Utah

Early, early Wednesday morning I got up at 4 am to be ready for the shuttle van that was arriving at 5 for my flight at 7. Only, I really woke up at 3:15 am, and by woke up I mean I got up because I hadn't really slept when I went to bed at midnight, and by midnight I mean 12:45 because my copy of The Absolute Sandman Vol. 3 had arrived earlier that day, and well...I had to start reading it.

I bought The Sandman as a gift for myself for finishing the quarter and the year. I also bought Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything which I'm very excited about. I've actually spent a lot of money lately including buying a new suit--it's two-button and taupe. My first and only other suit I got for junior prom when I was considerably heftier and even then it was a bit big on me. In college, taller and slimmer, I looked like a little kid in his dad's suit. This one's better except the legs are a bit baggy apparently because the pants have pleats. Only GQ occasionally (occasionally) features suits with pleats and the legs are still more tailored. Anyway.

I landed in SLC at 10:30 which is why I booked the 7 am flight in the first place. It had been six months, the longest time I have ever been away from home though I'm not exactly sure what home means now. I was enthusiastically greeted by our dog, Scout. I also began an epic game of Risk with my brother and younger sister, a game that took three days and lots of fights--ah, family bonding. I also went a little crazy from not sleeping; Elise, the insomniac, informs me that this is called disorientation.

On Thursday, I went to The Pie with Elise, Jesse, and Kristen which was a bit of a waste because Elise and Jesse don't like Pie pizza which is inconceivable to me. But I enjoyed it. Afterward, Kristen and I went to Trolley Square, or the Death Box as Kristyn O. likes to call it, for Williams-Sonoma so I could buy my mother a Microplane zester and make lemon bars. What I learned is that Kristen and I should not be allowed to visit fancy, grown-up stores like Williams-Sonoma together. We then visited Cabin Fever, a kitschy store that seemed to suit us much better. Trolley Square is also under massive construction, along with downtown, and I don't know why because when the Gateway opened those places saw a lot less traffic.

Thursday was also my elder sister's 22nd birthday so the family went downtown to the Macaroni Grill which was lovely. Afterward I saw my cousin James for the first time in years (years!) which is a real shame since he's always been my favorite of the Burbank cousins. Besides, we gay cousins have to stick together. We went to the Beerhive Pub because five days with the family and I was going to need a drink. It's so nice that Utah has bars now--and the Beerhive Pub is an excellent one. We had a few beers and discussed life--it was wonderful.

On Friday, I finally made the lemon bars which were delicious. I'm totally on a lemon kick right now--aren't lemons just a miraculous fruit and so summery? I just saw a recipe for Meyer Lemon Ricotta pancakes, and even though Meyer lemons are out of season, I'm going to make it anyway. Later that day I went to Jessica's wedding reception which was the impetus for the trip and the suit. They had a photo booth for the guests which is such a fantastic idea. There was also an ice cream bar. A very fun, youthful, yet classy affair. I also saw a lot of people from high school as well as Elise and Kristen P. who went a little baby crazy.

On Saturday, I woke up bright and early and drove to Matt and Dixy's house where we meet up with Ellen, Justin, and Christopher. Then we all drove down to Provo, where I haven't been since high school, to go to Seven Peaks water park. We spent a lot of time in the wave pool and the lazy river, and I got a nice base layer for all the tanning I'll do this summer in Seattle. That evening we had a barbecue at Matt and Dixy's and watched Alice in Wonderland which I had just seen a week prior at a second-run theater. You would think Tim Burton was the perfect director for Alice, but I don't know, I kind of like the original story better. and the film made too much sense.

Then it was Sunday, Father's Day, and I got my dad a tie (how traditional) and The Simple Art of Murder by Raymond Chandler--I had to make up for Christmas since his gift never arrived. We had a nice dinner, and then it was time to take me to the airport, and a few hours later I was back in Seattle watching True Blood.

By the way my summer reading hasn't been going well at all. I started The Iliad after finals, and while it's great, my attention span has been greatly curbed by the 21st century. I also started reading Lowcountry Summer which is terrible! I have been very disappointed in contemporary fiction lately. Is it so much to ask for Shakespearean, psychologically realized characters and inspired prose? Perhaps. Dorothea Benton Frank loves to tell me things instead of showing them and has an obscene love with the exclamation point. question marks too. It's ridiculous. The protagonist is semi-unbearable. I don't even want to read it anymore, but I still need to know how it ends. It's like trailers for movies that I don't particularly want to see, but I want to know the story anyway, especially for horror movies. Maybe I'll just skim the rest of the book.

So that's me. Tonight I need to finish watching 8 1/2 and this week I need to find a job. The minimal structure grad school gave me is gone, and my roommate's in Indonesia for two months. I could rot in my apartment and no one would even know. Plus, I really need money, especially so that Meagan and I can drink our way through Seattle. Those should be some fun posts. Until then.