Last Post for Tonight (this morning...)

Fran & Marlo Cowan (married 62 years) playing impromptu recital together in the atrium of the Mayo Clinic. He turned 90 in February. The song is Old Grey Bonnet.



How cute are they?
Here's more to the story if you're interested.

Explanation -

- so, Uganda was canceled. I'm pretty upset about it. It was all going to work out perfectly... (in my head)

The professor heading up the whole Uganda thing became the director of the Master's program last semester. He wasn't planning on this, so that put a lot of extra things on his plate. Due to that, he hasn't been able to put in as much time to this whole project as he would have normally.

Over the weekend he realized how far behind we were and decided to postpone everything a year.
Bad news - I'll be working full time next summer.
Good news - I'll be working full time next summer!

Right now it's looking like I'll be spending my whole summer in SLC. To that I say - Booo...
Not that I don't like SLC, because I do, but I was really hoping for an international something this coming summer.

International (or at least away from SLC) isn't a complete impossibility. Just tonight I applied for an internship with UNESCO. It's the only application I've filled out that has everything translated into French as well as English.

In talking to my brother about it, while I was trying to decide on which city* to select, out of their numerous options, he said, "It doesn't really matter, As mom would say, 'Don't get your hopes up, it probably won't happen anyway.'"
-not that she'd say those exact words, but, for example, a few months ago my sister wrote on her blog: When coaching Amanda on her speech I found myself sounding a lot like my mom. "Now, if you don't win, don't be upset..." Funny how that happens.- (emphasis added)

Anyway, regardless of where I end up (or where I stay), I'm hopeful that whatever happens will be for the best.

*I ended up selecting Venice just because
I think it'd be amazing to live in Italy for a few months.
But, it probably won't happen anyway...

Quotes of Today (Technically "Yesterday")

At the end of the day, you're going to have to shrug your shoulders and give them the finger.
- dr. on a video about obesity

Me and Jimmy will tell her what to do.
- my cute niece Iris talking to my sis-in-law before she and my brother left for the evening

See My Dad

He's the one on the left

Quoted a few times, his name is Chris Anderson

Sad News

I just found out that the Uganda project is being postponed. I may still be able to go for my project, but maybe not.

I may end up spending my whole summer working here in Utah.

That's depressing.

Update -

- on our fund raising blog. Check it out.

and tell your friends!

An Awesome Way to Spend a Friday Night

Last night I finally went to the Billy Joel / Elton John concert. It was worth the wait. And worth all the pennies I spent to get there.

It was so fun to see these two men perform. They've been doing this for so long and you can tell that they love it. And they're so good at it.

Some fun surprises:
There was no intermission
- they started singing together, Elton John then took the stage, Billy Joel came in after, and they ended together -
(so they got their break, and I didn't want one)
I had no idea that Billy Joel played the guitar
I had no idea that Billy Joel played the guitar during "We Didn't Start the Fire"
Billy Joel looked as comfortable dancing around with a mic stand as he did sitting at the piano
Billy Joel dances while playing the piano sometimes (rocking in his seat to the beat)
Their voices sound the same as they do in their years-old recordings (this wasn't as much a surprise as it was just fun to see that they sound the same way as they did when I was a pre-teen)
Our seats were on the very back row (this may be seen as a negative, but we were sitting to the side of the stage and had a great view of the screen, plus, we could get up and dance - which we did. a lot. - and not bother anyone)
Though I'm not super-familiar with Elton John's stuff, he's amazingly talented and really fun to watch (again, the talent part - not surprising)
Billy Joel apologized for having to reschedule the concert
- thank you for that Billy
Elton John rarely spoke in between his songs, but Billy Joel would pause between almost all of them and talk to us

I would definitely go again.
I hope to go again sometime.

A Few Videos

some things that kept me awake laughing for a little too long last night...

and click here for a last bit of fun.
make sure you check out the score.

ps - when he's saying "lost," he does say "point"

Happy President's Day

I hope it's

relaxing
productive
adventurous
refreshing
enjoyable
peaceful

and anything else you need it to be.

Happy Love Day

love, the Dingo

...

... re-reading some of my blog entries (do people do that?), I found this quote posted almost a year ago:

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell." (emphasis added)

- CS Lewis, The Four Loves

Have I told you how much I love C.S. Lewis and his wonderful mind? Just tonight, I came across this one:

"There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right then, have it your way.'"

CS Lewis
found here

I try to be in the former group, but can probably-too-often be found in the latter group.

Awesome Quote

I think I've posted this on here before, but it crossed my mind this morning so I decided to look it up and post it (again):

"No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because he was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means--the only complete realist."

- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

New Blog

In an effort to promote our fundraising efforts, Katie and I have created a new blog. I hope you'll visit it often to see what we're up to and to help us raise money. Please feel free to spread the word to everyone you know! (:

My New Adventure

Just this morning, I signed up to walk with the Susan G. Komen 3-day 60-mile Breast Cancer walk in San Diego this coming November. In order for me to participate, I need to raise $2,300.

My dad's father passed away because of cancer, and his mother is a breast cancer survivor. I love that I'm able to help this way and am really looking forward to it.

If you're able to donate (any, absolutely any amount is welcome!) please click here and donate* under my name - Eden Anderson - . I'm on the team "grads for girls."

Also, if you're interested in joining the team and walking with us, let me know.

For more information about the program, click here.

To answer the question about where donations go, the website says:
Net proceeds from the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure™ fund innovative global breast cancer research and local community programs supporting education, screening and treatment. Every major advance in the fight against breast cancer in the last 27 years has been impacted by a Susan G. Komen for the Cure® grant. For more information about Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer, visit http://www.komen.org/ or call 1.877 GO KOMEN.

For answers to more questions, click here.

I've also put a link in the left sidebar for donations.

Thank you!!!

*All donations are tax-deductible.

First One In... Last One Out...

This morning I came to my computer lab early so I could finish some assignments that were due today.

Tonight I stayed late so I could finish a homework assignment for Wednesday.

Though I love the quiet time when no one else is around... I dislike that I've been on campus for 14 hours, spending half of that time sitting at this desk.

Ugh.

I'm going home.

I found the picture when I image-searched
"long days" on google. I like it.

Motivating... Inspiring... etc.

I love this:

thanks for sharing Bess!

Hmm... deja vu?

from Feb 24th, 25th, & 27th, 1992

are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Probably -

- my favorite line from SNL last week:

"After hearing that Osama bin Laden said that global warming is actually happening and a real concern, Al Gore responded: 'Yes! Oh, wait... who said...? Damn!'"

(the first part was paraphrased the "quote" from Gore was right on. and hilarious.
ps. it's not swearing if you're quoting, right?)

'LLL' - Lousy Low Levels

Okay, not really, but that's what it felt like.

I went to donate blood on Wednesday. My hemoglobin was too low the first time, so they tested me again. It went up the second time, but not enough, so I couldn't donate. They told me I could come back and try again the next day.

So I did.

Thursday when I went in, the girl did the test and it came up with - 'LLL'. I have never seen that before and didn't know it was even possible. 'LLL' means my level is either 10.5 or below, and for women to donate blood it has to be at least 12.5.

So I was rejected.

Again.

Two days in a row.

Sad, huh?

So Close I Can Taste It!

Remember this?

Closely followed by this?

Well... in 18 days...

... I'll be seeing this:



Due to the schedule change, my friend Emily could no longer go.

Today I found a friend who could.

I'm so excited.

So, so, very much excited.