and the waiting is the hardest part

So tonight at the library (yes, I was there again), I realized I have no patience. None. Ever since I got my new camera, I have been trying to learn everything I can about photography. Today, I was returning two photography books and ended up with three more. It was almost four, but I restrained myself. Learning is obviously a good thing, but I want to know it all now. I want to be able to just turn my camera on and take pictures like this or this or this or...

...all the while discounting the years and years of study and practice and hard work that went into those photographs.

And so tonight I am practicing patience as I take a million pictures of sunflowers and my purse and other random objects. And maybe, just maybe...someday they will amount to something.

Madam libraaaaarian

I've been thinking recently on my love affair with libraries. This love can't really be explained. There's just something about seeing all of those books lined up that makes me want to read them all. Even the boring ones. When I worked as a custodian, the library took me the longest to vacuum because I would get distracted by all the books. The first time I saw Groundhog Day, I felt that if I got stuck in one day forever like that, I would spend it at the library reading. I love libraries. There is something magical in the READ posters and tall shelves that go on forever and the smell of books. This magic can be found in some degree at bookstores, but it's a shallower, flashier magic. Bookstores have their place, but libraries are my true love.

I can remember the basic layout of our library in Idaho. I would wander into the "big kids" section and get books like Mrs. Pigglewiggle and Ramona Quimby, Age 8. I thought I was ridiculously cool.

Our library in Wyoming was even better. The kid's section had neon lights and a fort you could climb up to read in. Of course, by the time they had that all done, I had outgrown the kid's section and was reading mostly from the adult and young adult books. I read the Redwall books and The Hero and the Crown and everything by Mary Stewart. I loved library days, especially in the summer. I would always come out with an armfull of books (seriously...sometimes I couldn't hold them all). But they had to last me for the next three weeks, when everything was due and the cycle would start again. The hard part was trying to figure out what to read first. I had a system--save the series for last, because if I didn't have the next book, three weeks was too long to wait to get it.

Then came the dark ages known as "freshman year." All of a sudden I had to actually study. Even worse, the library became a place only for study. Yes, there were millions of books in it, but they all dealt with boring, nonfiction topics. But at the end of my sophomore year, a miracle happened: my boyfriend took me to the Provo library. The relationship with the boy didn't work out, but the library and I remained on very friendly terms. I read The Killer Angels and The Bourne Identity and more science fiction than you can shake a stick at. Most of all, I loved the building itself and the history it represented.

And now I have a new library to love, just down the street. When I'm feeling particularly adventurous, I drive over to the main branch. I still wander into the big kids section because I love young adult books. I've moved on from science fiction, but I still love mysteries. And I still come out with an armfull of books.

Only in Newport Beach...

...can you walk out of a movie and feel underdressed. Last week some friends and I went to see Indiana Jones. We walked out to a sea of women dressed to the nines. Heels, designer labels, and looooooooooong legs were everywhere. It took us about 15 seconds to make the connection that Sex and the City was opening that night. We just felt sorry for the one poor man who appeared to be there with his wife.

...can you see a string of Porsches and not question it until the 10th one or so. Apparently Huntington Beach had some sort of Porsche convention going last weekend. It's just funny to me that my first thought was "Hmm...that's a lot of Porsches" rather than "Hey look! A Porsche!" I ain't in Wyoming anymore.

Drama, drama, drama

I am so over drama. You would think that with four adult women in one house it wouldn't be so difficult (but then again, I've seen enough reality TV to know that age has nothing to do with it). I'm mad that I'm the "bad guy" to some of my roommates right now. I hate that our living room has become a no-man's land that we cross only to leave the house or sneak into the kitchen (which is neutral so long as no one else is out there). I think it's stupid we're even having this disagreement. Living with girls is so overrated.

Vacation, all I ever wanted

I had an absolutely fabulous time in DC. I was totally exhausted at the end of every day, but it was so worth it. We managed to fit a lot into four and a half days:

* Mt. Vernon, where we went on the National Treasure tour. No secret tunnels, but we did get to see the basement. We also saw Washington's dentures and the Lincolns' china (theirs was the prettiest of the presidential china). The bus trip out there was made interesting by the bus driver pulling over at McDonald's so he could use the bathroom. We all just looked at each other like, "Is he serious?" He was.


* The memorials at night. Korea is incredibly eerie that way--really cool. Also, Vietnam is impressive when you have all of the biker vets hugging each other there.


* Arlington National Cemetery. Apparently I picked a good weekend to go because it's the only time they allow flags on the graves. And the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown was incredibly moving. It was like watching a choreographed dance.


* The Memorial Day concert on the lawn of the Capitol Building. We heard Gladys Knight, Idina Menzel (Elphaba on Broadway), and Sarah Brightman. I also got some really cool shots of the Capitol Building while we were waiting in the security line...for 45 minutes. Still no idea why it took so long.


* The National Archives, where we saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Magna Charta. It seems I entertain myself by taking pictures, because I also ended up with a bunch of this building because we had to wait in a security line again.


* The Memorial Day parade. The highlight for me was seeing the nurse from this picture.


* The Museum of Natural History. I loved seeing the Hope Diamond, but my favorite part was the live butterfly exhibit. The pretty purple butterfly I wanted to take a picture of came and landed on the back of my leg. There are now pictures of my backside all over the country.


* The National Portrait Gallery. The presidents were cool, but I was also a fan of the modern art piece that was supposed to be an enchanted forest (we think). Really, we just sat there so long because once we sat down, we couldn't get back up again.

* Dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, which I had never eaten at (any of them...I know, I lead a sad, depraved life).


* The National Museum of Women in the Arts, which was the only museum we read all of the little descriptions at because we were trying to figure out what it all meant. It didn't help. The tag for the movie of the girl crawling through Seoul on a small, flat scooter actually confused us more. Modern art is really just not my thing.

* A staff-led tour of the Capitol Building (thanks Chase!). I loved the Rotunda and the old Senate room. And we got to ride the underground subway cars that the Senators use.


* The Library of Congress. Books. Lots of books. This was my favorite building. Kerri laughed at me, saying she'd never seen anyone so excited about a library before. But how could I not get worked up about the Gutenberg Bible? Because of that book, the modern world can read. I think that's huge. Thomas Jefferson's library was also really impressive. That man was interested in everything.


* The Air and Space Museum, which did us a favor by staying open late Tuesday night, so I could see more than just the main hall.

* The memorials in the day. Aside from the obnoxious small children there on field trips, I enjoyed this a lot. We even found Einstein.


* Even better, I got to spend time with a friend I don't get to see too often anymore (I know, it's my own fault for moving to California), and I got a break from normal life.

This concludes my interesting-only-to-me travel log. Stay tuned for irregularly scheduled blog posts.