...no Sam isn't a suspect

Saturday was a great adventure! My brother is attending BYU and early on in the semester auditioned for some murder-mystery-play-dinner type event. As we later learned it was a senior class project for a one of the theatre majors. Well being a freshman he didn't think much of it, but of course (oh I just love him), he made the cast as Sam! Woohoo! So between rehearsals for that and Men's Choir, he hasn't had much free time. Well the weekend of the murder mystery finally came and of course we went to support.

Well, now you have to understand my brother to appreciate in full the awkwardness of our situation at the play. This was one of those, the guests are involved along with the actors, plays. So if you bought tickets, you became an ambassador from X and then the actors were portraying people in Washington D.C. For example, the president, head of the CIA, vice president, et cetera, as well as their spouses. Well Riley bought the tickets for us, but we hadn't had a chance to see him before the show. So here we are with no tickets, no directions, no country, no idea that we would be participating, no anything!

We didn't really worry until we got there though, I guess you could say we weren't really thinking about it at all. We looked up the location on BYU's website, Google Mapped it and started off. So this lodge that the party was held at is in the middle of nowhere (at least at night, when you don't know where to go), and it seemed like we were driving forever (closer to 45 minutes). When we finally do arrive, we find out that we are ambassadors from New Zealand and that this is the State Ball. Can I just say EMBARRASSED! We (myself, husband, parents, grandparents, aunt and other brother) were in tennis shoes, jeans, t-shirts, and slippers. Not really the attire of travelling ambassadors attending the State Ball. Oops! Then we get our packet which we should have received at least 3 days prior to the event. This packet gave us the low down on who's who and what to expect.

So this left us a choice, stay low-key and keep a low profile, don't say much and sit in the back? Or-come up with a good story and speak with an accent? Obviously the accent with a good story will make-up all other errors! So that's what we did. We cooked up some story about how our plane was diverted in Perth and our luggage was lost, hence no formal attire and we said everything in our best New Zealand accent (just saying mate and crikey works the best). Thus we had a BLAST! And Ry and the cast did awesome! And dinner was fantastic! Great job to all those who helped and participated!

SparkArts -- Extra Credit

PRESS RELEASE:

SparkArts: A Digital Festival

Salt Lake City – The annual SparkArts Digital Festival will be at the Salt Lake City Library this Friday and Saturday. This free event teaches participants how to create art with a computer and is particularly geared toward people who want to make digital art and video games but don't know how.

"Utah had a thriving digital arts scene among teenagers and college student in the mid-90s," said Adam Helps, one of the festival's founders. "Unfortunately, much of this has faded away in recent years. SparkArts is our attempt to revive and even expand on this culture, which helped capture the imagination and inspire the previous generation's computing professionals."

People are welcome to bring their computers and install our free and legal software so that they can build new creations with ease. Those without computers will be able to use our lab area to work on their projects.

Major focuses of the festival include video game programming, computer-aided music composition, digital painting and 3D modeling. Participants will meet professional game developers, musicians, and artists in a casual setting. There will be question-and-answer sessions, tutorials, and many just-for-fun activities including games, scavenger hunts, and competitions inspired by the quirky digital-arts culture.

SparkArts will have several different competitions in game creation, music, and art all with a 24 hour deadline. The results will be displayed in a fun and colorful closing ceremony.

SparkArts organizers have been setting up similar events for more than five years, and hundreds of participants have come and enjoyed the experience. Most of SparkArts' organizers are software developers and IT professionals working in Utah.

The event runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday at the Salt Lake City Public Library, 210 E 400 South. Please contact Clarissa, the events coordinator, at clarissahelps@gmail.com with any questions or comments. Visit the SparkArts website at www.sparkarts.org.

Lost Voice and Other Winter Woes

Well the start of winter (at least for me) hit last Wednesday when I had to dust the snow off my car. Along with having that nasty cold that never seems to leave, wiping snow off one's car is never a pleasant way to start the day. And thus winter took center stage and has since exited stage left, but I doubt that was his last scene.

I'm a winter hater! I know it's my own fault for moving up here from St. George, but man it shouldn't be this cold. I was complaining in St. George for crying out loud, and this crap just sucks. Not to mention I've a cold that keeps appearing, then disappearing only to appear once again. And now my voice is gone. Try explaining to your Voice and Diction class that you can't speak any louder when that can't hear you in the first place. As I said to the teacher when he asked me to project, "this is as good as it gets!" Not that he heard me, thankfully my scene partner did and after she was finished giggling :) explained.

So I embark on my journey thru winter. I know I'm just beginning and the road is long, hard and cold, but somehow I will persevere because I know what wonderful things lay ahead. It is worth it to make it thru another, cold, icy, stuffy-nosed, white, frigid, dark winter because on the other end of this plight, is glorious summer! Summer! The bright, happy, sun-drenched, care-free season that brings, boating, tans, swim suits, shorts, vacations, and family reunions in Loa-I can't wait.

OK, before you call me Scrooge, I'll admit that winter brings with the cold, and dark one happy spot that marks the midway point of the misery-Christmas! There I said and we'll have more later on the subject, but I refuse to jump the gun and start singing my Christmas carols while decorating until a least the weekend after Thanksgiving.

The End of Birthday Month

Well I guess all good things really do come to an end-ah well. The story would be different to those who have had to put up with me for the past 4 weeks. But it's been great fun and I can't wait til next year! Just kidding! I love October though-it really is my 'holiday season'! I love any excuse to dress up so Halloween is all ready a big hit-plus adding a birthday in there rocks!

Halloween was a lot of fun too! Ty and I went to a Halloween party as Han and Leia it was great. Thanks Spence for hosting the party! Ty looked awesome, I looked ok but when you look like Harrison Ford you kinda have it made ;)

So with a heavy heart I head into November and the exciting true 'holiday season'. Working at Village Inn I don't really get to get into the the festivities that come with Thanksgiving and Christmas. Only getting Christmas off at the restaurant doesn't give a whole lot of time to visit with family, considering family being in St. George, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. So we'll be having a nice quiet after dinner at Grandma's in Salt Lake. I call it after dinner because we'll roll in about 8 pm. And then Christmas will be a nice day of rest and relaxing at home.

Not to be forgotten is school. With the semester more than half way done, we head into the home-stretch and bust out the last 6 weeks of homework to finish up another round of classes. I look forward to finishing and starting anew in January.

An now I'm off to listen to our new President Barrack Obama!