My Next Big Adventure!

So I'm off on an adventure tomorrow, and I'm freaking psyched! I had an excellent Christmas, and now I'll have an excellent mini-vacation. It will be a little cold, but I'm excited to get out of town. Just look at the weather forecasts for the next few days in: Escalante, Utah as compared to Logan, Ut. It will get up in the 40's! Amazing! I shoveled almost a foot of snow off the driveway today, there's no chance of snow in that region! Yeah!
Among the activities on my t0-do list:

• hike
• camp
• eat
• ponder the wonders of the world
  
• view things
  
• drive wonderful places

And just to allay the fears of those who doubt my adventuring skills, here's my not-to-do list:

• drown
• fall
• freeze
  
• asphyxiate
• get a brain injury
• get rescued
• die

Everything will be just fine, a little chilly, but not snowy. Yeah! So far the plan is to go to
1. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
2. Kodachrome Basin State Park
3. Capitol Reef National Park
4. Goblin Valley State Park
Just take a quick perusal of those links and check out the potential awesomeness I will see. If things get nasty I will come home sooner, but I'm super psyched to see some of the awesomeness of southern Utah. And even more psyched to be out of Logan. Hooray!
Love you all!

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Now playing: Social Distortion - Story Of My Life
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Ode to Green Hat

Note, this ode will not be a rhyming ode, I'm no good at that.


I have this green hat that Liz gave me for my birthday last year, and I love it.
It's very warm and stretchy,
It's green, my favorite color.
I can look like a cancer patient or an Irish hooker,
depending on my outfit and hair that day.

It came with an awesome scarf and gloves,
they're also green.
I'm very happy when I wear it,
even if I wear it while falling down.
I love hats in general,
but this one is definitely the tops.

I also love my leg warmers.
They keep my legs dry when the ground is wet.
And they make me smile whenever I remember I'm wearing them.

Winter-time may be kind of glum sometimes,
But my winter-wear can't bring me down at all.

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Now playing: Regina Spektor - Fidelity
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Things That Concern Me

So, I'm feeling a little morose (which according to dictionary.com means, "...gloomily or sullenly ill-humored, as a person or mood."). And my body isn't really cooperating with my efforts to be in a good mood. Among the issues I'm currently trying to address:

1. I think my face is rejecting the rest of my body. My skin is so stinking dry I can barely move my face in the morning. It hurts to yawn. I put lotion on at least 3 times before I head out the door. These low humidity shenanigans must stop. I think its the reason I've been battling epic zits (that's right, not your average clogged ducts...EPIC ZITS!).

2. I'm growing a cowlick...or something. There's a spot at the back of my head that just will not lie flat, and it didn't used to be that way. Beyond that, there's something there, a mole or scab or something. Right now I've decided it's cowlick-causing-cancer. It's been there for like a month and I haven't run my head into something sharp in quite some time (that I remember). Next thing you know there will be a giant seeping wound in the back of my head. Then I will die. And you'll all feel bad.

3. I decided to spontaneously quit drinking soda (because I heard waiting for a special date to quit makes you less likely to succeed), and it feels like my brain is shrinking away from my skull. It blows. On the upside, I don't feel so worried about my teeth and bones when I chug down 44 ounces of water.

4. I might have blown a snot bubble yesterday. I was just trying to say "Yeah" and breathe at the same time. It would have been a small bubble, but it felt like a bubble nonetheless. How embarrassing (its not like I was saying "Yeah" to myself, there was someone I was addressing. Lame.). Eh, I've decided to start carrying a handkerchief around with me, it seems less old-woman-ish to me than tissues.

5. There are still spiders in my apartment. They don't end up on my sticky traps because they walk on the walls and ceiling. I keep trying to squash them, but lately the only shoes that have been within reach of me are my work shoes (see item #6 for a description of why said work shoes are so lame). To make matters worse I took a swig of water from a glass near my computer yesterday and there was a spider in it! It was horrifying!

6. I fell down yesterday. It was lame. I think I pulled a muscle in my belly trying not to fall, and I bruised my elbow. It was sad. My work shoes, while warm, suck in the snow. I won't be wearing them in the snow again.
It went something like this:

Me and Lou were walking
...
Then I found some ice
...
Then I hit the pavement. It hurt.

I hope you can all laugh at my pain. I'm laughing...on the inside. It doesn't hurt to laugh there.

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Now playing: Garbage - Medication
via FoxyTunes

So Liz and Mom both made it sound like I have dropped off the face of the Earth, and nothing could be farther from the truth. I've been safe and sound in Logan. My last few posts may sound a little discouraging, but December is kind of a discouraging month. However, there have been some good times, as seen below.
Thanksgiving was fun, my family kicks so much ass its ridiculous. I always love the time can spend shooting the breeze with them.
The food was excellent...
But there were yams...
I also got to decorate my apartment with Christmas stuff. I really, really enjoy decorating. I feel silly for it, but it is what it is.
I thought I'd take the opportunity to document that my Christmas tree did indeed fit in with the rest of my furniture and that I got a cute new sweater...

And I had a birthday. I'm now a quarter of a century old. Its not so bad. Bonus: I got my wedding cake. Another slightly irrational moment of mine. I became obsessed with this cake a few years ago while I was flipping through a wedding magazine. I really, really wanted the cake, but Mom thought it was silly, so I figured a milestone that would deserve a special cake. It was beautiful and totally worth the obsessing...
Thanks mom. I also got some gear I really needed: ski boots, kayak paddles and a face mask (and a kick ass hat!). It was awesome...
I've also done a little small scale adventuring: figuring out how to make sushi, battling my hair, moving furniture, finding a new purse, fixing internet issues, etc. All in all, life is good (really, how could it be bad when I've got my new hat?).
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Now playing: Boston - More Than a Feeling
via FoxyTunes

Itch

Currently it is 41.0 degrees Fahrenheit in Logan, its supposed to reach a low of 21 tonight, and there is no snow. This is just unacceptable. I want out. I know I signed up for these grad school shenanigans, but right about now it feels like they're holding me down. Right now grad school feels much less like an adventure and more like a slog (nay, a mire, I'm mired in this Great Dismal Swamp of a program (this is funny to me, it could be funny to you if you'd read the paper I finished the other day, but I really wouldn't recommend it)). I'm feeling the itch to head for warmer climes. If there were some skiing to be had I might feel better (especially because I now have boots and skis). Anyways, in place of a great southern migration, I've decided to find myself a pair of snowshoes and adventure out that way. I figure it'll be a good replacement for hiking (once there's enough snow to make it happen), and much cheaper than skiing. I'll let you know how it goes.

I've been thinking a great deal about going somewhere. I wish I had friends spread out a little farther, I think visiting them would be a good opportunity to head out of the valley. Anyways, I'm really looking forward to going somewhere for spring break this year, here are my current options (click on the green text and they'll send you to websites that show some of the potential coolness I could discover in my explorations).

Option 1: Head North
I'm thinking of trying out the Northwest for spring break. It'll probably be March-type cold, but more rainy than snowy. The highlight of this trip would be Olympic National Park.
Why go to the Olympic Peninsula? Well, according to the Park Service:

Here you will find Pacific Ocean beaches, rain forest valleys, glacier-capped peaks and a stunning variety of plants and animals. Roads provide access to the outer edges of the park, but the heart of Olympic is wilderness; a primeval sanctuary for humans and wild creatures alike.

Awesome. But mostly, its a temperate rain forest. I've wanted to run around in the rain forest since I saw "Ferngully" (which is now on DVD, awesome). There was some jungle to be seen near Cancun, but it was all fenced off when I was there (boo). I realize that there probably won't be fairies like in the movie, but there are a ton of other things to see (things that are cooler than fairies, which can't actually be seen). Also, 95% of the park is designated as wilderness. That's an opportunity to get good and lost, if ever I heard one. I figure a few days of soggy backpacking would do me some good. Plus there are 73 miles of coastline within the park, full of sandy peaches, tidal pools and cliffs. I'd like to see a starfish or sea anemone. That would be awesome.

Other wildlife viewing options include orcas, sea lions, dolphins and whales (a lot of the area around it was designated as the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary). Further inland I could see black bears, cougars, bobcats, and elk (in addition to a whole number of endemic rodents, and pigs). Plus there are about 300 species of birds that have been spotted in the park.
There's also the opportunity to see Seattle, a town that sounds fairly interesting to me. There I could ride a ferry. I dig ferries. And the Columbia River, I like to see what's left of that.
(There's also a dork option Liz could like: Forks, WA is located on the Olympic Peninsula, its a real town).

Option 2: Head South
This option is a little more vague, as there is a ton to see down there. Almost any time I bring up the southern Utah/northern Arizona option someone gives me another recommendation for places I could try to see. Among the stops I could see are:
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
The Hayduke Trail (just a portion)
Buckskin Gulch
Grand Canyon National Park
Arches National Park

This option's main appeal is that I know there are a ton of places I could opt to spend my days, and it will likely be dry. I went that direction last year, and there is a lot I wish I had time to see. The environment is quite opposite of option 1, it'll all be desert. So here's the dilemma: go through the familiar, yet exhilarating desert or the new and exciting old growth forest. Hmm.

Well, its been exciting to think about getting out of town. Hopefully I'll make it through.

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Now playing: 311 - Nix Hex
via FoxyTunes

Hi, My Name is Becka and I'm a Slacker

(I thought I'd start this out with an unusually cheery picture, I feel the exact opposite of that, there's no rainbows in my world right now, or trees. Just cubicle walls and my stinking laptop). So I'm in the middle of writing a final paper, and I'm dragging ass. I want to do so many other things. Namely:

• blog
• hike
• sleep
• do dishes
• finish the stupid vampire book
• make cheesecake
• run a 5k
• make a snowman
• dance
• update my iPod
• watch my current Netflix offer
• pay bills
• drive somewhere more than 4 hours away
• dance more
• eat peaches
• go kayaking
• pluck my eyebrows
• buy socks
• do laundry
• buy underwear
• organize my closet
• make a snow angel

As you can see, there is so much more I could make of this day. Alas, I'm here at school, resigned to finishing this paper before 2 a.m. I will break for food, maybe a run, but not for much fun. Boo. Also, the food I will break for isn't even good, I've officially gotten over microwave burritos. They don't taste like much of anything. I just ate a cheese and bean burrito, but I couldn't taste the cheese. I have cheese at home, but I'm at school. I have a package of Saltines here, I hope I don't ever get over Saltines. I'd really like some Texas Toast, but I don't have anymore. I'll be consuming quite a bit of Mountain Dew in hopes it will keep me concentrating (I'll at least be awake because I'm drinking it fast enough I have to pee every half hour). I'm kind of over Mt. Dew too, I suppose I'll have to move on to something like crack. Eh.

I've been trying to remember brighter days while I'm stuck in my office space. Friday instead of writing I surfed the internet and found this video I really liked. The Daily Show usually manages to get it right, its a little vulgar, in an edited way. But I love it (I figure anyone who can figure out how to incorporate the term "Industrial Strength Douche Bag" into a discussion of terrorism deserves props). I haven't been able to post the actual video because of some HTML script mystery that I can't figure out, so follow this link, it's 3 minutes of your life that will be well spent.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=210920&title=mumbai-tragedy

Also, check out this article called "Why They Hate Mumbai."

And this article on Cyberchondria

Eh. My 15 minutes of freedom are up. Back to work. Someone should shed tears for me, because I can't, full on apathy has set in.

I almost forgot, I do have some good news. I came up with a temporary title for my paper: Fear and Loathing in Swamps and Muskegs. Also, I currently have 5 pages typed (plus my title page and bibliography) that I have yet to double space. Double spacing is my favorite part, I save it until the end because it makes it doubles the amount of work I've just done (sort of, it makes me happy. Don't judge me.).

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Now playing: Damien Rice - Cold Water
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