Anthropologie = Agony

My outfits are pretty simple. Jeans, typically solid-colored top, a cardigan and vans. Maybe a decorative belt or a couple of bracelets if I'm feeling up to the weight on my wrists. I LOVE accessories, but usually only wear diamond stud earrings! Ironic, no?

However, I absolutely adore putting pieces that I DON'T own together. I think I have better taste than my budget allows. For example, I'm obsessed with this anthropologie dress. Look at the bike pattern! Adorable! I'd pair it with an emerald green cardigan and orange cuff bracelet.

That is, if I had $158 to spare. Cough.

Melinda's Media Musings

Hello family! I'm doing a media blog for a class assignment. I have to post twice a week about media that I have been exposed to, its effect on me, etc. The URL (what does URL mean, anyway?) is www.moviemelinda.blogspot.com.

This week I blogged about my current favorite Mormon message and the cupcake blogs that keep me occupied for at least an hour a week. Check it out!

Also, you might enjoy this video about how media has changed our world. Two minutes long, and some pretty crazy stats.

A Psalm of Life

This is my favorite poem. The first stanza sounds kind of trite, but it weaves itself into significant counsel. I especially love the last four lines - they've been something of a motto to me lately, one I hope to live better by in the future. The past was good, the present is good, the future will still be good! :)



Photograph by Peter Lik - see his amazing pictures here.

A PSALM OF LIFE

WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOUNG MAN SAID TO THE PSALMIST

TELL me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream ! —
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real ! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal ;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way ;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
Be a hero in the strife !

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant !
Let the dead Past bury its dead !
Act,— act in the living Present !
Heart within, and God o'erhead !

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time ;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate ;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Happy Monday! :)

I Need a Hero

Christmas break means a few things for me. First, it means sleeping in until 10 daily. Blessed Utah time and catching up on all the sleep forfeited at college. Secondly, PILES of goody plates from generous neighbors that I just can't resist partaking of (I mean, really, what's the point of hurting their feelings? It's Christmas!). This last one leads to half-hearted exercise attempts (such as Yoga or Just Dance). Moving on! Christmas break also means dentist appointments (yick) since I don't have a dentist in Utah. Not looking forward to that one.

Christmas break means board games, late nights, delicious food, fun with family, and everything lovely. But I just want to pay homage to one essential aspect of my Christmas break: Austen movies.

That's right, we Cummings girls are die-hard fans of all things Jane Austen. With 9 of us in the family, are you even surprised? We are not ashamed! It's not like the Austen books are life-changing or significant, but they're entertaining and (at times) very clever. For my part, I enjoy the movie adaptations more than reading the books. And believe me, I've seen a few! I just thought it would be entertaining to post an analysis of what Jane Austen thought made the perfect man (based on her leading male characters), as well as what makes the most vile carrier of a Y-chromosome. Here goes!



Edmund Bertram, "Mansfield Park." Edmund is handsome, serious, honest, and intelligent. He's studying to be a clergyman (about the only clergyman portrayed positively in Jane Austen's books! More on that later). He has a passionate nature but is terribly bent on preserving family honor. He's prone to burying his feelings. "Tenacious willpower!"



George Knightley, "Emma." Okay, he's a favourite (trying to use the British spelling here). Extremely rational, brutally honest, not unhandsome, a defender of justice! A trifle older, but you'd never feel that when in his company. How convenient.



Henry Tilney, "Northanger Abbey." Handsome, playful, loyal to a fault! Gives up his fortune to be with Miss Catherine Morland. Also a clergyman, which makes me think I must be wrong about Jane Austen's disdain for clergymen...we'll get to that. Tilney is always cracking jokes, which makes me think he's the one I'd be most likely to fall for when...I mean if...I were to travel back to that time. Sigh!



Fitzwilliam Darcy, "Pride and Prejudice." Wow, this picture is hilarious! The google search "Darcy" brought up millions of pictures (Duh, he's everyone's favorite) but this one was too good to pass up. Darcy's proud, clever, rich, sarcastic, but passionate. He comes around. :) Who doesn't like knowing they've singlehandedly changed a man's life? Lucky Lizzy.



Severus Snape, "Harry Potter." Whoops, sorry, make that Colonel (Cristopher?) Brandon of "Sense and Sensibility." Older! Well-established. Protective. Future death eater.



Edward Ferrars, "Sense and Sensibility." Aww...who wouldn't love that boyish grin? Edward is shy and awkward but winningly sweet. Gives up his fortune and family to follow true love. A real winner!



Captain No-name Wentworth, "Persuasion." Dashing, obviously. Made his own fortune. Defiant at times, but a true romantic?

So obviously, the perfect man is either grossly rich or gives up his fortune for love of you. He's clever, playful, handsome (duh), affectionate, and loyal. Good luck in your search.

By the way, watch out for these creepers.





(Of course I don't mean Mr. Knightley!)

Blessings

I'm sitting in the HBLL right now - I managed to snag a computer. That's an impressive feat during finals week! The seat's still warm...which means somebody was probably feverishly studying here a moment ago. They'll never know that I'm thinking about them RIGHT NOW. Haha. :)

I just wanted to take a break and write down some of my blessings. This has been an incredibly busy semester - 16 credits, working during college for the first time, applying to grad school, trying to still get good grades and have a little fun in between, etc. Looking back, I really can't believe I made it this far! I was pretty worried about my workload in the beginning of this semester. But all's ending well, hence, all is well! I just know that it was because Heavenly Father helped me and my family prayed for me (I love how dad always asks, "What can I do for you?" when I call home).



(This is for Aaron, who hates Thomas Kinkade)

Two finals down, two to go! I had astronomy at 7am this morning. Gah! Here's a little miracle: my alarm didn't go off but my roommate had set hers a little earlier than usual, so I was able to scramble out the door in time to take my test. Hallelujah!

Other blessings: this has been my favorite year of college so far. I have made some of the best friends I'll ever have, and I'm so grateful to them. Coming back to my apt is like coming back to family, because my roommates are so fun and crazy! I love them. :) This summer when I broke up with Nate I was worried that this would be a hard year for me. Then I just got a feeling that I would make all kinds of friends and have so much fun! It made me so happy then, and I'm happier now knowing that has come to pass.

I love my family so much. Everyday I think about how grateful I am for them. :) We're not perfect but we grew up surrounded by so much love, and that circumstance has blessed my life in more ways than I can number. It has given me confidence and security. It has helped me help others. I just love you all.

Blessings in disguise! Like when you pray for humbling experiences. :) Oh boy. But what those experiences create in us and out of us is more important than whatever we were proud about. So even that's a blessing, and I've learned that embarrassment can be put aside by reassuring yourself of what you know. Just pull in some Egyptian mythology. One day, when your heart is weighed against the feather of truth, all will be made right.



Haha just kidding. I don't endorse polytheism, by the way.

I have found so much confidence and happiness in myself this year. I'm not afraid to talk to people on the phone anymore, and I'm trying to create my life instead of waiting for it to happen to me. The Lord has given me experiences that have taught me to be resilient - I still have troubles (Slightly irreverent side note: Once in a father's blessing Dad told me that my future husband loved me even now and was praying to find me. I can't deny that at times since then I've thought, "Well, pray harder!" :) but you needn't worry, it's worth the wait) but I bounce back faster than I used to, and according to Sister Applonie, that's where real progress is made.

I just feel good about my life right now. There's a lot to be thankful for, and this is one of those times when I'm actually thankful and not "thank-you-I'm-so-grateful-and-blessed-but-inside-I'm-thinking-how-tough-this-is-but-I'm-being-grateful-so-that-you-will-see-what-a-good-person-I-am-and-bless-me-more" kind of times. By the way, it is really hard to type with dashes in between every word! I can't even tell you how much that slowed me down!

Time to finish a grad school app and study for church history. I just wanted to think and type. Love to you all! Can't wait to come home for Christmas!



Also, this video is adorable.

PURE GENIUS

Every once in a while I stumble upon a music artist that just AMAZES ME. This is one of those times. John Butler Trio's "Ocean" - I can't understand what he says in the first part of the video, maybe that he used to be a street performer? Whatever his story, this is one awesome instrumental number.

What's Your Astronomy Picture of the Day?

This was the astronomy picture of the day on my birthday a few years ago. I think it's pretty sweet :) it's the space shuttle, connected to the space station, zooming over earth. At night. Lovely. :)