Buddy the Elf, What's Your Favorite Color?

I am a total fan of the Christmas season. So much that I will play Christmas music year round... And many of my friends are bothered by it.. One of my favorite Christmas movies of all time HAS to be Elf. Seriously one of the funniest, most joyful and innocent films ever, that brightens my days.


Will Ferrell stars at the ever joyful Buddy the Elf, who was raised by Santa and his elves in the North Pole after crawling into Santa's bag as an infant. When Buddy finds out that he is a human, and his father lives in New York City, he goes on his quest to find him, so they can make gingerbread houses and hold hands and ice skate. He goes on tons of adventures while he's there, and meets Jovie, played by Zooey Deschanel (who I looove!). I would explain the whole movie... But it's so much better just to watch it.
Who can resist beautiful voices?? Seriously, best Christmas movie ever! Zooey Deschanel is so amazing!


Every scene is just SOOO hilarious! I don't even know what to write here, because it's too good to put in my own words.

So, this Christmas when you're at Blockbuster and thinking, "What amazing movie should I buy or rent that would be good for the whole family, yet still utterly hilarious and enchanting, that brings Christmas cheer to the nation?" Elf is the answer. Just sayin'.

Portraits

Portraits! Yay! I love taking photos of friends, or little self-portraits to try out different editing techniques. Here are a few for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!
























More to come!

Ode to Choir

Throughout my years in the Nevada Union Choir, I have listened to and sung MANY choral pieces. I have learned to appreciate choral music more than any other style. A few songs that I have heard, and a few that we in Chamber choir sang, have become some of my favorite songs I have ever heard, not only because of the way the music sounds, but of the poems they are written with. Here are a few videos of choirs singing my favorite songs and the poems they originated from.

Stars I Shall Find

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

There Will Be Rest
by Sara Teasdale

There will be rest, and sure stars shining
Over the roof-tops crowned with snow,
A reign of rest, serene forgetting,
The music of stillness holy and low.

I will make this world of my devising
Out of a dream in my lonely mind,
I shall find the crystal of peace, – above me
Stars I shall find.

Autumn

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

Autumn
by Rainer Maria Rilke (tr. Edward Snow)

The leaves are falling, falling as if from far off,
as if in the heavens distant gardens had withered:
they fall with gestures that say “no.”

And in the night the heavy earth falls
from all the stars into loneliness.
We are falling. This hand is falling.
And look at the others: it is in them all.

And yet there is One who holds this falling
with infinite softness in his hands.

Agnus Dei

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvT03pxhe58

"Agnus Dei, qui tolis peccata mundi, misere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tolis peccata mundi, misere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tolis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem."

(Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant us peace.)

I Am Not Yours

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp6raJAbkzA

I am not yours, not lost in you,
Not lost, although I long to be
Lost as a candle lit at noon,
Lost as a snowflake in the sea.

You love me, and I find you still
A spirit beautiful and bright,
Yet I am I, who long to be
Lost as a light is lost in light.

Oh plunge me deep in love - put out
My senses, leave me deaf and blind,
Swept by the tempest of your love,
A taper in a rushing wind.

Go, Lovely Rose

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ7KAL3qKsI

Go, lovely Rose- Tell her that wastes her time and me,    
That now she knows, When I resemble her to thee,
How sweet and fair she seems to be.     
Tell her that's young, And shuns to have her graces spied,   
That hadst thou sprung In deserts where no men abide,
Thou must have uncommended died.     
Small is the worth Of beauty from the light retired:   
Bid her come forth, Suffer herself to be desired,
And not blush so to be admired.     
Then die-that she The common fate of all things rare    
May read in thee; How small a part of time they share
That are so wondrous sweet and fair!  

Love Letter

Dear reader,
No Shave November. Do It.

This is the month where you can just throw away that razor or tuck it away in the back of the cupboard, and you and I both can enjoy your wonderful facial hair for an entire 30 days. Tempting? Please consider.
Love Always,
Alexandra

On Politics

This is probably the only politic related blog I will ever post, but I just had to get it off my chest.
It is amazing to me that our country, the United States of say-too-much, can be swayed by something as little as single words. Change and Hope now automatically mean Obama. The middle name Hussein can change a person's vote. The fact that someone is a senior citizen means they shouldn't be president. Yet all of these insignificant things make such a difference in people's decisions on November 4th.
I'm not writing this to try and prove one presidential candidate is better than the other, who is correct in what matter, but rather just throwing it out there that this decision on who is going to lead our country for the next 4 to 8 years is more important than a music video with celebrities in it, or a slogan consisting of one word. I am saying this because I have yet to meet anyone my age with a legitimate reason for why they are voting for Obama. I guess they mean what they say when it is a "popular vote."
Now you can prove me wrong in the comment box below, but I just wanted to make it clear that I personally am not going to vote tomorrow on who i find the most physically appealling, and things like black or white, bald or a head full of hair, is not going to sway my decision. I am not going to place my vote because of how much positive feedback a video on YouTube got.
It has taken me up to today to figure out who I will be voting for on election day.. and I am proud to say I am not voting ignorantly about it like most first time voters are doing. I am not endorsing any candidate here, I am just urging you to vote for who you want to, not Scarlett Johansson. Vote wisely, and don't complain about who wins.