Just One More...

I'm almost done with finals. I think I aced the first three. Yay me! They weren't hard. Just one more, and I should do fine if I could get myself to study just a little bit...but I don't want to. I decided I really dislike Biology. I just have to keep reminding myself that after this final I don't have to deal with this class anymore, ever. And then I'll go home and it will be spectacular!

Last night improv class was SO funny. One of the best ones I've been to in a long time. Particularly funny was the concept thrown out that people could "name drop" famous people that they don't know. For instance, "Hey guys, in a few days, I'm going to be celebrating the birth of Jesus." Or, (at a fantasy convention) "Hey guys, I just read this great book by J.R.R. Tolkein." Like that would impress someone. Ah, cracks me up. If you guys want to see some clips of the USU improv club, go to www.youtube.com/theanticsimprov. There are even a few of me (see 1,3,25).

Can't wait to get home! I'll see some of you soon.
Rachel

Anybody ever seen this movie?

Hey I'm back. My goal for December is to work on journaling and stuff. I stopped blogging because I got busy, and then I didn't want to start again because I was overwhelmed thinking about catching up on everything. So I'm not gonna catch up. Sorry if you missed the last 6 or 7 months of my life.

This post is appropriate, because my last one was about what a good cook I was. I totally lied. If I don't eat at the cafeteria, all I eat is Easy Mac and Cup O Noodles. I just ate a Cup O Noodles a few minutes ago. It was really gross. Last night I went to a holiday pot luck dinner with the AgComm majors. I made deviled eggs cuz I thought it would be easy...it took me an hour and a half and they turned out kinda gross. My professor said they were good, but I'm pretty sure she was just lying to make me feel good. I actually felt more like Mulan.

So has anyone ever seen this movie, "Alan and Naomi?" I had totally forgotten about it until I had a nightmare about it last night. I used to watch it at Granny's house when I was really little. That is not a good movie for little kids! In case you ever want to watch it (or you're Matt) I'll put spoilers in blue and you can highlight to read them: The whole premise is that Naomi is crazy because she saw her dad die, and Alan has to befriend her. It shows, in the movie, her dad's head with blood streaming down it, that's what I had the nightmare about. After Alan befriends her everything is all well and good until something violent happens and Naomi goes crazy again. The end. What a weird show. Kevin Connelly is in it too, as a little kid. Bizarre. I kind of want to watch it again now that I'm older just to see if I still think it's so creepy. You should watch it too and tell me what you think. But don't show it to anyone under the age of 15.

Finals week- better get back to studying.

Rachel

And my sisters say I can't cook...

Last night I made myself dinner. I documented all of it, so I'll post pictures later. It was the most delicious meal ever. Here's the recipe:

2 hot dog buns
Nutella
Creamy Peanut Butter

Broil the hot dog buns in the oven. Put creamy peanut butter on one side and Nutella on the other. Eat it. It's soooo freaking good.

See, I told you I was a good cook! And also, I made lunch today. Turkey salad with grapes and apples and walnuts (I imagined them, because I couldn't actually find them) in a pita pocket.

...so with my skills, I'm really not too worried about feeding myself. :)

Weally Wierd

So this is one of the weirdest things I've seen in a while. I feel really bad for this interviewer. It's pretty long, so listen to the beginning, then skip to around 5:10. It's weird in the middle there, but it gets really strange around 5:10. There is a little bit of colorful language to watch out for, but not too bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJWS6qyy7bw

Listening to Music

The UAF Jazz Festival was last weekend. It was my fifth (and last...) time going. It was so much fun, as usual. I learned a lot, mostly I just remembered how much I really like jazz. I've been focusing a lot on classical voice and piano lately, so this was very refreshing. It also made me want to focus on music a lot more. Not necessarily on playing music- I devote a lot of my time to that- but to listening to it.

My brother Calvin does this all th time, and I always think he has the worst taste ever. But I'm not very proud of my iPod selection either- most of it is just catchy crap on the radio. And to be honest, there are a lot of songs that I listen to on Calv's iPod that I think are so bad, and then later end up liking them (Tom Waits and Zooey Deschanel from She and Him, for instance). So I've decided to start listening and trying to find some good music. I bought a ton today, Laura Caviani (a jazz pianist at the festival this year), some older Michael Buble stuff (I think his older stuff is more jazz and less pop influence), Diana Krall, and some country. I heard a song on the radio today called "Til the Last Shot's Fired" by Trace Adkins. At first listen it's a hokey soldier song, but it has a really neat full classical chorus at the very end that really changes the piece. It's very surprising and refreshing.

Anyways, while I was at Jazz Festival, I bought a CD called "Family" by Kelly Rossum, so here's my review:

First of all, if you aren't really into jazz, give this album some time to grow on you. I love jazz, and still, some of the more modern tracks are a little drawn out.
My instant favorite is Track 3, Mr. Blueberry. I don't know what kind of jazz you would call this tune (almost bop, but not really...?) but it's really catchy. It has a more defined tune than the others, and the muted sound of the trumpet is really clear. The piano also stands out- it's simple but it's really hip.
Track 4, Pure Imagination, is a really fun chart too. It's really abstract, so don't get too distracted if you can't always find the melody. Again, this piano player is really great. Underscores the trumpet well, but still isn't boring.
Generally, the album gets better as it goes along. Just don't get discouraged by the first two charts. I'll write more about it when I've listened more to it.

Check him out at www.krossum.com

Peace,
Rachel

It's Been A While...

My life is boring, and yet busy and hectic at the same time. I don't want to write about homework or scholarship applications or FFA state convention stuff. Instead I'll just post some fun pictures.

A Few from the Church History Tour...






Headed to the Hard Rock Cafe in Niagra Falls, Ontario.








Taking a break from driving to Missouri! Only long enough to figure out where we were going, but still!












Freezing Cold Wagon Ride in Nauvoo











A Few from "Hello Dolly"...



This is my backstage food, yo. I love that there's hairspray sitting next to it.











Epic









<--A Racist Bear Ritual


















And a Few From School Prom!








What a good lookin' group












Me and My Hotty Prom Date- except I broke his bouttinierre!









Alright, its getting late and I have SO much to do! Save me some of tha corn for later!
Rachel

Insanity

My life is so hectic right now. Where to start...three terrible IB Essays, two excellent weekends of "Hello, Dolly!" performances, a trip to Juneau to lobby for FFA, and kind of a new guy (I know, wow :))

I cannot wait to get away from all this madness when we leave for our roadtrip on Saturday, it will feel soooo good. I probably won't blog for a while, because of all of that. But here's a picture to tide you over.

Alright, I know this is from a while ago, but I got my pictures of my camera, then never

posted them, and by the time I thought of it, it was already really late. So here are the grandkids (minus Louis) at Universal Studios. This picture actually worked out...it took a couple tries to get them all to stop fighting. You can see Daisy and Avery are matching :) The boys are matching too, but Dane and Ty have their jackets on so you can't tell.

PS- Does anyone else ever google their name? It's fun. And for me, I'm really the only Rachel Kenley around, so all the results I getare actually about me...until recently. Apparently, ANOTHER Rachel Kenley exists, and is popular in cyberspace. As if this weren't bad enough, she's an author of erotic literature! Seriously, ew! I feel like someone's stolen my name and ruined my reputation!