I dabble

I used to think that I obsessed over outrageous things more than anyone. But then once I dated a boy who would dive into hobbies and get COMPLETELY obsessed, and he made me realize that maybe I don't get fully invested and obsessed, I just dabble in a ton of different unique hobbies and interests.

But then I reconsidered a second time, and why the heck can't I do both?? I dabble in so many random interests, but I also get so passionately obsessed with each and everyone of them. When I decide I like something, I jump on and and truly LOVE it. I often move on and gather new, weird passions, but I never loose the many loves that I've had in the past.

Here is a list of some things that I have dabbled in and passionately love and will geek out about if you bring them up to me (this list is probably not comprehensive):

• Harry Potter
• watching and playing volleyball nonstop
• Avatar: The Last Airbender
• finding and sitting on good benches
• Lord of the Rings
• Doctor Who
• college football
• social theory of poverty and delinquency
• playing board games
• Star Wars
• Super Smash Brothers
• watching parades
• Weezer
• reading fantasy books
• hiking
• collecting Pez dispensers
• watching the playoffs of any sport
• Arthur
• lemonberry slush with nerds from Sonic
• twitter
• Beyoncé
• quoting Disney movies
• anything Olympic related
• So You Think You Can Dance
• chips and salsa
• dance parties

Why I love benches.

I went on a lovely walk down the Provo River Trail the other day and in typical fashion, I saw a bench that I fell in love with. I have so much love for sitting on benches and for the first time ever I have appropriately verbalized my reasons for that love.

Anywhere I go, I search out well placed benches to sit upon. I don't consciously look for them, but my focus is always drawn to benches when they are present. A well-placed bench brings me back to everything good about the world and about nature.

There are two types of well placed benches: those that best observe nature and those that best observe people. And my favorite benches always combine these two elements. A bench lets you sit and take a break from the world. You sit down and the rest of the world continues to move on around you. A bench gives you the opportunity to become a momentary observer of life, instead of a participant.

I love humans. I know I've said this a lot, but I am just so fascinated by people and the way that they are. I'm fascinated by different socioeconomic levels and how that effects people in every facet of their lives. I'm fascinated by the way that people interact with each other. I'm fascinated by the mere fact that every single human that I encounter has a whole lifetime worth of back story that creates the unique individual that I am now facing. I just plain love humans.

When watching people in a park, it is not out of the ordinary to sit on a bench, so people continue on their way without paying you much notice. This is exactly how I like it, because people act normal when their surroundings feel normal and people are most fascinating when they're not acting at all, they are just being. I could sit on a bench, watching people for hours and just trying to guess their stories and figure out how they got to this moment in their lives.

When there is a bench in the woods or along a trail or in any other variety of natural surroundings, then sitting on this bench always helps me feel at peace. Even just smack in the middle of a quiet forest, I can still take a moment to watch life happen all around me. Nature is amazing and the world is beautiful. Sitting on a bench in nature allows me to quietly ponder life and to appreciate how wonderful it is.

You know what else benches are good for? Having deep meaningful conversations. As I've already said, the environment around benches creates a peaceful feeling, and it is this feeling that creates the perfect situation for talking about the hard things in life. I have had many lovely, insightful conversations while sitting on benches in my lifetime.

Next time you see a bench at the park, just take a seat for a moment.  Soak in the world. Enjoy the nature, enjoy the people. Reach outside yourself and find something beautiful in the world around you. This is the reason I will forever be finding new benches to fall in love with.

Bending at it's finest

Have you ever seen Avatar? Not the blue people running around like Pocahontas meets The Matrix one. But the good one, the airbender one, the cartoon-anime one. Yeah, Avatar: The Last Airbender. One of my favorite tv shows of all time. It is SO good. And the newest Avatar series is just as good.
The Legend of Korra. It is in its second season, and it is so great. Not as good as the original Avatar series, but still fantastic.
Bending is so cool. You bend the elements and rule the world. If I could have any "super power" I would want to be a bender, and I don't even have a preference of which element.

And here in Provo this last year or two, I've connected with some fellow Avatar fans. And converted others to becoming Avatar fans. It's been glorious. Seriously, this show is like my guilty pleasure. Except I have no guilt about it. It never gets old.
Three years ago, my wonderful mother bought us all three seasons of Avatar. Little did she know how obsessed and in love with this show we were and how absolutely sick of it she would get. There have been more times than I can count in these last few years that we've sat down and had an Avatar marathon. If you watch it without stopping, you can finish the entire series in less than 24 hours. About 22 hours to be exact. Not that I know...

Honestly, I have never found a show that is just as funny and entertaining for me as an "adult" as it is for my 8 year old brother. I wish I had this show when I was a child. Best cartoon ever. My children will love this show.

I tried to find some video clips of the best and/or funniest scenes, but it seems that nickelodeon has a lock down on Avatar scenes on youtube. So let's just say: Look this show up. It is hilarious and you won't be disappointed.

Halloweenies.

I can not express to you how much I love Halloween. I am completely serious.
This is my favorite holiday. Maybe Thanksgiving rivals it, and obviously I love Christmas, and let's get real, holidays in general are my favorite thing ever. But Halloween is the best.
Costumes, dance parties, candy. 
How can you get better than that? Those are potentially my 3 favorite things in the world. Plus my birthday is around Halloween time and it is in fall, my favorite season. So much goodness. One of my favorite past times in the world is dressing up and going to dance parties. I dress up for pretty much every dance party I ever go to (which is many), but Halloween is just a whole new level. I always have multiple costumes every year, and go to as many dance parties as I can. Thus far this Halloween season I have been a grandma (again), a birthday princess, and Professor Trelawny (throwback). Also, I've already attended 4 Halloween themed dance parties. Winning.
So, what will I be tonight for real Halloween? I have no idea yet, but some potential ideas I have had are: David Bowie as the Goblin king in Labyrinth, a Jedi, and a Native American. Also DeeDee from Dexter's Lab because I have a friend considering being Dexter.
I just love costumes. I need to calm down about that, I know. And yes, I realize that I am now 23 years old. I don't think I know what it means grow up and be an adult. Fine with it.

Moral of this rambling story: Halloween rocks. I love dressing in costume. I love being in character. I love dancing. And I love sweets. Let's go celebrate the day of the dead.

Quirks

Here's the deal. I'm quirky. We know this. Here is a Lecture on Quirks from my dear roommate.

I just find things that I love and I grasp on to them and obsess over them. And I am so proud of my quirks. I want to share them with everyone and I want everyone to share my passion for random things; if they don't share it then I at least want them to understand how much I love it.

Usually I am not successful in this. I just get looked at like I'm crazy. I can't help it, I just get so excited about life and some of it's more quirky aspects.

Like when I see a really cool new pez dispenser at the grocery store and try to convince my friends that it is legitimately the best thing they have seen all day. I don't usually get the reaction that I'm looking for. How can people not appreciate the amazingness of a Darth Maul pez dispenser?!?! Seriously, so cool.
Or when I try to explain how much I love Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or Doctor Who or any one of the other incredible fantasy shows that I adore,

I don't understand how you can live life without passion for at least something. Granted, I realize that my passion may be excessive and it may be spread to many things, but at least I get excited about life. I think I realized exactly how quirky I am during Roommate Christmas this past December. My roommates all got me fabulous gifts that I absolutely adore - and they each are based on at least one of my many passions.
I got a Darth Vader hot chocolate mug, a Lil Wayne poster (this fulfills my love for Weezy PLUS my addiction to owning posters), a Doctor Who t-shirt that says "bow ties are cool", a mustache sandwich cutter, a One Direction 2013 calendar, and a pair of elephant earrings ("they just looked like you! They were such a Jennie thing!"). Now look back at that list... really? I love the weirdest things. Can everyone just appreciate how varied my interests are? Yeah, big fan.

I really do love my quirks and I love finding others with similar quirks.Who would I be if I wasn't a little weird and crazy and opinionated? Life is fun and it's even more fun if you're passionate about something.

And end quirky rantings.

Midnight.

I love midnight premiers of movies.
I always have. And I don't see that changing at any point in time.
The atmosphere in the theater is spectacular for midnight movies. Every person in that theater is passionate enough about the film to have stayed up so late and possibly stayed in line for hours just to be watching it right then. So they care. They are excited. They are slightly sleep deprived. All of these factors make them way more exciting than the average movie audience.
In midnight premiers, people cheer for everything. People are more apt to scream, laugh, and cry. When the good guy prevails, mass hysteria and joy ensues.
Also, the costumes. I know I've expressed my love for dressing up more than once before, but I LOVE dressing up in costumes more than anything! (okay, that was a bit of a exaggeration, but I tend to do that.) The extra passionate people dress up as characters in the movie especially if it's based on a book, tv series, comic, or is a sequel. I am typically, if not always, one of those passionate people.
The current midnight premiers that I'm most looking forward to are The Hobbit and Les Miserables!!! Both in December, and I can not wait! Don't worry, I will definitely be dressing as one of the dwarves. Unless, of course, I can convince someone to let me borrow their Gandalf costume (coughNatecough).
SO EXCITED!
My roommate may or may not have purchased 30 tickets to the midnight premier of The Hobbit... yeah, you heard right:
30
Even more impressive, all 30 have already been claimed. This is going to be rockin! An entire two rows of friends watching an incredible movie with us!

Recap of the birfday.

So I had a birthday last week, right? Well, let me tell you: that was one of the best birthdays I've had in a very long time. I think a lot of it probably had to do with the fact that it was a Friday. A lot of it was also because I have the best friends, family, and coworkers in the world.
My roommates brought me out of my room at midnight, as soon as it was my birthday and gave me gifts.

This is when I opened The Lord of The Rings Collectors Edition Pez Dispensers!!! You may not know my love for pez dispensers, but I definitely have an obsession there and this was the best edition to it ever. Favorite part? That the hobbits, Gimli, and Gollum are shorter than everything else. Bahahaha! THIS was a great gift from my roommate KayJoy.

Then my family came and took me to lunch that day. It was rockin. We went and Pita Pit it up and they are hilarious and wonderful. These are the two youngest of the brosephs - love them: 

Then my writing class was fun and they gave me treats, it was like I was in elementary again! :) And then one of my lovely friends took me out to dinner and even talked the waiter into bringing me a free eclair! And finally, that night was the beginning of the celebration of Halloween. I was Scary Spice and we fake party-hopped... I saw one of my VERY best friends of all time for the first time since he's been home from his mission! I was so so so happy! And then we went to multiple different dance parties that were lame and ended up just throwing our own in the living room. It was perfect. Seriously, I love birthdays. I love the extra attention that comes to you on your birthday and I love friends and gifts. SO GOOD! I'm 22!

All hallows eve.

Seriously, Halloween is my favorite thing ever. People are SO funny and clever. I love dressing up in costumes and playing an entirely new character. You can be anyone or anything you want, and it gives you a fun way of expressing yourself. Or not. Here is a list of some of the best costumes I saw yesterday around campus:
Judith Butler - know who she is? I didn't either. She's a feminist philosopher. And my co-worker dressed like her and he looked awesome.
A surprising number of Ash Ketchums
Squirtle
Snowman - this costume was so legit. The costume was a solid 7-8 feet tall and made of wool or something on chicken wire. The kid was just waddling around campus and it was so cool.
PSY - a couple of him. Some Asian men thought they were hilarious.
Miranda Sings - some very solid portrayals
All 5 original Power Rangers and they were fighting a guy in a banana suit. SO GOOD.
All sorts of Batmans. I particularly liked the one on his bicycle with his cape flowing.

I personally had three costumes this year. I was planning on having 4, but the penguin didn't actually work out... definitely next year. Last Friday, I was Scary Spice - with none of the other Spice Girls. I didn't get many pictures of this one. But here's the one we got (with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and a nerd)

During the day yesterday, I was my roommate Jenna. Terrifying resemblance? I thought so too.

Then last night I was a grandma by the name of Fanny Lever. I was a crotchety old woman; I don't know how to do a jolly grandma. And yes, my hair did smell like baby powder all night.

All in all, this was an incredibly successful Halloween. I love dance parties and friends and candy and costumes and fun. How perfect.

Acceptance.

I'm a nerd. We all know this already. However, my coworkers have not been exposed to exactly how big of a nerd I am. So I've been working at the same place for a year and a half and they still do not fully understand the extent of my nerdiness. It's not that I have been hiding the truth about me, I just tend to not talk too much when I'm at work, because well, I'm working. But this summer was an eye opening experience for them, as I was much louder than usual work Jennie.

But first, one of the best things anyone has ever said to me: "Jennie, I like you. You are just so passionate about some of the most random things. And you're not ashamed. You just love them so much."
My old roommate said this to me. I was thrilled. And I think that describes me perfectly. I find things that I love and then I ship them so hard to everyone around me. I find so much joy in being passionate about my nerdy tv shows, movies, and books. When I find something new to love, I just get so excited. I mostly blame my relatives for this, from the time I was born, my uncles have been exposing me to "culture." We all share the same nerdy love of the same movies and such. We go on quoting sprees and laugh our heads off. Yeah, I blame them for this.

Here's a brief list of some of my favorite things of which I am very passionate: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, my pez dispenser collection, Avatar: The Last Airbender, flannel, The Office, Weezer, ugly sweaters from DI, and most fantasy series' - I love magic, sword fights, castles, mythical creatures, etc. Yes, nerd. And my most recent nerdy addiction: Dr. Who. Oh how I love British humor.

Alright, now that you are fully aware of my complete nerdiness, I can get on with the story.

So I was at work last week and we were closing up the office a few hours early to go set up for our department opening social. Our boss told us to go close the door and tell anyone trying to get through that it is shut. My coworker, who I definitely should have pegged as a LOTR fan started walking toward the door and said: "The way is shut."
My head involuntarily whipped up to grin at him, and I immediately and mostly involuntarily said,
"It was made by those who are dead. And the dead keep it." 
For those of you uncultured readers out there, this is a quote from the third and final LOTR movie. About half of those in office had no idea what I was saying and the other half just stared open mouthed because they had not expected that from me. I just smiled and kept going about my business like normal... like I hadn't just revealed myself as the biggest LOTR nerd in the world. I was thrilled.

Olympian

So there's this amazing thing called the Olympics. And it's kind of taken over my entire life. This is terrible timing for 2 reasons.
1- The two weeks of olympic excitement are also the last week of classes and finals week for summer term.
2- I work in the afternoons, and thus I miss a lot of olympic action. I hate being an adult.

Every 2 years the world has the amazing privilege of coming together peacefully and competing in historic athletic events. We get to watch the best of the best in the world perform in their specific events and there is no one else in the world that can do it better than them. That is incredible to me. It is also incredible that all the countries in the world can come together and be in complete peace regardless of the events and arguments and even wars that occurring throughout the world. We, as human beings, have a sense of tradition and a desire for peace that is unequaled. I love the olympics for this reason and a hundred more.

I can never decide whether I like the summer or the winter olympics better. They are both so wonderful and have these incredible sports. Every four years we get to see the summer olympics, specifically some of the best volleyball playing in the world. I will play volleyball in the olympics, I've been saying this with my best friend for years and years, but it will happen. Rio 2016: Lever and Maeda beach volleyball champions. Can't wait.
If I were to be in the winter olympics, I think I would want to be on a four-person bobsled team. How sweet would that be? Maybe something a little like Cool Runnings. Yeah, that's definitely my second goal, incase the volleyball playing doesn't pan out.

The olympics inspire me and I am left in awe of the talent and the hard work and the athletes. Let's just take a step back sometimes and acknowledge the amazingness that is humanity.

So You Think You Can Dance?

So there's this show that I love. It's called So You Think You Can Dance. And is you might recall, I"m incredibly obsessed. Seriously, I wish it aired throughout the entire year, because I could never get sick of watching these incredibly talented people push the limits of their bodies and their dance abilities. True, it often happens that there are lots of so-so dances, but every once in a while you get these amazing dances, and that makes watching the mediocre ones completely worth it. These amazing dances are the perfect combination of musical genius, skilled dancing, and brilliant choreography. There have been moments when I have been brought to tears with how good a dance is or with the story that the choreography is portraying. Clearly, I am passionate about this show. I have never loved a bit of television so much in my life. You know what's even better than television? Seeing these dancers LIVE! Which I got to do on my birthday this past October. In case you forgot, I gushed over the experience here.

Now that I've explained my love for SYTYCD, I must now reveal to you when this new season premieres. None other than TONIGHT! I plan on having So You Think You Can Dance celebrations on a weekly basis. Oh how I love that show.

Here's some of my favorite dances from past seasons:

Twitch and Alex. Outta Your Mind. Choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon. Season 7.
Twitch is just amazing. No need to explain that. But Alex (the Asian one) is a BALLET DANCER. And then he just threw down this absolutely amazing bit of hip hop masterpiece. Probably the best dance I've seen on this show.

Chelsie and Mark. Bleeding Love. Also choreographed by Tabitha and Napleon. Season 4.
So emotional and excellent. Story line: the husband is a workaholic who's emotionally attached to his work and the wife is trying to convince him to stay with her instead of leave for work.

Kayla and Kupono. Gravity (Addiction). Choreographed by Mia Micheals. Season 5.
This dance is about people who are struggling with addiction. Kupono is the addiction who just keeps the addict (Kayla) always in his grasp and no matter how hard she tries, she can't get away. It's so tragically sad and emotional and I can't watch it enough.

Robert and Allison. Fix You. Choreographed by Travis Wall. Season 7.
This dance. Oh this dance. It is so good. And meaningful. Travis Wall was the runner-up on SYTYCD season 1, and now he has become one of my favorite contemporary choreographers. This dance was very personal to him and is about having loved ones with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses and trying to help them. It's that feeling of helplessness while still trying to help them yourself.

Volleyball

Volleyball is life.
Seriously, if I could play volleyball every minute of every day for the rest of my life, I would do it for sure.
You know what volleyball-oriented thing I especially love at this time of year? BYU Men's Volleyball. Really though, it is exhilarating and fun and just all around excellent.
The season is now over, which saddens me. But I will certainly be watching reruns on BYUtv, because they have those quite often. And let's get real, I'm already looking forward to next volleyball season! The games really are that much fun. Cheering, dancing, laughing, and watching some AMAZING volleyball - all of my favorite things.

So for now, I will just content myself with playing volleyball every chance I get. It truly is the best sport in the world. So if anyone ever wants to play, I'm all over that. Seriously.

Orc slaying.

So.... I have this obsession with Lord of the Rings. Yeah, it's pretty bad. Except not really, because LOTR is a-freakin-mazing.

Anyway, so the other day I watched the 3rd and final and best of the LOTR movies: Return of the King. It seriously is the best movie. I am such a big fan.

The battles are epic. The men are manly. The villains are terrifying. The charaters are well developed and I love them. The scenery is beautiful. The story is incredible. Seriously, these movies are just unbeatable.

Plus, honestly, this is the most inspirational, pumping-up speech in the world. It makes me want to go slay some orcs. I love Aragorn.

College Football.

Coming back to school is hard. I'm not a fan of homework and trying to get back into the groove of keeping up with classes. However, with the return of school in the fall, comes the return of football season. Specifically college football. This makes everything, including homework and tests, worth while.
I LOVE college football. Saturdays are the best because I just sit on my couch watching football games all day. Nothing can beat that.
I love me some football. I love cheering. I love watching talented players complete amazing plays. I love watching the underdog win. Mostly, I just love fall.

Do you know whats going down in about 2 hours?
BYU-Ole Miss.
I.CAN'T.WAIT.

Purchased.

So You Think You Can Dance?
This is a question I ask myself often, with varying answers. This is also the title of my favorite television show. Dancers tryout around the country and once a top 20 is chosen, America votes weekly until they finally chose America's Favorite Dancer. It's really quite exciting.
This season is probably the most talented season I have seen on this show. Really. They're that good. I am in love with people who know how to dance and who do it incredibly well. I appreciate talent.
Every year, these top 10 talented dancers go on tour around the country. And every year they come to Utah. And every year I wish I could go witness this spectacle for myself. However money is always an issue. The issue being that I have none.
It seemed that the same cycle was destined to occur this year. That was until the tour dates were revealed.

October 26, 2011
Does this date seem important to anyone?
It is the day that 10 amazing dancers will be performing in The Maverik Center in West Valley, Utah. It also happens to be my 21st birthday.
Coincidence? Most likely. But the best dang coincidence that has ever happened.
I absolutely could not let this opportunity pass me by. I immediately set my mind upon buying myself an incredible birthday present. And I recruited my fellow SYTYCD addict, Kendra to come with me.

So Friday, July 29th at 10:00 AM, tickets went on sale and I purchased 2. I have never been elated in my entire life. We have floor seats. Row 15. If I could express my unrequited happiness in words, I would. But there are no words for how excited I am. I leap with jubilation whenever I think about it.
October 26th, here I come.

End of an Era

Let me take you back to a very long day in my life.
Last Thursday.

Now you see, I was reading a certain 7th book of the Harry Potter sort in preparation for a certain movie premiere. Well, I finished that book a day earlier than I was planning, which you can't blame me for because once they apparate into Hogsmeade, there is absolutely no point trying to shut the book. Anyway, needless to say, this filled my Thursday with quite a bit of anxiety. You see, at 12:01 that night I was going to be seated watching a movie I've been waiting many months, even years for.

After walking aimlessly around the house, watching ridiculous amounts of interviews with HP cast members, driving to the only party store in Utah that still had Harry Potter glasses in stock, and then attempting to make time pass faster by making playlists... finally 7 o'clock arrived. I was able to forget my listlessness for an hour while I sadly watched Ryan get kicked off of So You Think You Can Dance (I didn't particularly care that Alexander was gone too).

And finally at 8 o'clock arrived. I showered. I made my hair as huge as humanly possible (for the record, this is HUGE). I picked up Kui/Kendra/Cho. And then we prepared our costumes.

I have a bit of problem when I dress up. I am incapable of dressing up quickly or simply. I go all out.
So this is what happened (photo credit to Kendra. I stole off her FB):


Yes, I became Bellatrix Lestrange. It was quite a jump from my usual, and just as outrageous Professor Trelawny costume. I fear I may have frightened a few children, because along with going all out with the costume, I also stay in character. If you know anything about Bellatrix, you know she's terrifying, which is what makes her one of my favorite villains.

So we all got together at the theater and here is our motley crew:
We have a stunning Cho Chang, Bellatrix, super excited Hermione, an eccentric Sybill Trelawny, heroic-looking Neville, Harry Potter himself, and some type of Harry/Ron mix.

All in all, it was a successful pre-movie party.
Even more successful: the actual movie.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was most definitely my favorite HP movie. It was exciting and made me cry. Twice. It was a wonderful way to end that series and bring my childhood to a close. I love everything about Harry Potter. Especially Ron Weasley. And Neville Longbottom was looking quite attractive himself. How wonderful.

Obsessed.

To put it lightly: I have an obsession.

It's called Harry Potter. And I just can't get enough.

There happens to be the final installment of the HP movies coming to a theater near you at 12:00 AM (or, as it happens, 12:01 AM) on July 15th. This mean that as of today, we have finally entered the month of the release! I am more than excited. Way more than excited.
I'm exhilarated.
Thrilled.
Electrified.
And all other adjectives you can think of.
I get chills every time I see a trailer or when they release a new "exclusive preview." Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), I WILL cry during this final movie. This has been a major part of my life for a good 10 years. I have had many discussions about different aspects of magic and the wizarding world as a result of these books and movies. I owe many good memories to JK Rowling and her genius.

This my absolute favorite clip I have found so far, though I could definitely show you at least 6 more that are almost equally fabulous.


I also am absolutely and positively in love with Ronald Bilius Weasley. He is absolutely wonderful and awkward and adorable and nerdy and attractive and goofy and sweet. In short, I want to date him.

This is him, in all of his fabulous glory:


Long story short, I have been waiting for months for this and it will be here in 2 weeks. I CAN NOT WAIT.




Side note, I'm really in to adjectives today. Sweet.