Wicked & Jenny's Birthday

Last weekend I had the pleasure of seeing Wicked with some friends from the book club! Everyone really enjoyed the hit musical. In case you're wondering, the tickets were worth the $88 we paid - a must see performance, especially if you are a Wizard of Oz (film and/or novel), Wicked (novel), or The Great and Powerful Oz (film) fan. I didn't have a favorite part of the show, but the lady who played Elphaba was phenomenal - spot on. She had a set of pipes and could really belt out her songs. I also really enjoyed the references to the film.

Book Club after seeing Wicked

Afterwards some of us went downtown to celebrate Jenny's birthday. I brought cheese cake and red velvet cake, and we hopped around to a few bars. Jenny was feeling it the next morning, haha, but that only means she had a blast!

Birthday Girl, Jenny, & I

Thankful, Day 26

I'm thankful to have a wonderful friend named Sam who is joining me to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert in a few weeks! What? You don't know who the Trans-Siberian Orchestra is? They play classical-metal music. I know, kinda interesting, huh? Here's a snippet of some of their holiday work:

Thankful, Days 7 & 8

Day 7

I picked up the Amelie soundtrack at the library yesterday. I'm thankful for Yann Tierson. His compositions are simply beautiful. They evoke emotion in me. Enjoy this sound bite of a song from Amelie:

Day 8:

After work today I picked up Heidi and went to the dog park. She was on good behavior and did quite a bit of running! I brought my book, Dracula, but didn't bother trying to read since I was so happy to chit chat with the other dog owners. Tony and Brian and Matt's wife (sorry, I didn't catch her name) and I talked about how our dogs could sense the time change and how they have interesting appetites and how they destroy screens from time to time. These friendly conversations are welcome and relaxing.

It's Officially Christmas Season!

It's Black Friday, and that means that Christmas Season is officially here! I have Ella Fitzgerald Holiday playing on my Pandora radio, and I just brought all the Christmas decorations in from my storage closet.

So, today is dedicated to getting my apartment all dec'd out for the holidays. I'm also going to work on my 2010 Christmas Letter and maybe wander out into the shopping madness for some Christmas cards. I'm also going to work on some blogs that I've been meaning to put together. Lots of photo work to be done, too. Lastly, I plan to end my evening with a cup of marshmallows with hot chocolate, a slice of pumpkin cake, and watching The Blindside and/or reading on my book.

Happy Black Friday!

The Crazy 80s Pub Crawl

Last night was the Orlando Pub Crawl's 5th Annual The Crazy 80s Pub Crawl! It was my first official pub crawl here in Orlando. It reminded me an awful lot of Purdue's Breakfast Club with all of the 80s-themed costumes (trolls, Hulk Hogan, spandex, fluorescent colors and side ponies) and 80s music! Great fun! Here are some photos:

Joel, Heather, Casey and I

Joel, Matt (Karate Kid) and I

I bumped into a real Aussie, Pete (Crocodile Dundee)! Casey and I had to take a photo with him since we both lived in Australia during Study Abroad trips!

Morning Anthem

This song, Starting Now by Ingrid Michaelson, turned out to be my morning's anthem. Sometimes sad things are necessary. While painful, pruning is, overall, a healthy process.



I want to crawl back inside my mother's womb
I want to shut out all the lights in this room
I want to start fresh, like a baby in a sink
Scrub away all these thoughts that I think of you

So life moves slowly when you're waiting for it to boil
Feel like I watch from 6 feet under the soil
Still want to hold you and kiss behind your ears
But i re count the countless tears that i lost for you

But before you finally go there's one thing you should know: That I promise -

Starting now I'll never know your name
Starting now I'll never feel the same
Starting now I wish you never came into my world

I want to crawl back inside my bed of sin
I want to burn the sheets that smell like your skin
Instead I'll wash them just like kitchen rags with stains
Spinning away every piece that remains of you

But before you finally go there's one thing you should know: That I promise -

Starting now I'll never know your name
Starting now I'll never feel the same
Starting now I wish you never came into my world

It's my world, it's not ours anymore
It's my world, it's not ours anymore

Starting now I'll never know your name
Starting now I'll never feel the same
Starting now I wish you never came into my world

Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs

This was the March book club book, suggested by the other Amanda:

This book is a collection of 18 essays where each pop culture topic was hit on during the sleepy, unwinding moments before Chuck fell asleep. Interesting premise, I'd say. I hadn't read a collection of essays before, at least not willingly, so that caught my attention. I liked being able to jump around or skip an essay if it didn't really appeal.

Here is the full list of essays (from Wikipedia) (the ones in bold are my favorites):

• 1. This Is Emo: Klosterman recounts "fake love" we are conditioned to pursue, and the false, unbalanced nature of When Harry Met Sally.
• 2. Billy Sim: Klosterman describes his experience with the reality-mimicking videogame The Simsand how The Sims illustrates that "even eternally free people are enslaved by the process of living."
• 3. What Happens When People Stop Being Polite: The impacts of MTV's The Real World and how it led to the development of one-dimensional personalities.
• 4. Every Dog Must Have His Every Day, Every Drunk Must Have His Drink: An ode to Billy Joel, particularly the universality of his album Glass Houses.
• 5. Appetite for Replication: Klosterman interviews and spends a few days with the members of aGuns N' Roses tribute band, "Paradise City," and outlines the significance of tribute bands.
• 6. Ten Seconds to Love: An analysis of how American culture is upset with the unrealistic images of success it has created, as stemming from a discussion of the Pamela-Tommy sex tape.
• 7. George Will vs. Nick Hornby: A rant against soccer (particularly among youth), claiming it supports outcast culture.
• 8. 33: Klosterman explains how the 1980's rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics symbolizes all rivalries in life, including politics, religion, and race.
• 9. Porn: An explanation of how the Internet has proliferated the porn industry, as per the need of the presence of the amateur and celebrity in our lives.
• 10. The Lady or the Tiger: A brief history of the cereal industry, and how Kelloggs was begun as a religious company, but now is a microcosm for coolness. The "cocoa puffs" in the title comes from this essay.
• 11. Being Zack Morris: An analysis of Saved by the Bell and how "important things are inevitably cliché."
• 12. Sulking with Lisa Loeb on the Ice Planet Hoth: Why Star Wars is so overrated, and how it has come to represent basic morality.
• 13. The Awe-Inspiring Beauty of Tom Cruise's Shattered, Troll-like Face: A discussion of the question "What is reality?" as answered by movies such as Vanilla Sky, The Matrix, Memento, andWaking Life.
• 14. Toby over Moby: How the Dixie Chicks are the new Van Halen, as they are one of the only pop bands with musical quality, and how Van Halen's teenage boys have been replaced by the Dixie Chicks' teenage girls. Also how music taste is used to gauge coolness, and those who ignorantly say they like all kinds "except country" only say so to appear cool.
• 15. This is Zodiac Speaking: A description of three people Klosterman has interviewed who have known or met serial killers, and an exploration of "What does it mean to know a serial killer?"
• 16. All I Know Is What I Read in the Papers: Most of the media's bias is accidental, and stories are mainly developed by circumstance and by the interviewee who calls the journalist back first. Also how sports reporters hate sports, and how newspapers are designed for those who cannot read.
• 17. I, Rock Chump: Klosterman narrates his visit to the 2002 Pop Music Studies Conference by the Experience Music Project, and how it was largely an experience without rock and roll.
• 18. How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found: A commentary on the Left Behind Series and the lifestyle of Evangelical Christians. The chapter title refers to the book How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found by Doug Richmond.

I'm not going to discuss each of my favorite essays, but I will say this: if you like reading Bill Bryson, I recommend this book. Chuck has that same conversational tone and approach in his writing. On the flip side, if you liked this book, I recommend reading Bill Bryson (conversational tone stories about his travels; I read the book he wrote about his time in Australia).

My all time favorite part of the book was the interlude with the 23 questions he asks people in order to determine if he can really love them. How interesting a method to determine if you can love someone! Here is a sample question:

Question 18: You have won a prize. The prize has two options, and you can choose either (but not both). The first option is a year in Europe with a monthly stipend of $2K. The second option is ten minutes on the moon. Which option do you select?

That gives you an idea of the sort of questions Chuck asks. Some of them I had quick answers to; others I had to think about; still others I'm undecided about. For Question 18, however, I'd take the first option to see Europe! Visiting the moon would be out of this world (ha, get it?), but for ten minutes? Nah, I'd rather 524,160 minutes in Europe with a total of $24K to spend while there. I've always wanted to go to Europe. I've never had that same desire to visit the moon. I enjoy gazing at the moon in the night sky. I'd enjoy gazing at the moon in the night sky from Europe, too.

Wikipedia Article
Official Publisher Page

-Amanda

New Tunes

Tonight I had some Best Buy money burning a whole in my pocket. I corrected this problem and bought the following CDs:


a fine frenzy







the flaming lips







goldfrapp

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Bennett for the Christmas present. It had been a long time since I'd strolled the store looking for a few CDs; it was fun to browse them. I was in need of some new music, so this was perfect.

-Amanda

Priscilla Ahn

I picked up a few CDs at the library this week and stumbled upon a gem: Priscilla Ahn's "A Good Day." I'm obsessed with the "A Good Day (The Morning Song)" tune. A lovely voice, almost whimsical background music effects, sweet lyrics. Her music reminds me of a cross between Frou Frou and a really laid back Michelle Branch with a Hawaiian touch.



I'm heading to Borders to make use of a fabulous 25% off coupon I received! I'm going to buy "Last Light" by Terri Blackstock as recommended by Tiffany. = )



-Amanda

Random Blurb

Exciting news: Tamara is planning a visit in July! I can't wait to see her beautiful, Australian face! Mom just booked her flight for a visit in July while Dad and the boys are at Sam's wrestling tournament in Fargo! I can't wait to see my Momma again! And! Sam is due for a visit in August! I'm so excited to hang out with my kid brother!

Raven is heading back to the shop tomorrow. Hopefully they'll patch her up properly so she looks like the 5-month-old car she is.

Mom and Dad head out to the Grand Canyon this Friday! I am so happy for them and their big 25th Anniversary celebration! They deserve such an amazing trip like this! I'm also very excited to give them a gift from myself and my brothers. Mom and Dad are going to LOVE it!

I finished 1984 and am now reading The Time Traveler's Wife. I'll post separately on them later.

Sounds like I'll be seeing Angels & Demons with Tiffany & Co. (hehe, I love that) this weekend. It's one of my favorite books, and Tom Hanks can do no wrong. And, speaking of movies, Star Trek was great. The Twitter #annoyatrekkie was hilarious, too, haha. And The Onion's video about how it was actually entertaining was quite funny.

My weekend was fabulous! Friday night Jared and I had dinner at Amigo's - delicious and a step above Maria Bonita's. It was his treat because I was dropping him off and picking him up from the airport on Saturday and Sunday while he was flying home for a surprise Mother's Day visit (he's such a sweet son, isn't he?). After dinner we saw Star Trek, then called it a night. Saturday I took Jared to the airport, had an okay run with the OWR (went out too hard during the first 3 miles then sucked wind the last 3... still finished 2nd, though). Made friends with Brandie, the chick who finished the 6-miler in front of me, hehe, and we're planning a weekend run at Baldwin Park together. She's into some distance running, so I'm really happy we chatted; I'd been wanting a distance running buddy. After the run I met up with Tiffany & Matt at the pool for some basking. After showering up I headed downtown for a photography field trip with the OCC. We did a lot of shots of the city's architecture. The sunset on the skyline wasn't the greatest, but I still got a few nice shots. I'll post about that trip later. After photography fun I met up with Tiffany & Co. at Ember. We had a fabulous night! I'll post about that later, too. Sunday involved a nice sermon at Discovery Church (man, I love that church!), lunch at Crispers, some journaling, a movie (Closer; thoroughly unimpressive in my opinion - downright wretched behavior of the characters, actually), then I picked Jared up from the airport and went to bed. Overall, another excellent weekend!

The OCC meeting Monday was really cool. It was contest night, and while I didn't submit a photo, I did come away with some great news, but I can't share on here until I tell my Daddy about it. Regardless, the contest night was really cool: the judges provided feedback on the submitted entries for the open themed contest as the club president, Anna, went through the photos in a slide show. There were some really beautiful shots. Next month's theme is curves, and I'm definitely submitting. I have a few cool shots in mind...

I'm taking a training course at work this week (today through Thrusday). It's been a good brush-up on some classes I took during my freshmen and sophomore years at Purdue (the information systems side of the C&IT house). I really like the guy who's teaching, and it's a nice change in pace for a few days. It makes for a long day, but a good one, nonetheless.

By the way, it's been freaking HOT down here. Mid-90s since last week. Thankfully the rain arrived as of yesterday! Showers are expected throughout the week. I hope it is blue skies and heat on Saturday, though, because I'd love to be found soaking up rays at the pool!

Picked up some CDs from the library. Time to make an awesome running playlist and hit the gym for a bit.

-Amanda

The Big Race

The race was a blast! Mom, Dad and I performed very well!

The morning started out in a very Bennett-like fashion (i.e., running behind time), but we ended up making it to the starting line in plenty of time. With 40,000 runners and walkers starting takes a while to trickle back in the line. I meant to mention this in my "eve" post: Mom, Dad and I started in Corral G, and the corrals go clear through Z, so we were pretty well off in our seating. Despite the bumpy start, we wished one another luck, and off we were!

I ended up dropping 10 minutes off of my first half-marathon time, so I'm really pleased with that, but: I was so well hydrated that I had to stop to pee not once, not twice, but three times! I bet I could have finished in 2 hours flat if it hadn't been for those stops! Next time I'm going to be under 2 hours!

Below are my race statistics. Click the image to see a larger view.



I thought it was pretty great that out of 40,000 participants, I came in 4180th out of all the women! Not too shabby!

After being beat by my mother in my first half-marathon race, I was set and determined to correct that at this race, hehe. But Mom and Dad were spectacular and so adorable because they finished at 2:15 (no lie - only 5 minutes behind me!) and crossed the finish line together! I'm so proud of them!

My body recovered after this half-marathon much better than after my first half-marathon. Granted, I trained for 5 solid months for this race whereas for the one last year I was still in school and didn't train consistently (well, hardly at all). My knees were really stiff Saturday after the race, but by Sunday evening they were fine. I'm already planning my races for the rest of the year! I'm thinking about the Rock 'N Roll Chicago Half-Marathon on 2 August 2009...

I think this race is going to become a tradition for the Bennett's. It was such a wonderful event! I love downtown Indianapolis, it's a great time of the year, making for excellent running weather, and it was a ton of fun! I even saw a friend playing along side of the race with his band, The Highway! (Here are links to their MySpace and Official websites. Check 'em out!)

-Amanda

Indy Mini 500 Half-Marathon Eve

Tonight is the eve of my first Indy Mini 500 Half-Marathon race!



I've just finished my playlist, packed with my favorite running songs. Mom and Dad are running the race with me. We're all really excited! My first (and most recent) half-marathon race wasn't bad: 10:38 minutes/mile pace for a finishing time of 2 hours and 19 minutes. At tomorrow's race I hope to drop 10-20 minutes, putting me closer to a 2 hour finishing time.

It's WAY past my bedtime with tomorrow's early rise to be at the starting line and ready to run at 7:30 AM! Wish me well!

-Amanda

Another Lovely Sunday

The playlist below was inspired by a wonderful Sunday in downtown Orlando followed by "Another Lovely Sunday" over the weekend. Felt like sharing.

Help from India

I had heard this song before, here and there over the years, but I heard this version on the Sex & the City soundtrack. As it turns out, the entire soundtrack was incredibly therapeutic in my getting over what used to be me and Adam, but this song in particular was very helpful.

The heart of the matter for me was that I needed to do a lot of forgiving. Mostly I needed to forgive myself for ten years of allowing myself to forget just how precious God is to me. Let me tell you, it's not easy to forgive yourself. Many times I wished I could blame someone other than myself.

These lyrics, specifically, are what hit home the hardest with me: "The more I know, the less I understand. And all the things I thought I'd figured out, I have to learn again."

The thing I've learned through all of this is control. I don't have it. I never did. I never will. It's simply a black and white matter. I don't even need to understand. I thought I had a lot of things figured out, and, man, was it convincing. So very convincing. But I know better now. It's a relief not having to fret about anything, really. Such peace of mind.

It's an interesting transition from a serious relationship back to being single. Of course I miss Adam dearly, but being single is just what we need at this point in our lives.

Any way. I was compelled to share a little about what this song means to me.

-Amanda

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I wore my favorite green work top today. I hope you, too, took measures to avoid the pinches!



I have this little mug that I once received as a gift. It has my favorite Irish saying on it: "May your joys be many, your troubles be few. May the luck of the Irish be always with you!"

So, I've never celebrated St. Patrick's Day. The one in 2008 was the first I was ever old enough to celebrate, but it wasn't very big in Australia. Today I intend to celebrate with Kevin et. al. I've yet to make arrangements, but I'm sure I can scrounge something up for tonight!

Here are a few links for your Irish music enjoyment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H48sk4alqE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7yQSQeP6Lg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrsf0PdBXQk

Cheers!

-Amanda

Israel's Medley

I first heard this when Chucky put it on the iPod while driving around somewhere in Indiana. The video isn't a work of art, and the song's intro is almost out of a drama movie, but give the song a listen any way. Personally, I fell in love with the tune, a mash-up of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful Life" (though the version I heard was just with the ukulele, I think?). I love the island vibes it gives off and how it makes me smile. (For more about Israel.)

-Amanda