Johnny!

we like this at my house right now.

BOOK CLUB

Attention all book club members:

It's true, I know Oprah added it to her club first, but book number one on our (still empty) list is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I started it a couple days ago before I was a member of any such club, however, from this moment on I plan to slow down and let you all catch up to about the 150s. So get to your local library right quick and dive on in.

I don't exactly know how book clubs work still so you'll have to lend some suggestions. Sarah from Canada pointed me to a book club she was (is?) a member of and their basic format seems pretty legit. For now we will read one book a month, it will be chosen from suggestions offered by the group (all three of us!) and we'll discuss it toward the end of the month most likely on a new blog site. At this point get reading, comment as you go, add some book suggestions and enjoy. TPB is a sweet read thus far.

Bottle Hunting

For nearly a year I've been dreaming of going on an antique bottle hunt. Weird, of course, but fascinating too. The idea is to locate the site of an old privy or outhouse, probe it for glass and if you're lucky enough to find some, dig.

Apparently before indoor plumbing and garbage service most waste was thrown down the privy hole in the backyard. Digging around in them has become a sort of phenom for urban archaeologists and antique collectors. And I have to do it. Now. I received some good leads on my book club post so I'm throwing this one out now. Does anyone know where I can join a dig or find info. about one, preferably in Arizona? Does anyone want to start an antique bottle digging team? Please?

Sexy People

This blog, "A celebration of the perfect portrait", is perfection.

Want

I want to join a book club. Can anyone point me the way?

Paula Fuga

I love most of Paula Fuga's songs but at the moment I can't get enough of "Country Road", a duet she does with Jack Johnson. Nobody whistles better than Paula, have a listen.

really uncool favorite things

one of my really uncool favorite things to do is buy holiday candy as soon as a holiday is over at midnight. i must confess, it's 12:30 and i definitely just got home from wal-mart with $8 worth of of 50% off treats. enough reese's eggs until next year, or maybe next tuesday. i could die happy.

Grad School

I only applied to one graduate school because it's the only one I could really see myself attending. It was a huge blow to my dreams and plans when I received notice from the anthropology department at Northern Arizona University that I had been placed on the wait list. But I hadn't exactly been rejected so I was able to maintain a sliver of confidence that there was still a chance. NAU is well known for their anthropology programs, it's location is ideal for studies revolving around the southwest, the programs are small and the faculty is topnotch. I had to get in.

To find out more information about my standing on the wait list I was directed to speak with the head of the anthropology department, Cathy Small, who also happens to be the author of a few books used by my professors at BYU-Hawaii. Talking with her was insightful and especially uplifting when she told me that I was third on the list and typically three accepted applicants defer. She told me to call back on April 6 -nearly a month later- to receive the final word.

Two days ago, Monday, April 6, I called and called but could not reach Dr. Small at her office. I left her a message and could do nothing more than hope that she would call back with some good news. Disappointed that my wait would continue another day I went to bed frustrated and worried. Around 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday she called. She said, "I'm afraid I don't have good news for you..." and the rest was a blur until she told me to call again in another month for the ultimate word. Sad and disappointed don't begin to describe my emotions, I was so confident (perhaps overly so) and reliant on believing that it would happen (The "Secret" strikes again!) that the rejection sort of came as a shock. The next hour was terrible. I couldn't even finish my bean and cheese chimichanga from Los Cerritos and slipped into a mad cleaning frenzy. I called home, told the news to my sister and hoped that the word would spread from there so that I wouldn't have to do it.

Throwing clothes into heaping dirty laundry piles in my room I contemplated my new future. Joining the Army had never sounded so appealing and the Peace Corps, finally a logical option. In the middle of a sickening thought of living off of minimum wage for the rest of my life my phone began to ring. It was Cathy Small calling. Again. I frantically began to wonder, and sweat. Could she have made a mistake, was I actually in? "Hello?" I said into the receiver. She said, "Hi Matt, it's Cathy again. You must be doing something right because in the last hour three people deferred and I'd like to offer you a seat in the program."

Pinching myself just to make sure it wasn't a dream, I quickly thanked her, hung up, did a series of victory dances, then looked around my room and laughed at how clean it was! 15 people were admitted to the program and by some crazy miracle I'm one of them. I couldn't be more excited and anxious to begin. I look forward to moving to Flagstaff in northern Arizona and starting over again. I'm certain this is why I felt like I should move to Arizona in the first place, I think just being here motivated me to get busy and do something about continuing my education.

مغامرة عبر مص

I get it, you've had enough of my trip. But I haven't! Here's just one more collage of a few photos taken in Egypt. Because of our epic delay on the ferry from Jordan to Egypt, time was of the essence and many of our plans were scratched. We had a great time nonetheless and I wouldn't hesitate to return to Nuweiba, a coastal town in the Sinai region. The snorkeling was incomparable, our couchsurfing contact was helpful and friendly, the falafel was as good as ever and the tiny beach hut we stayed in was cozy and fun. We had just a night and a morning in Cairo before we departed but we covered the basics while there, seeing a belly dancing show in the grittiest of downtown bars and the Pyramids of Giza. Too special for the collage (or words), I've also included some full size belly dancing photos.