Life Should be a Musical

Sit and ponder with me for a moment, the idea of having your life be a musical. Now, who hasn't gotten the tunes from a Broadway or Disney musical stuck in your head at one point or another? If you say you haven't, I'd bet you just don't know it yet. How many of you have sat down at some point in your life and just wanted theme music to be playing in the background?

Now, as some of you know, I wrote my senior paper on the effects of music on people, and you know what, I still hold firm to my beliefs that music can affect people for good and bad.

Even more, I think that life should have theme music playing in the background. Hehe, how funny would that be to see people walking around with their own personal music playing around them? Yes, some people would have more somber music playing as they walk down the street and others might have violent music playing around them, but still, it'd be cool. It'd be so cool to see people randomly break out in song too. Reminds me of a Bjork video, "It's Oh So Quiet," where an entire city acts like they're in a Broadway musical.

Of course, there would be problems with noise levels and people wanting privacy... yada yada yada. And then there might be people who complain and whatnot, but there's nothing more theraputic than belting a song that you enjoy whether or not you sing well. In fact, I have plenty of theme songs for my life, and they're constantly evolving.

Sometimes I think the iPod commercials got it right when they show people breaking out in song and dance randomly in life. And who knows, in a world where daily life turns into a musical and people have theme music, maybe there might be more understanding and peace. Maybe there will be less miscommunication, and less depression because people get their feelings out. I think that's one large problem in today's society: people don't know how to get out their feelings, emotions, thoughts, hurts, etc. These are things that are important to the individual, and more often than not, very important to those who love them. As lofty as this sounds, it might even decrease the amount of abuse, divorce, and overall pain that goes on in life. Now, I know that with the choice to be a part of this life, we also chose the pain that comes with it, but at the same time, how much of that pain is something that we take upon ourselves but could be avoided?

Right now, in my life, I have about 600 theme songs that I cycle through. Some have words, and some don't. Some fit my mood perfectly while others only fit one particular memory. There is something about music that anchors itself within a person's memory. Music helps with memorization, helps with increasing thinking and development. How can those things be ignored by most people and get brushed aside? Music helps each individual uniquely. It is a basic theory, but at the same time vital in my life, and that is the fact that music plays an integral role in every person's life.

And people who have developed theme songs, that's even better. With those theme songs, a glimpse into their thinking comes through. It shows how they esteem themselves and even more, how they esteem others. Yet still, music is slighted, distorted, interpreted incorrectly, and disregarded. I guess in the end all of this is just the opinion of a person like anyone who reads this. Still, who can deny the influence of music in their lives?

Battosai Meets Captain Caf... *dum, dum, dum*

Chapter 4: Battosai Meets Captain Caf

Skipping a chapter in the annuls of Captain Caf's adventures, the mystical third roommate had an interesting encounter one balmy afternoon. On her way to recharge her energy with some high quality french vanilla frozen energy, she and some friends met up with an unique tiny creature on their journey. At this meeting, she was intrigued and captivated by this thing, small yet brave enoughto venture up to the much larger creature that Capt. Caf is. This bravery impressed her so that she broke out Kokoro and tried herself to capture the essence of this amazing little creature. The tall friend of Capt. Caf looked to the miniscule mammal, and decided that for it to be worth recognizing, it needed a naming ceremony.

Circling around the three friends, the mammal looked up once at the tall friend, and she named it in an instant. "Die Battosai!!!!" she said as she giggled and watched the thing meander around her and her friends. As she said that, she realized that Battosai was now looking at her with approval of the name it was given after the ceremony. To prove its ferocity and that the name fit, the creature laid down in the road and attacked our feet. Once again intrigued by this behavior, Capt. Caf took out Kokoro again and captured some more of Battosai's essence.

Four legs, furry and colored with blacks and whites and a fifth leg that stood straight up when pleased, this new creature, Battosai as it was newly named, decided that Capt. Caf and her friends were now it's friends and started to follow them on their journey for refreshment and energy. This puzzled Capt. Caf and her friends. With each step brought this tiny adventurer farther away from where we met it. The confusion increased as the three friends tried to fend off the advances of Battosai, and encouraged it back toward it's home. The more steps the friends took, the more steps Battosai took.

When we stopped, it stopped. When we walked faster, it trotted to catch up with us. It nearly tripped the tall one on many occasions. As each step brought the three closer to the frequently travelled road, Battosai was faithfully following them. Nothing they did kept the little Battosai away for long. Whether it took time to groom itself or the tall one tried to chase it off, Battosai was making every effort it could to stay faithful and true to it's newly adopted companions. If the tall ones, in it's eyes, moved their legs faster, it would trot to catch up to them. If the tall ones stopped to turn around, Battosai became encouraged and ran to catch up.

As the frequently travelled path was nearing, the trio thought that they would lose their tiny shadow as soon as the roars would deter it. Alas, Battosai kept up their pace. To their astonishment, it even followed them across the busy path and to the sandy shore just outside the house of one of the Capt's friend's house. This tiny creature began to intrigue the three as much as the three intrigued it. Lost and lonely seeming, Battosai stuck close to Capt. Caf and her friends while they wandered around the yard of the house. The quest for energy came up short for the friend whose house they journeyed to was locked, and she had no key to enter. In another attempt to get rid of Battosai, the tall friend began to kick sand at the poor creature. As the sand swirled around it's face, Battosai once again grew fierce and attacked the poofs of sand around it. The trio had a tough decision to make now, for none of them could take the poor creature and care for it even though, despite themselves, they grew attached to the small creature.

Realizing what they need to do, the three walked their four-legged friend back to where they first met it. They tried everything they could think of to get Battosai to stay at its house. They walked it to its yard, yet it walked back to them. They put it in its yard, yet it walked back to them. They put it farther in the yard, yet it still walked back to them. Finally, a fourth friend walked up and greeted the group, and saw the comical situation in front of her as the three tried to run off the tiny, furry one. The fourth friend watched for about five more minutes before she tried something. She scooped up Battosai, now called "Little Prick" by the tall one, and with the help of Capt. Caf, deposited the little creature back into its yard and in an old garden. After they put back Battosai... er, Little Prick, the two ran as fast as they could to get away from the tiny creature so as to not have it follow them again.

With that, the four friends happily walked away knowing that they would no longer have a shadow follow them. Some sorrow followed because they four had grown attached to their tiny friend. Its bravery and loyalty amazed them. And thus ends another chapter in the anuls of our illustrious superhero and her life on the emerald land in the middle of the sapphire land. May Battosai... Little Prick, have the best life available for a kitten of his valor.

A Blog to Write a Post On

So, I've been thinking, and as a very wise, missionary friend of mine once said to me, "Mandie, you think too much."

Well, he actually said that to me on many occasions, but once seemed to fit for some reason. Anyways, I'll go into language in another post maybe. I know I'm about a week late, and even farther behind than some other bloggers out there, but I want to know what y'all think about this past conference. Other than the almost obligatory comments that we take as reminders to better ourselves, what things struck a chord in your soul? Did the comments about the Mexican family who, though devoid of comforts like shoes, were sealed together in the Mesa, Arizona temple cause you to reflect on the fact that possessions aren't the keystone to a wholesome life? Did anyone take Elder Holland's remarks and apply them in places where things were left unsaid but implied? Did President Hinckley's mention of new temple projects impress anyone and awe others at the speed with which this church is growing?

If anyone felt deeply impacted, I would love to hear about it if it isn't something precious and thus should be kept within for now. Random thoughts or conversations, post conference, are also welcome.

One of my thoughts and realizations is the fact that there are serious problems within the church and our priesthood leaders in Salt Lake are aware of them, almost perfectly. It reinforced my testimony of the truthfulness of this Gospel, because how else can elderly gentlemen truly have an understanding for the life of a woman in this bizarre, backwards and shallow world?