Lucky me.

It just so happens that when something extraordinary happens in nature, I am the one who always misses it. Lunar eclipse? Meteor showers? Tornado passing by my front door? Ok ok, that never happened. But you catch my drift... Well tonight, I count myself lucky because I walked outside, looked up at the sky, and saw this......


Its hard to capture a good picture on my less than professional camera, but I did my best. Also, I could not put myself further into the ground or zoom out so I could capture the WHOLE thing. The ring is perfectly distanced and shaped around the whole moon. It is so cool. People probably think, 'uh yeah youngin you've never seen or heard of this before??' Well, no I haven't. But I am glad to say now that I have.

SO COOL.

On the bright side...

...the reason for even going to Vegas a second time turned out to be AMAZING. Best money I've ever spent on entertainment. The JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE and FRIENDS benefit concert! AAAAaaaaH! It was better than I could have ever imagined. We went with the knowledge that we would see Justin Timberlake perform and a few other guest performers that were unannounced. We didn't expect anyone TOO special.


We heard that the Jonas Brothers were going to be there.... unfortunately... So turns out they were. They opened the show, followed by Stomp OUt Loud (which was an awesome dance/rhythm routine put on by these people's bodies combined with garbage lids and such) = pretty sweet. THEN who walks out on stage but one of my FAVORITE new artists--LEONNA LEWIS!


I just love her and she did SOOOOOO GOOD. She is one of the most talented female artists out there, in my opinion. THEN, THEN after her beautiful performance, the stage clears, everything goes dark......and suddenly reaming from the darkness is this perfect harmonious melody.... flawlessness in every note.... it could only be one group.......... yes, YES BOYZ II MEN!


OH MY GOSH! When would you ever get the opportunity to see them in concert these days!?!?! Wow... I was blown away by the beautiful music they create so effortlessly. That was one of the most pleasant surprises. Though, they keep coming... we are not nearly done yet. After them, good ol' RIHANNA comes out singing Disturbia, followed by a few other hits.


Sweet sweet, could this get any better? Besides Justin of course. No. Then comes a 'new artist' who Justin discovered....and in the midst of her second song, who joins her? JUSTIN HIMSELF!


WOOOOO yay! He is so good... so entertaining. Performs a few hits, followed by more hits, but is then joined by ADAM LEVINE (lead singer of Maroon 5) for a duet.


AMAZING. Then JT performs more, to then be joined with a little reggae/hiphop sound performed by mr WILL.I.AM (of the Black Eyed Peas).


AWESOME! Then after even more songs, who comes out?? 50 CENT! He performed his own song, and then did a hit with Justin!


WOW. This must be the finale because I don't know who else could possibly make this even better. And just when you think the concert has come to an end.... no, Justin brings out one of his most inspirational mentors, hiding behind a piano, to slowly turn and be revealed as LIONEL RICHIE and they perform an amazing duet on the pianos that was just beautiful.

Wow.. what a concert! You could not plan to see all of those artists! I thought our tickets were a bit expensive at $176, we were a little unsure if we wanted to go..... but after going, I would pay that again EASILY for such an amazing variety of performances! If he does this again..... I AM SO THERE.

*side note, my live pictures are sparse, I only remembered to grab my camera when the person in-front of me was snapping away, but then I got sick of it. I just wanted to enjoy the show!*

Awe shucks...

the anxious readers have convinced me to write SOMETHING about Vegas (round 2). So here goes....this story is 100% true, no exaggeration or fibbing.

Day one... after a long drive, a long walk, a long wait in line, we finally get our turn to check in to the new and fabulous Planet Hollywood. Only to realize, that I left my wallet in the car... So I make the long walk back to the car, and long walk back to the counter so I can verify my identity. FINALLY, 9 hours after leaving Layton our trip is ready to officially begin. We head to the room, anxious and excited to breath in the fresh scent of Vegas (an oxymoron I know). Nonetheless, I insert the key, open the door, inhale deeply, and quickly regret the decision because our room SMELLED...STUNK, a RANK MORBID smell that I don't even know how to describe. It wasn't something I couldn't place... not smoke, vomit, feces, B-O, or anything I knew the smell of already. I think what I smelled, what we all smelled, was death. HONESTLY... I wouldn't know the smell, but if I had to guess, I would have thought and old rotting corpse was lying beneath the bed covers. I quickly rush to the bedside phone to call the front desk to demand a room change. And what do I find? The phone was out of order. Didn't work whatsoever. LUCKILY, there is another phone across the room on the desk. I pick it up... ALSO OUT OF ORDER. The smell of death+out of order phones?? Is this sounding a bit creepy to anyone else? Let me add... the toilet pipes were screeching a constant screech. ALSO, our room was perfectly overlooking the pool, just a story or two above it. Nice view for an old perverted man looking for his next victim?? And the plot thickens... After finally getting into a new, and I must say VERY nice upgraded room overlooking the Bellagio fountain, we all settle and get ready for night one on the strip. While blasting some good ol' TI/Rihanna "Live Your Life" on my iPod (which we ALL love and wouldn't dare change mid-song), the song changes. I was like, WTF who changed the song!?!? Nobody. So I walk over to the iPod, look and notice that it has jumped ahead 3 songs. Ok thats weird, but glitches like that can happen. But then I notice the artwork... (a little insight, I'm kinda obsessed with having every song on my iPod, even random mixes, have album artwork...its organized and looks nice--and I really don't like when a song pops up with a pale blue box with a music note in it, lame.) So the artwork which should display a celebrity hip-hop artist has changed, instead it is a completely unprofessional photo of a young woman, blonde hair just past her shoulders, standing if front of a chain-link fence. NO joke. It just looked like a picture from someone's photo album, nothing special. But nothing I have EVER seen before... So I push the back arrow to the previous song, SAME PIC OF THE GIRL, again back to a dif song, SAME PIC... Every song on the playlist (which is a mix so all the artwork is different) has this girls picture on it. I'm so weirded out and go to show the other girls and the moment I approach them, the screen goes black. I click a button to light it back up, and it goes to the list-version of the playlist--no album artwork shown. I click on a song...the picture of the girl is gone. Its back to normal artwork. uuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh.... what the heck? Freaky?? Yes. It is like a scene from a movie, but I think this girl was taken to our first room by a maybe cute but little did she know freak-guy after laying out by the pool, stuff happens, and when she figures out his intentions.. she can't use the phones at all because he disconnected them, she can scream but the damn toilet screech covers her cry for help, and it ends bad. He discards her body in the walls or SOMETHING, and checks out like nothin happened. We arrive maybe a few days later, I suspect weird things have happened, so her spirit tries to tell me by putting the picture of her on the iPod and changing the song to get my attention...
Well, I can't truly explain the series of events, but that is my theory. I still don't know, and it still creeps me out. But what would you think??

Confession...

of an inconsistent blogger. The only time I ever write or post blogs is when I am bored at work. Well, I just quit my desk job--last day October 31st. Therefor... I am going to have a very VERY hard time posting blogs. I will try to remember to keep up on it. But until then, wish me luck! OH and the Vegas stories--again there is so much to tell. I wrote out one measly little story from the trip and it turned out to be 2 pages, single space, size 12 font on Word. I think that is just a tad bit long and I am so bad at editing. Maybe I will give it a shot... check back, but not TOO soon! Sincerely yours, DURB.

Another dream....

I had a very vivid dream last night that I got lice by patting a sweet little girls head. Ewe.

Stories of my recent trip are up and coming... they just take time to organize.

.....tagged....

Dang you Annie. She double-tagged me but I am only going to do one--the easier of the two. And since she said "8-my favorite number", I'm going to do MY favorite number, which is 4!

4 TV shows I love to watch: Sadly... there are a lot. But the ones I absolutely cannot miss are: PRISON BREAK--Project Runway--LOST--and a recent favorite...DEXTER. I hate the addiction.

4 Restaurants I love: Cafe Rio, VillaLobos (which unfortunately closed), Zupas (which unfortunately is not available within 30 miles of where I currently live), and Happy Sumo...mmm sushi.

4 things I am doing today: Working at my soon-to-be ex job at the bank, going tanning, getting my 'darks' washed/dried, and cleaning out my car for the upcoming road trip!

4 things I am looking forward to: THURSDAY!!--which is the beginning of our road trip to a HUGE concert in southern Nevada :), going back to school next semester, the possibility of moving, and getting a new job that will be a GREAT change for me.

4 things I love about summer: Family trips to Lake Powell, laying in/around Jessica's pool for hours and hours on a Saturday eating frozen grapes, swinging in my hammock beneath the hot sun in a cool breeze, and the fact that there is NO SNOW to slow me down on the roads!

4 Olympic events I like to watch: Women’s (or in China's case, GIRLS) gymnastics, figure skating, snowboarding (half pipe), and ski-jumping.

4 things on my wish list: happiness, love, good health, and success! :) Cheesy I know, but true! Its not that I don't have any of these, it’s just that I will ALWAYS wish for these!

As I have said before, every blog needs a picture! So please, do enjoy.



Oh--and as far as "tagging" goes, I am not going to. But if I did, I would ask BrynnLy, my long lost, to do this because it reminds me of all the stupid surveys you and I would fill out in Jr.High and e-mail to everyone!

What in the world is happening here??

So, technology--a great thing right? Yes yes, but has it lead us into a world of less communication and personal interaction?? I think so. Not that I don't participate in all these but--MySpace, FaceBook, Blogger... Now there is absolutely no need to call someone or e-mail even to find out what is going on in their lives. I mean I know its more convenient and saves some time, but can we not take a little time out of our days to catch up with good friends?? Which brings me to the next subject--TEXTING. A glorious invention, maybe. Again, convenient when you simply want to get a small piece of information to a plethora of people. Or if you are in class or work and simply can't talk aloud. OR, if you are a little nervous about talking aloud to that new someone you met on Friday... Its definitely an ice-breaker because lets face it--everyone is a little more bold(whether flirtatious or confrontational) when you don't have to say what you want out loud. For some reason, its just a little harder to open your mouth rather than exercise your thumbs.
And what about when you text someone and they don't respond?? Don't you just feel stupid? And then wonder (because it HAS happened before) if the other side just didn't receive your text? Well... its not like your going to send it again, just incase. So then your left boggled and confused...worried, maybe sad... so many emotions just from one little text. IF you had this conversation over the phone instead--all of that would be avoided!

Well I guess I find myself a little fed up. In reflecting on the text and wall posting conversations that I have had--I just can't believe I let myself get comfortable with conversing, flirting, or confronting people in the least-personable way possible. In some cases, a chill conversation or joking in writing can come across wrong because the other person cannot hear the tone in your voice. Mine usually suggests "I’m obviously kidding". And sometimes I want to get across that "you are really upsetting me", but the other just might not take it serious. It’s all in the tone.

The reason for this vent of frustration is that I find my happiness dwindling, and when really REALLY thinking about why—I find that one of the biggest reasons is because I have lost touch with people I care a lot about. I mean, I keep in touch a little here and there through these 'techno' sources in which I have discussed. But does that really count? It sure doesn't feel like it. I don't have as much friendly interaction in person. People need this interaction--it makes you feel good--and that is not just my opinion. It’s scientifically proven, this personal interaction--having a good laugh, an enlightening conversation, even just exchanging smiles--releases endorphins. THE HAPPY HORMONE! Well technically they're "neurotransmitters produced in the brain that reduce pain", same dif. :D

So, when I receive a text-message from one of my best friends exclaiming that she had her baby with the essential details, I feel a little sad. I know that there are probably a lot of people that deserve the information but not quite via a personal phone call. But have I really fallen into this category of "people to text" rather than "people to call"?? From one of my best friends??? Or have people just gotten so used to the convenience of text that calling is no longer considered? Either way, it definitely didn't feel good to receive such big exiting news through a miniscule emotionless screen.
This, combined with a small tiff with a friend who won’t see me in person to talk because the only form of confrontational communication she feels comfortable with is text?? WHaT The FrEAK. It’s killing me. So, I don’t know if there is much I can do about it—-but I can at least vent and share my thoughts...which I am oh-so hypocritically doing via Blogger. Thanks for reading!