favorite song? Rhapsody In Blue by Gershwin. He's the man.
favorite article of clothing? dresses, closely followed by sweatpants.
favorite instrument? Probably an oboe, and of course, anything percussive. If that's a word.
favorite season? Depends upon where I'm living. Here, it's probably fall.
favorite herb? Rosemary or Basil.
favorite fruit? Peaches.
favorite waffle toppings? Nutella, bananas, and peanut butter.
favorite restaurants in the state of Utah? Guru's and The Bombay House.
favorite textile? Obviously, Marimekko.
favorite type of tree to climb? Well, pines often give the best view but the sap is a major downfall. If a cottonwood ever had a branch low enough to pull myself up with it would be a miracle. It's probably a toss up between a locust and and maple.
favorite bird? A cardinal.
favorite fall treat? Pumkin donuts and cider from the farmers market.
favorite insect? Fireflies.
favorite flower? tulips or lilacs or phlox. It's really subjective.
favorite artists? Norman Rockwell and Alexander Calder.
favorite form of transportation? Wings, but more realistically a zip line.
favorite unachievable talent? Walking on a slackline.
favorite type of music? Jazz.

for your joy and entertainment, my absolute favorite textile company. Seriously, you should see my room.

Summer Summary in 5 pictures

Being fed rocks by small innocent cousins . . .

Waging war on certain annoying deacons who were relentless in their attacks upon their superiors . . .


Expressing real feelings about being sun dried, windswept, and sleeping in a hot tent . . .




Driving through middle-of-nowhere towns and sampling their "unique" foods . . .
and hiking atop mountains in Canada.

Just Do It

"Run like your life depends on it . . . and know that it does"

Running is hard.
Running makes me wish I was an antelope while I feel like an elephant.
Running makes me rethink why I do things.
Running invigorates me.
Running gives me a feeling of ownership over hills, trails, roads, swings, rivers and the water behind the car wash.
Running makes me hate stoplights.
Running makes me insanely grateful for stoplights.
Running gives me odd tan lines.
Running is the only reason I wake up at 6:30 DURING THE SUMMER.
Running makes me look at a hill like it's a challenge to my identity.

Because of running I have pushed through in the dark on the top of a mountain, endured racing that I hate, love, hate, held luke-warm water in my mouth and sprinted for timpview, and freed my feet from the confinement of shoes and waded into the ice cold Provo river. But one of the best parts of running is the trust you must build with the teammates that push you to go harder and faster for longer.

#7

That was quicker than I expected. Becca and I were driving to my house at 11:20ish last night, and the sprinklers below the temple were on. And so, we pulled over and dashed through them screaming our heads off. It was colder than expected, and it wasn't even that warm of a night. Summer is glorious.

Dear Man child.
Congratulations on your newly acquired age.
Here are some driving tips not included in the Utah State booklet, which I believe will help you immensely.

1. When you go to the DMV to get your permit and they give you an eye test; the red dot you are supposed to be looking for are either to the left or right, not straight in front of you. Learn from my mistakes.
2. The speed limit on Timpview is 25 and the speed limit on Canyon is 35. You pick.
3. Eyes on the road, not on the zoobie couples kissing on the sidewalk.
4. There is a hidden stop sign in coming to the light by Zupas. Although this may not seem entirely important, mom seems to think so.
5. And lastly, but also most important, don't ever try to drive in high heels.

Kittens in the school bathroom

Yesterday during AP world I pushed open the door of the bathroom to find a wobbly kitten crawling across the floor. I couldn't decide if I was asleep or losing my mind. This experience continually got stranger as a girl picked up the kitten and stuffed it into her backpack. She smiled at me (the girl, not the kitten) zipped up the backpack, and sauntered out. Meow. Then, while I was outside enjoying the sun, I saw the same girl, playing with multiple kittens in the grass. Apparently Mrs. Bowers also found a tiny, poor, lost cat and was taking care of it. So beware. Kittens in backpacks aren't as rare as one would initially think.

Summer Bucket List

1. Catch up on Dan Bergenstein "blogging twilight"
2. get a job
3. complete another successful summer of night games without police interference
4. rock climb
5. get back into swimming shape (with Caties help)
6. read a countless number of books including all the the Calvin and Hobbes again, AND "The Prince"
7. go running at night. Through sprinklers
8. sleep on the porch under a full moon
9. sit in my "magical chair" and do absolutely nothing for a very long time
10. hike, camp, repeat.
11. Memorize King Henry the fifths "Saint Crispins Day" speech
12. Find scholarships to apply for
13. Take all the stupid music off my ipod that I don't listen to anymore and
14. find new bands
    

A typical calm and serene Sunday afternoon at the Morgan house.

A

Fictionist.

Friday night was great. My eardrums were blasted off, but it was a worthy cause. Everyone should go to the Fictionist website and listen to their songs.

Grapes of Wrath inspiration. Copywrited.

During the pointless movie played in AP world today, I read Jacob's copy of Grapes of Wrath. Do you know the part where the Joad family is about to cross the state border? When Tom and his mother have a worried conversation about whether Tom will be caught and sent back to prison for disobeying his parole? During this tender moment, Tom says something about how it is better to disobey the parole and leave for California, then stay in Oklahoma and starve to death. And then it came to me. And I'm pretty sure Kent thinks I'm a nut because I started freaking out. But just think! Tom is like Adam when he leaves the garden of Eden! There are two commandments, one is to stay, and the other is to leave (and survive). One must be broken. Because Tom chooses to break his parole, and thus endure the trials and tribulations, his family can continue to progress. Had they stayed in Oklahoma (where they had ALWAYS lived) they would have starved, but to better serve the analogy, no PROGRESS would have been made. Going to California meant agency and responsibility.

SPOILER ALERT!
Since I have read this book before for fun, the Adam in the garden of Eden analogy works even to the end. Had Adam stayed in the garden he would have never come to know the difference between good and evil. When the Joad family leaves Oklahoma they are full of anticipation. But then they meet tons of people who don't want to offer them work, but also meet those who truly care for each other. Because they have left the "garden" they make choices about who they will be. In the final scene of the book when Rose Of Sharon saves the mans life in such an intimate, precious way we can see that she has finally come to realize that not everything is about herself. This totally ties in with leaving the garden because the point was to be able to make their own choices and have agency. The fact that Rose of Sharon gives of herself is not just hope for those literally reading about the Great Depression, but also all Christians, that in the end people will CHOOSE goodness over evil.

Sigh not so

Sigh Ladies, sigh no more,
men were deceivers ever.
One foot on land, and one on shore,
to one thing, devoted never.
Then sigh not so, and let them go,
and be you ever blithe and bonny,
converting all your sounds of woe,
into hey, nonny nonny.

Just so nobody is alarmed, this has nothing to do with present circumstances. I am just thinking of "Much Ado About Nothing" and how I might be able to get away with watching it instead of doing homework. Chances are slim indeed.

I awoke to a crime scene on the front sidewalk. The chalk outline of a person lay on the sidewalk, and blood spatters came closer to the door. The caution tape strung in the rosebushes looked strangely familiar. The wind whipped at my pajama's and the dark moonless sky threatened rain. What could have possibly happened while I slept? Oh that's right. Morp answer. :)

favorite quotes of the minute

"I want to pick peaches off a cherry tree so just be gentle with me"

"If a kiss could be seen I think it would look like a violet"

". . . you're human, you can't even fly . . . I did not reach the stars as they said, but at least my feet left the ground"

"for beautiful eyes seek for the good in people, for soft lips speak words of wisdom, for a slim figure feed the hungry. People, more than things need to be loved."

"Observe the passing of the hours, not of the cars"

"If growing up means it would be, beneath my dignity to climb a tree, I won't grow up, won't grow up, never ever grow up, not me!"

3rd term is over!

From the minute the the last bell rang on Friday I have been celebrating end of term. I really need to sleep off this weekend at some point . . . but I don't really think that is going to happen. I hiked the Y, ate omlettes, watched soccer in the freezing cold weather, watched "She's the Man", tried on ugly dresses, and got marshmallows and seran wrap everywhere. Woke up and played drums at 9 am, went skiing on ice, watched the beginning of the BYU game, sat in the Orem Rec. Center sauna, went to DI, tried on more ugly dresses, made popcorn and watched the mormon pride and prej, came home and mopped the floor. Whoop. Hey, did I have homework?

Bucket list No. 5

Move to Denmark and see if I like living as a socialist.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't mind the architecture . . .
Or the scenery . . .
Or the history.

Lying in my cozy bed I could hear the house creaking in the frigid wind. The snow; I knew, was blowing across the frozen ground, whistling through the tree's. Downstairs the dishes clanked, and the glow of the hall light lit the crack beneath my door. Notes filled the air . . . "let's fall in love now, why shouldn't we fall in love now, we've the time for it while we are young, let's fall in love!". My parents were laughing, and I drifted off to sleep humming their tune.

In a ghetto part of downtown Rochester we drove past the flickering neon lights of the clubs, the cracked sidewalks of out of business gas stations, and the orange glow of cigarettes on the lips of hushed men. Feeling lost, and a little out of place we finally found the cafe, closed for the day, but open for the night. The air was warm and wet, the cicadas celebrated the breeze. Slipping in the back way the notes instantly filled the space. The group was small, but they knew the rhythm, as did the couples lindy-hopping across the small creaky wood floor, caught up in their own romances. We bought lemonade and took a back table. The laughing pairs spun and twirled, the tune instinctively dictating their movements.

The white haired, delicate looking couple swayed at the edge of the stage. A little girl with long blonde hair bounced under the lights, was swooped up by an older boy, and giggled as she flew through the air held safe in his arms. Beanbags hidden in the shadows were mostly empty, the air boiled with the excitement of the crowd filling the floor. I danced. Inadequately. The rhythm that fills my soul doesn't translate to the movement of my feet. The boys were braver, emboldened by the music, perhaps relaxed by the easy smiles. The jazz enchanted. The music of the people, filled with the sorrows and triumphs of Americans. It shakes off the everyday dust of life and turns it into something magical. Magic, that fills the hearts and souls of anyone really listening, and sweeps them off their feet wrapped in layers of universal pulse.

Infected with the plague . . .

or something similar.
I'm pretty sure I've been asleep more hours than I've been awake the past two days. I accomplished absolutely nothing out of the
!two debate papers
!one conference paper
!schemes and tropes project
!math homework
that I was going to do. Plus, my grammar seems to have been effected. And, what adds insult to injury . . . its been snowing like crazy and tomorrow I was going to ski.

Well, I HAVE been complaining of sleep deprivation for the last five months :)

Happy Singles Awareness Day!

Best things about Valentines
! Chocolates
! sugar cookies
! Pink (the color)
! Being single (which sounds weird, but it's nice to not have any past relationships messing up the spirit of the holiday)
! flowers
! two pizza's instead of one (they couldn't get the heart shape right apparently)
! doorbell ditching cookies

I don't actually mind the cold . . .

but who wouldn't rather be here?

I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving for breakfast

forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold

-William Carlos Williams

today I ate a doughnut. and it was yummy.

Debate Quotes!

Since our regular season is over, and all that is left is region and state, I thought I ought to post these hilarious quotes said by people who were so brain fried they couldn't really think. Enjoy, if you are fortunate(or unfortunate) enough to understand them.

"I try to be nice . . . but then I get high off of happiness" Diane

" I have far superior moral standards - at the age of two I could speak four words in French, two words in Spanish, and one hundred and eighty nine in English! " ?!?!?!? Taylor Sorenson

"Your child owes me his existence . . . and I have a card to back that up" Hannah Harper

"This is like an oversized whale - we're going to hit something." Marina Hudgens

"He scared the dang criterion out of me!" Hannah Harper

"Oh good, an inspirational message to make me throw up in my mouth!"

Hypothetical Judge:Where's your opponent? Me:Unconscious outside, I knocked him out with a door as an example of things affecting the public health.

Diane:Are they selling any food? Me: Yeah, pizza and drinks I think. Diane: Insurance?!?!?!

"We need a funny topic. My brain right now, thats a funny topic." Hannah: What brain?

"Look it's Zoe the centire!" (Apparently this is a mix between a centaur and a vampire. Don't ask me, I don't even know)

"Do you have a paradigm? Blonde hair. Oh, ok (pulls on wig) "

Taylor Sorenson

Dear Beloved Father,

Please come home from Rome because I miss you. Also, I miss your shiny laptop that has the netflix thingy on it. Which contains the movie I'm watching for my Global Citizens Project. Your computer also loads faster than a snail. Heck, life shouldn't take this long to load. I suppose I'll click "Publish Post" now, because I do want to be in bed by 9:00.

Michael Buble

This man is amazing. All of his music is fabulous. Listen to it if you haven't.
1) Thing called love
2) Come fly with me
3) Save the last dance for me
4) Moondance
5) Haven't met you yet



While you're at it, you might as well check these guys out too.
1) Hang on little tomato
2) Clementine
3) Let's never stop falling in love
4) Dansez-vous
5) Veronique



Hey, this man's pretty talented too.
1) Ants Marching
2) Satellite
3) I Sleep To Dream Her

Hot chocolate is my demise

Yes, I know I posted this as my facebook status. But I"m guessing people were thinking one thing while I was thinking another. Whenever I drink hot chocolate I burn my tongue. EVERY SINGLE TIME. I have come to this conclusion. Hot chocolate is my demise, because it shows off my general impatience with life/the world when I can't even wait for it to cool down enough to drink it. I'm impatient with substitute teachers, people who don't TRY, (not those who fail, because we all do) unproductive government, slow paced days, long classes, not having enough snack food, debate tournaments, and WOW this list is really random. So here is to people who have patience. May I learn to be like you. And wait for my hot chocolate to cool down before I drink it.

No . . . really?

Directly quoted from the Salt Lake Tribune:
"Simply telling teens to "go to bed before midnight" . . . actually goes against their biological and chemical makeup. There is substantial research across many fields that corroborates what parents of teenagers and young adults have known for years: teens function on a different internal clock. Ask anyone who has suffered through jet lag about the difficulties of trying to think clearly, sleep well and function fully while feeling "out of sync." The same feeling affects teens who try to function and stay alert when their school starts at 7:30 a.m. Their brain clock really is not up and running until around 10 a.m. Getting them to bed earlier does not help. When your body is not ready for sleep, no amount of coercion will make you fall asleep. Helping teens with this synchronization problem is not that difficult. Many schools across the country have already adjusted morning high school start times with promising results."

Dear Dr. Bayles . . . or future principal. . .
Although I, like many others like to gripe about the many schedule changes, this would be one that I would not complain about this one AT ALL.

Disclaimer - Political View Expressed.

Yesterday 20 people were shot outside a grocery store in Arizona. The murderer intended to take down the congresswomen meeting local citizens, but shot 6 others in the process. One was a nine year old girl, who dreamed of becoming a politician, and was her local school's student body president. This is just one example of the depressing cases of insane individuals taking out their problems on the public with the help of a gun. Columbine, Virginia Tech, and University of Texas are all events that come to mind.
The second amendment states that "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed", and we all know that many Americans feel strongly about their personal right to bear handguns. However, the phrasing of the second amendment leads me to believe that the amendment was meant for a time when state security was a real issue, and one that could be relieved by enlisting citizens to be a part of a state militia. In fact, (and he says it so much better) a Michael Busch of the St. John's Law Review wrote an extensive paper exploring whether the second amendment was meant collectively or individually. He talks about how the right to bear arms dates back to the early Greeks and Romans, when it was believed that to fight tyranny in the government, citizens must bear arms. This idea was later carried to England, who shipped it across the pacific ocean to America. But, in 2011, the novelty of, as an individual, being able to protect yourself from an oppressive government with a shotgun is ridiculous. Busch goes on to analyze the specific wording of the amendment, but that's just too sticky for me to deal with.
From what I can tell, anyone who is over a certain age, can obtain a license to get a gun. From an editorial of the New York Times: Once again, the court . . . imposed its selective reading of American history, citing the country’s violent separation from Britain and the battles over slavery as proof that the authors of the Constitution and its later amendments considered gun ownership a fundamental right. The court’s members ignored the present-day reality of Chicago, where 258 public school students were shot last school year — 32 fatally. Apparently 10,00 Americans died of handgun violence in the United States in the four months that the Supreme Court debated how to interpret the second amendment last year.
But why are people so attached to this right to bear guns? After reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell I presume this comes from pervasive cultural identity, which is just as stupid as the fact that our society is known for coming up with fast food, which we continue to embrace with ever growing rates of obesity. But the point is, both cases above aren't good for us.
Are there any cases where personally owning a gun has helped a law-abiding citizen protect themselves? My mind jumps to a criminal slipping in through a unlocked window in the night. But then, quite comically actually, I see a man fumbling for his favorite shotgun, clumsily threatening the burglar, who is probably a lot more experienced handling such weapons in the first place. The police seem to be a whole lot better at protecting the masses, (maybe because it's their job)than the ordinary citizen (no offense meant to anybody).
My standing position is that gun possession in modern day times never did any outstanding good for anybody (excepting the military, police, navy, ect, ect.)I agree that there are cases where individuals owning guns didn't hurt anybody, but the point that I'm trying to make is the harm FAR outweigh any good. Before anyone gets in a huff, and writes some "if words could kill" comment, remember that this is just more zoetic morosophy. ;)

Overscheduled.

My life is nuts. Debate overlaps model u.n. meetings which cuts into indoor track practice. Indoor track practice will soon be cut by volunteering downtown taking vitals for people with no health insurance. Pep band cuts into debate practice. Debate tournament will soon be split with model u.n. competition. If anyone has any suggestions to help simplify my existence without taking anything out feel free to comment.

Pep Band. . .

is a party. I'm sure the excitement will wear off soon, and I will become like certain band members who were "done" with pep band freshman year. However, right now it's great. I just need a pair of earplugs. Desperately.

Dear runners, equestrians, cyclists, pedestrians, ninjas, and other road traveling inclined persons.

The roads are icy. Beware. Slipping/tripping/freezing seems to be a common occurrence. Also, the inversion is particularly voluminous. Tomorrow is supposed to be a red flag day. So try not to die of lung cancer or crack a rib. Thanks.

No. 1

This post is about the past.


I used to live in Upstate New York. This was my backyard.

I went running along the Erie Canal:



I was homeschooled, and a New "Yoyker" through and through.