Hare Krishna

Every year the Hare Krishna temple in Spanish Fork celebrates the Holi Festival of Colors. It's basically one day where everyone throws colored chalk at each other to celebrate the arrival of spring. They also have music and sing some chants. There is so much color that when they do the countdown and start throwing you can barely breathe. All you can see are puffs of colored chalk. I took tons of pictures, but I didn't get a very good one of us in the cloud. But here's a before/after shot so you can get an idea of just how crazy things were :)

BEFORE

AFTER

Currently:Sleepy

As You Like It

Saturday night, my roommate Lara and I went to BYU's production of As You Like It. We had a great time! Instead of doing a traditional version, BYU did a modern interpretation of the play. They kept the language the same, but they changed everything else to make it more like present day. When The Duke is forced into exile they were taken away by men dressed in black with ski masks, all the characters wore contemporary clothes, and they incorporate modern music.

Rachel Baird and Gabriel Spencer as Phebe and Silvius

They started the night with a few of the cast members doing some musical numbers as a pre-show. The stage was pretty simple. It had columns around the main stage and a raised circular area in the back (also surrounded by columns). The floor had some panels that opened and allowed the exiles to make "fires." The show had a little bit of everything: romance (of course), intense fight scenes, humor, and adorable little children. It was so fun to see the little kids acting. There were five kids in the show, including two forest babies!

Of course the play itself is great no matter how you interpret it. It's one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. There is so much humor and fun throughout the whole thing. I thought all the actors did great in BYU's production. I especially liked Touchstone (the fool played by Graham Ward),Celia (Anne Shakespeare), Orlando (Ben Isaacs), Adam (Played by Patrick Newman; At least I think this is what his character was called, I didn't hear his name when they said it on stage so I had to guess from the program info.) and the whole Phebe/Silvius thing.

One of the fights scenes and a scene where Celia (Anne Shakespeare) is comforting Rosalind (Ashley Bonner). I think it might be right before Celia's solo.

I didn't know all the songs they played, but all of them fit really well with the play. At the end they even encouraged the audience to sing along to the song "Inches and Falling" (I love love, I love being in love...). This was the play list for the show: "Your Confederacy", Kris Paries;"I'll Follow You into the Dark", Death Cab for Cutie; "Easy Lucky Free", Bright Eyes; "Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind", Kris Paries; "Hesitating Beauty", Billy Bragg; "I'm Your Man", Leonard Cohen; "The Chain", Ingrid Michaelson ; "Brand New Day", Joshua Radin; and "Inches and Falling", The Format.

All in all it was a great night! I had lots of fun, and heard some good music. It was really interesting to see their interpretation. The play also reminded me of all those movies that came out where they mixed modern day background with traditional speech, like Hamlet w/ Ethan Hawke, and Romeo + Juliet w/ Leo DeCaprio and Claire Danes. Although honestly if I actually do have a movies-based-on-Shakespeare marathon, I'll probably just end up watching 10 Things I Hate About You and She's the Man.

BYU Arts As You Like It Info Page

Currently: so very excited for this summer!!

P.S. The picture of me is from the last time I saw As You Like It (At the Globe Theater! I know, I'm spoiled).

Goal of All Goals

So recently I found a sheet of paper in the BYU music lab that had the title GOAL OF ALL GOALS written out. It was a very impressive title. However when I actually read what the goal of all goals was I was a bit disappointed. It was a list of every on campus eating establishment – with only one place checked off (It's March they better get going).

Finding the goal of all goals got me thinking about some of my current projects. I am a goal person, and I'm a bigger list person so I always have at least one thing I'm working on. I decided maybe I should start working on one of my abandoned goals. I decided it was time to follow through on my latest reading goal. I want to read the TIME's list of the 100 best novels. I started this at the beginning of the semester, read one book, and promptly forgot about. Maybe writing it here will help me stay focused!

Originally this had no deadline, but I think I need one to stay motivated. So I've decided to try and do it by the end of the year. Even if I fall short of my deadline (which very well could happen, we are talking like 10 books a month, which is a bit much even for someone who loves reading like I do), it should help me stay on track and not completely abandon my idea. Luckily I've already read a few on the list in the past so I don't have to read the entire 100. I know this still leaves ALOT of books, but it's supposed to be a challenge, right?


I head to the library Monday, wish me luck!

Here are the ones I've read already:

All The King's Men, Robert Penn Warren
Animal Farm, George Orwell
Are You There God, It's Me Margret, Judy Bloom
Atonement, Ian McEwan
Beloved, Toni Morrison
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
Lord of the Flies, William Golding
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kensey
The Sound and The Fury, William Faulkner
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
White Noise, Don Deilo



Currently: missing Gabby! It was so fun having her here! I'll put up pictures soon :)
Oh and the picture is from one of my favorite bookstores, Shakespeare and Co. !