Uh Oh

There is some quote from some person saying something about treating people nice. Especially people "under" you. I would quote it here, but I am lazy.

One of my friends at work got a phone call from an irate customer. She was yelling at him and being mean.

When he accessed her account he discovered that he had gone to high school together and were actually friends.

No need to say - she was very embarrassed and apologetic. He laughed about it, but I would have lost a lot of respect for her. When she is anonymous and as long as people she thinks are important don't know, she can be as uncivil and as rude as she wants. She doesn't care about the faceless, nameless kid answering the phone. But once she knows that she's going to be accountable and people she knows may find out about her behavior- then she's sorry and nice.

Moral of the story is - be nice to people, no matter if you think you'll never see them again. Your actions toward the littlest people show a lot about who you are. And you never know who is watching.

Owl City

I wish that I had used my insomnia in high school to create something as cool as the music Adam Young wrote for his band Owl City. I love the creative, fanciful lyrics and the music is different and enjoyable. Young began writing the music in the basement of his parents house because he couldn't sleep. I pretty much sleep like a rock now - through church, school, and even while talking.

The music makes me remember what it's like to be the only one awake, in the quiet of the night, looking out at the empty, silent streets- with the pavement still wet from a warm rainstorm. It makes me think of the night time magic where I am pretty sure I could fly around over the town and dance invisible in the moonlight.

That was kind of dorky. But here's a video!

Owl City - Fireflies from Carolina Alvim on Vimeo.

Gratitude

"Gratitude is a Spirit-filled principle. It opens our minds to a
universe permeated with the richness of a living God. Through it, we become
spiritually aware of the wonder of the smallest things, which gladden our
hearts with their messages of God's love. This grateful awareness
heightens our sensitivity to divine direction. When we communicate
gratitude, we can be filled with the Spirit and connected to those around
us and the Lord. Gratitude inspires happiness and carries divine influence."

~ Bonnie D. Parkin

"Gratitude: A Path to Happiness," Ensign, May 2007, 35

{Photo by Januartha}

HTC Hero

I got a new phone this week! I've always told myself that I'm the kind of girl that just wants a phone that calls people and that I don't need anything fancy. That feeling has been lost- never, ever, ever to return. I am now too spoiled.

It was the synergy of having a brother-in-law working for Sprint and having a geek husband. I think it would embarrass them if I had a basic phone.

So my new, pricey prize is the HTC Hero. It's the best phone I've had yet! It's an Android phone, meaning its OS and applications are open source (aka mostly free). And it's made by Google. I have a crush on Google. And it has a 5 mega pixel camera! I have a crush on that too!

About 75% of the applications are free so I already have games and music and all kinds of awesome things to distract me. Some of my favorites so far are Sudoku, Pandora, Google Stars, Wattpad, ShopSavvy and the Sound Grenade.

The touch screen on this phone is nice. It has a really solid feel to it and it doesn't seem to lag. I'm still getting used to texting, like most touch screens sloppy fingers mess things up pretty quick.

And always a great thing about a phone is that it calls people. It does this very well. Easy to dial, good sound, good speaker, the works.

So this phone has the frills and the basics and I love it. The next big test - that I hope more than anything I can avoid - is the pretty much inevitable drop. Because I'm clumsy and air-headed and dang good at dropping things.

Zombies

Word is that zombies are the new vampire.

I'm not sure about that. But I did read this book. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith fills in all the blanks with the undead. This book was crammed with action. However, along with the action there was a lot of brain-eating, and beheading.

Original Elizabeth has a brutal tongue; Zombie Elizabeth has a penchant for ripping out the still-beating hearts of her enemies. It's an interesting read, and Seth adds in a lot of different aspects to make it more than just a Austen tag-along. He adds a smattering of Oriental culture and some of his own social commentary- Charlotte Lucas becomes a zombie while no one but Elizabeth notices.

This book is not for the queasy. Within the first few chapters there is some brain spattering. One thing I especially enjoyed were the discussion questions at the back. Not sure if Seth wrote these or someone else, but they're great. My favorites:

7. Does Mrs. Bennett have a single redeeming quality?

9. Is Lady Catherine's objection to Elizabeth (as a bride for her nephew) merely a matter of Elizabeth's inferior wealth and rank? Or could there be another explanation? Could she be intimidated by Elizabeth's fighting skills? Is she herself secretly in love with Darcy? Or is she she bitter about the shortcomings of her own daughter.

Funny book, but definitely gory and irreverent. Definitely not for an Austen purist.

I love Thursday

My new favorite night of the week is Comedy Thursday on NBC. A collection of great, funny, wonderful shows that make a full night of viewing pleasure.

30 Rock - When I first heard of this show I was mad just because the name sounds a lot like 3rd Rock from the Sun. But it is excellent and Ben and I have watched every episode. Because we're cool like that. Liz Lemon is my hero.

Parks & Recreation - We watched the season last year. It was slow and not as funny as we expected. This season has definitely taken off, and April the creepy intern is the greatest. Sometimes the show does get a little racy though.

Community - This is my new favorite. It has been awesome from the beginning. The story is about a bunch of people going to a community college. I love it for so many reasons. The main character is Jeff, but they do a great job following other people's stories and developing their characters. My current favorite character is Abed. He is delightfully weird.

The Office - I wasn't as in love with this show last season as I have been. Dwight was mean and there was just too much drama. So far this season is a little more light-hearted and funny.

So pretty much I am incommunicado on Thursday nights. If you need me you will find me as a potato on my couch.

Too Many Phonebooks

Ever since the toe-stubbing and the puter breaking I have not had much blogging motivation. But I did finally download the photos from our camping trip with the Nelson family up Emigration Canyon. Some of these are cute and I do love to share.