and makes me sleepy), and I felt a pain in my abdomen. I think, "Appendicitis? Unlikely. Ovarian cyst? Maybe. Early cramps? Probably." The pain travels up to include my stomach, and I think, "Gas pains?" Just a hop skip and a jump later, I'm experiencing spinach salad and enchiladas (lunch and dinner, respectively) in the worst way imaginable. It goes on for about 10 minutes. I start shivering, put on a warm nightgown, lay back down, and wait for an hour and a half to finally get to sleep (no, I'm not pregnant, but thanks for...

I'm currently doing research for my film theory paper, and here are some quotes that I find quite compelling in their discussion of what art is for (both are in Andre Bazin's "The Ontology of the Photographic Image" from What is Cinema? ) If the plastic arts were put under psychoanalysis, the practice of embalming the dead might turn out to be a fundamental factor in their creation. The process might reveal that the origin of painting and sculpture there lies a mummy complex. The religion of ancient Egypt, aimed against death, saw survival as depending on the continued existence of the corporeal body. Thus, by providing a defense against the passage of time it satisfied a basic psychological need in man, for death is but the victory of time. The aesthetic qualities of photography are to be sought in its power to lay bare the realities.[...] Only the impassive lens, stripping its object of all those ways of seeing it, those piled-up preconceptions, that spiritual ...

With this cast of American Idols, I approached this night with some trepidation. I love the Beatles, and I love good Beatles covers, and the thought of Tim Urban slaughtering anything penned by Lennon/McCartney made me want to cringe. All things considered, it was probably the best American Idol episode of the season (which isn't necessarily saying much, but we'll take it!). Here are my semi-live reactions. Enjoy! Aaron Kelly: A Long and Winding Song. Hi Aaron Kelly. This is the third week where you've taken a song done by previous Idol winners or front runners where they had a real Idol "moment", and done it badly. You cannot take on David Cook's "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing," you REALLY can't take on Kris Allen's "Ain't No Sunshine", and comparing you to David Archuleta on "The Long and Winding Road" is like trying to butter your toast with rusty nails. Kara's right: stop doing the same thing over and over, esp...

So I had the hysterosalpingogram on Friday (for those of you too lazy to google, it's a test where they inject dye into the uterus to see if everything is normally shaped and open), which was, as you can probably imagine, quite uncomfortable, but I survived. I had a nurse who kept giving me half of my instructions, and then leaving before I really knew what she was talking about (she told me all the instructions for disrobing, sent me into the exam room, but didn't give me a gown...I figured I'd wait to disrobe until I had something to put on. Later, she brought a stool and set it next to the table and told me to watch my head, but she didn't actually say how/when I should get on the table...), and the room full of guys on various computer monitors was not my favorite, but I figure that if a little discomfort can help me have a baby, it'll all be worth it. Right? Right? Everything's normal. Which is what every test inevitably shows, and while it's great to n...

I guess Utah's April Fools' prank is of the, "Guess what, it's really still winter!" variety. We woke up to 2 inches of snow, and it's not melting fast enough. To me, getting warm enough to wear shorts and then snowing again seems more cruel than just never warming up, particularly to my daffodils, who are already competing with a neighboring bush and who are now droopy droopy with snow.